Having experienced it occasionally myself, I know that being poor is expensive. But poverty is not the result of a lack of character. Although one might think so: ‘They used to be servants.’ Minimum wage-hating restaurateur rants about his “greedy” employees.
Cash bail reform has gotten some traction because communities understand that bail is not about justice or safety, but wealth and poverty. “Right now, a person charged with a crime can either pay bail and live free until they stand trial or, if they cannot afford it, be jailed until their trial date. Folks with money pay bail while poor folks get jail. And those in jail are far more likely to take pleas deals instead watching the rest of their lives (and finances) fall apart while they wait for a trial.”
Some neighborhoods are now being targeted with new predatory loan offerings, a lawsuit argues. This is the story of that lawsuit, and of the rent-to-own universe in general.
The student loan sharks who prey on veterans and single moms have a friend in Trump’s education secretary, millionaire Betsy DeVos.
It can be a terrible spiral: Oregon woman evicted from senior housing for $328 in late rent freezes to death in parking garage.
The current Federal Communications Commission chair, Ajit Pai, has threatened to cut the Lifeline program, which helps 12.5 million low-income people access internet or phone service.
The regime is considering drug testing plan for food stamp recipients, which has always cost more to administer than the intended savings.
National Public Radio discussed Virginia Eubanks’ book Automating Inequality: How High-Tech Tools Profile, Police, and Punish the Poor.
Kathy Sheehan, who was re-elected mayor of Albany in November 2017, spoke at my church on March 4 about her equality agenda, including the City of Albany Poverty Reduction Initiative (CAPRI) program. Here is the New York State anti-poverty initiative.
Who Do Tax Breaks Benefit? Take a guess. The Weekly Sift guy understands: My taxes are half what I’d pay if I just made wages.
I’ve seen numerous GoFundMe campaigns after people went through extended disaster that have damaged homes, serious illness or injury not covered by insurance. A decade ago, there was a Harvard study that showed that 43,000 Americans were dying each year because they had no health insurance. And we may be heading back in that direction.
As bad as it is in the United States, it’s far worse in developing nations. On the March 21 Daily Show with Trevor Noah Matt Damon and Gary White from water.org discussed how easier access to water transformed people’s lives with the gift of time.
This a global phenomenon: If this goes on… The 1% will own two thirds of the world by 2030, based on the House of Commons Library’s published research projecting the post-2008 growth of inequality.
For ABC Wednesday
If anyone needs to be drug-tested, it’s the various legislators who keep coming up with these schemes.
Another wonderful post but sad topic ~ but ‘always with us.’
Happy Week to you,
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)
I have experienced it too… it is not a situation one would want but every now and then can not be avoided, it seems… still, its a world I know little about to be honest.
I do Always pitty the real poor people, although they are probably much richer in mind than the people who have more than they could spent in multilple lifetimes?
Have a splendid, ♥-warming ABC-Wednes-day / -week
♫ M e l ☺ d y ♪ (ABC-W-team)
http://melodymusic.nl/22-p
Poverty – sigh, such a complex problem, although that does not relieve us from the possibility to help out where we can:)
Poverty is expensive because of the loss of human capabilities. – Margy
Without poverty, the greedy can’t be rich. How do you get rid of greediness?
Poverty is staring at our face.
There are many issues. Apart from insurance, education etc., we need to address basic human needs like water too…
Huge load on our planet…