Originally Posted By: sini
Originally Posted By: Sethan

Back at the food bank in Tennessee, Marcia Wells knows poor Americans still have an easier time than people in much of the world. "I certainly see that our problems seem tame when compared to abject poverty and hunger you see in other countries," she said. "But it is all relative and [food insecurity] is no less real here, in relation to the American lifestyle."


Starving and living in tents with no access to healthcare isn't any different in US or Africa. The difference is that in US you also happen to have access to DVDs and maybe internet while you are at it.

This is "look they have a DVD player, PS1 and an Old TV (that have nearly-zero value)" argument that I don't see as valid. You don't starve any less because you have some Salvation Army electronics. It just shows that these people are starving in a rich society.

Quote:
Being poor in America is not that bad, according a report from the conservative Heritage Foundation, which has analysed Tuesday's census data.


Yes, when you compare to starving Nigerian kids in a refugee camps. Simple fact that such comparison was made with some people living in United States of America, the richest country in the world, should give you a pause.

Quote:
Eighty per cent of poor households have air-conditioning, 92 per cent have a microwave, and 42 per cent of poor people own their own home.


I call shenanigans on "household" definitions. It is likely "of poor people who happen to live in a house", conveniently omitting ones who live in an old trailer or tent city.



Yes, we know, if the facts don't come from you they are wrong.
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