More Americans Die of Poverty than Terrorism

More Americans Die of Poverty than Terrorism
by Jon Stepanian October 02, 2010 07:45 AM (PT)
http://uspoverty.change.org/blog/view/more_americans_die_of_poverty_than_terrorism

It's obscene that our country is spending hundreds of billions of dollars on the military when so many of our neighbors are suffering from poverty, hunger and the inability to meet their basic needs. Can we really justify this in the name of "National Security"? I don't think we're very secure at all when one in seven Americans lives below the poverty line.

The reality is that many more Americans die of poverty than terrorism. According to the U.S. State Department, 56 American civilians died due to terrorism worldwide in 2005. That same year, 472 lives were cut short due to homelessness in Los Angeles County alone.

Having these numbers doesn't curb military spending, though. It's important to note that last year the United States made up 46 percent of all worldwide military spending and dished out more than seven times as much money as the next runner up, China.

For fiscal year 2011, $1,398 billion (48 percent) of our nation's budget is allotted for military spending. Of that, $399 billion is for paying off the interest on loans from previous military expenditures. In contrast, this year we'll only be spending $1.79 billion on homeless assistance grants like help with back rent for at-risk families.

These discrepancies raise some questions about our nation's priorities. Is war more important to us than feeding the hungry? Is the $600,000 we spend on a cruise missile sent to blow up someone's home in Iraq worth more than the six or so lovely U.S. houses we could build with such money?

When we look at our priorities, we also need to look at how we can shift them. For example, the proposed Afghan war spending for 2011 is $119.4 billion dollars. That's enough to provide one year of scholarships for 15,144,040 university students, or one year's salary for 1,828,484 elementary school teachers, or enough to retrofit our energy grid, providing 72,101,449 American households with renewable wind power and new jobs. (Find more budget tradeoffs at the National Priorities Project. http://www.nationalpriorities.org/tradeoffs )

The gap in our nation's budget between what we spend on military programs compared to our own social needs is more than unjustifiable and unnecessary — it's dangerous.

You never see International warnings on the threat of poverty do you.

Ignorance and Want

"'Forgive me if I am not justified in what I ask,' said
Scrooge, looking intently at the Spirit's robe,' but I see
something strange, and not belonging to yourself, protruding
from your skirts. Is it a foot or a claw.'

'It might be a claw, for the flesh there is upon it,' was
the Spirit's sorrowful reply. 'Look here.'

From the foldings of its robe, it brought two children;
wretched, abject, frightful, hideous, miserable. They knelt
down at its feet, and clung upon the outside of its garment.

'Oh, Man. look here. Look, look, down here.' exclaimed the Ghost.

They were a boy and a girl. Yellow, meagre, ragged, scowling,
wolfish; but prostrate, too, in their humility. Where
graceful youth should have filled their features out, and
touched them with its freshest tints, a stale and shrivelled
hand, like that of age, had pinched, and twisted them, and
pulled them into shreds. Where angels might have sat
enthroned, devils lurked, and glared out menacing. No
change, no degradation, no perversion of humanity, in any
grade, through all the mysteries of wonderful creation, has
monsters half so horrible and dread.

Scrooge started back, appalled. Having them shown to him
in this way, he tried to say they were fine children, but
the words choked themselves, rather than be parties to a lie
of such enormous magnitude.

'Spirit. are they yours.' Scrooge could say no more.

'They are Man's,' said the Spirit, looking down upon
them. 'And they cling to me, appealing from their fathers.
This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both,
and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy,
for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the
writing be erased. Deny it.' cried the Spirit, stretching out
its hand towards the city. 'Slander those who tell it ye.
Admit it for your factious purposes, and make it worse.
And abide the end.'

'Have they no refuge or resource.' cried Scrooge.

'Are there no prisons.' said the Spirit, turning on him
for the last time with his own words. 'Are there no workhouses.'"

- A Christmas Carol, Stave 3: The Second of the Three Spirits

On the hand, poverty might prove as an essential warning to conform and obey.

Seriously, I've noticed two things over the years:

1. Preoccupation with terrorism seems to rise the lower your chances of encountering it; suburbanites in the MidWest seem more worried than residents of NYC. (The same applies to worries over crime, btw).

2. People who have the least to worry about tend to focus more on terrorism. For example, I have student loans to pay, no dependable car, retirement to plan, four kids in school and/or looking for jobs, elderly parents and in-laws, etc, etc. Terrorists? Pffft! Acquaintances with no debt, no mortgage, a second home on the Gulf coast and a lake front "camp", good health, etc; they are preoccupied with terrorists.

imagine a world where we spend only half of the military budget on homelessness and poverty.

more people die from the flu each year

Needs to live it.

:crazy:

among others, that has led me to losing all hope.

without a fight.

And idiots like that are about on the level of an annoying fly, when so many lives are at stake.

I've never seen a poster put less thought into their posts than this one.

most likely, and that beats the flu. Poverty kills, and if they have to stick to the "official" definition, I'm sure the numbers are much lower than what in actuality happens. Poverty is important because one in seven is "officially" poor in this country, but one in four are considered unable to meet their needs financially, do you think this is not an issue that should be considered important??

There are now doctors saying that as many as 100,000 people are dying from lack of health care.

When I was working with the organization here, I know that doctors here were saying at that time the figure was more like 80,000.

Like homelessness, I doubt we can actually verify an actual figure... there are too many variables.

However, the fact is, it is SHAMEFUL for this country to let any of us die in this way!

I've heard the numbers up there too, 123 a day I just read a bit ago...how many were homeless? How many due to bankruptcy due to medical costs??

And, like Niemoller's famous quotation, more and more the deaths of other people don't matter, either.

I don't think the deaths of those who were middle class and died from insurance fraud will matter much, either. It is progressing, just as Niemoller tried to warn us, but we homeless people are still considered inconsequential, and we are the canaries in this crazy mine.

I posted on that subject the other day.

can't be on too much lately, but this one struck a chord!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9255300

all you have is contempt for people here

We have to learn how to think differently, and frame things differently.

But progressives would rather spend their energy posting ad nauseum about Sarah.

Thanks, dajoki... this is pretty obvious, but I'm sure it is news to many.

Every month we lose 10,000 to infections at our for-profit health care hospitals - infections they picked up while in the hospital for something else.

How about a trillion dollar attack on that problem?

The MIC cashes in going and coming, can't make that kind of money alleviating society's problems. The priorities of this society are clear, profits for the ruling class. Observed from that perspective a lot of things just fall into place.

When $1.74 is returned to the economy for every $1 spent on Food Stamps, that is obviously very good for this country, but people have no way of knowing that, because it isn't spoken about.

Obama.... rather than cutting food stamps to hungry people, could you please speak the actual TRuTH?

even if it means people die, and far, far, too many do. To steal a motto "capitalism kills, kill capitalism" it's what it comes down too...the big capitalists are the real terrorists...

Including 9/11 and the time since, more Americans have died of slipping in the bathroom.

than people die due to terrorism. And even with Obama's new health insurance reform, there will still be over 20,000 thousand sick people a year who will die in this country because they cannot access health care given they still can not qualify for insurance with the new health insurance reform.

of those people are poor.

k&r

Please?

Think about the damage that does.

Please.

I'm not being mean here, I'm really trying to understand.

I think working poor emphasizes the fact that people in this country are working full time but are still poor. Too many Conservatives have the notion that poverty is somehow caused by laziness. Oh, and for me "working poor" includes those who are looking for gainful employment but can't find a job.

In addition to the working poor, we have the elderly/retired, children and disabled people (including mentally ill)

I imagine a small percentage of the people in this country who live in poverty are actually lazy. Let's remind people of that.

No offense meant.

...they do little to contribute to this country in taxes while the poor pay upwards of 15-19% in taxes in my state alone. Plus the rich are the ones using the infrastructure far more than the poor. How many poor working people can afford to go to a tax supported stadium game, the tax-supported local aquarium, wear out the roads with their giant soldier-killing for gas guzzling SUV, or a hundreds of thousands $$$ court case to protect inherited mansions)? Hmmm?

It is the rich who are living off the poor and middle class. And the poor are far from "lazy" it is about what we call "work" that is being not supported such as "women's work" that saves our country billions where women lose on the average of $1/2 million doing care giving their children, parents and spouses and it is called "doing nothing" by rich elites such as the members of the Heritage Foundation who wrote Welfare DEFormed.

Poor people are the hardest working people in the nation. The stooopid and ignorant concept that upper income people are successful because somehow they "worked harder" is a bunch of bunk. They either inherit their goods or their "hard work" was because somebody was connected to them in some way that gave them a break. Poor people do not run in the country club crowd (except to wait on the rich and then they are invisible), they live, work with, and know other poor people).

Poor people also generate tons of jobs for upper income people, not only in the private sector but in the public and tax sheltering non-profit sectors. Next time some elitist twit asks, "how many poor people have generated any job?" Tell them, one word: "Nonprofits" http://www.welfarewarriors.org/mwv_archive/sp09/sp09_milw.htm">Where in one smaller city alone for one program alone non-profits and public sector jobs support over 170 agencies for taking children from low income parents for little or no reason. Where these huge "non-profits" spend anywhere from $46-57,000 per client for their services. Guess where that money is going from punitive "middle management employees" and "executive directors" who would rather give themselves nice salaries and tax breaks than actually do the services they are getting millions in our tax dollars and donations to do? If you think this is just happening in this corrupt city, think again, the ONLY reason we know about that city is because a bunch of savvy low income people took the time to do the research, NOBODY ELSE IN OR OUT OF THE GOVERNMENT IS WATCHING THE STORE.


More where that came from as to rich deadbeats. Just a sample of what we are paying for while the rich lay on their lazy asses by their heated swimming pools while collecting their dividends

Cat in Seattle

And, yes, talking about poor people being "lazy" is highly offensive.

If you used a few brain cells on it, I'm sure you could equate it with very similar statements made about blacks, latinos, gays, etc.

Really, this shouldn't be a stretch for "liberals".

Those who withhold from those in need. K&R and :hug:

:kick: :kick: :kick:

We have twisted priorities. Our country is willing to borrow and spend trillions of dollars for the war machine, but when it comes to helping the in need we can't afford it.

What will the poor be driven to do?
Will they kill to feed their families?
Will home invasions become commonplace occurrences?

Americans have not had to deal with feelings of
such desperation as they do these days.

I say we eat the rich, but then again, I am
somewhat "Old School."

...

Clinton surrendered in about 1996.

Let's not repeat that mistake this year.

Which of those two outcomes would be better for the poor of this country?


There is no third option, bobbolink. It is a certainty that one of those two things will happen.


Now... maybe you think they are both EQUALLY bad for the poor.... but if you really thought that, you wouldn't be a member of DemocraticUnderground in the first place.


Deep down you know, no matter how disappointed you are in Democrats, that they are light years ahead of the Republicans on the issues that matter most to you.



So which outcome do you want on November 2nd? You only get to choose one of the two.

It is obvious to us that we are not of concern.

Bullying us isn't going to get you what you want.

WHEN you all begin to take us seriously, and work on OUR BEHALF like the party used to do, then you will see results like you want.

Until then, quit with the rhetoric and strong-arming. It isn't working anymore.

Seriously... what?

it is called the "Veto". Stand by your principles and veto something- make the reps override it. But stand the fuck up.

The percentage of people in poverty, who could not read, who had no modern conveniences, dropped significantly due to the War on Poverty.

It was a huge success in the use of government to combat socio-economic disparity.

But Reagan ran on a "taxes are killing you and that hard-earned cash is going to welfare queens and Willy Horton's defense fund." And stupid people bought it because the economy was sluggish in some key areas.

Everything bad was the fault of evil Big Government, according to the Contract on America, and that Big Government included the evil War on Poverty.

And now we're back where we started!

Aren't we a brilliant nation!


:wtf:

It was successful.

There were abuses. The proper solution would have been to tinker with the system until it worked better. The actual solution was to kill it off. Reagan did that amidst a highly successful propaganda campaign "welfare queens," etc. that turned the whole endeavor into ashes in the mouths of the public, and we still haven't recovered from the damage that was done. Clinton sure as hell didn't help things by playing to the mean-spirited prejudices that Reagan had implanted.

LBJ's program reduced poverty by about 25% in this country. Pretty damn amazing.

Yet we still believe in the "Capitalist System" and think it has the answer to our problems?

Capitalism is a CASTE SYSTEM -- it is designed from the ground up to generate large numbers of poor people, destitute people, homeless people. That is the nature of Capitalism. Those with the means to take money from everyone else and keep it to themselves become wealthy. Those who own successful businesses rise to the top much faster if they underpay their workers - or dock them pay for every minor rule infraction.

The good-hearted and kind business owners get bought out or put out of business by collusion or illegal price wars from deep pocketed liars/thieves/murderers (aka Capitalists). Over time the good businessmen get pushed out and all that are left are the evil greedy Capitalists. That is where we are today. Only the most vile, the most evil are still rich today.

They do not deserve your admiration, they do not deserve your pity. They deserve handcuffs and long jail sentences for their crimes against humanity.

Now is the time. Arise my brothers and sisters and TAKE BACK OUR NATION!

Capitalism wasn't created to create a caste system that takes money from the poor and gives it to the rich. It is an outgrowth of the feudal system in which peasants worked the land eking out a living as best they could trying to get enough to eat and pay sufficient tribute to the lord of the manor who lived in a big house with all the comforts of the time. The lord offered the serfs some degree of protection from invaders.

Once western society began moving from a farming culture to an industrial one, we just sort of adapted that peasant/worker and lord system to meet that.

The feudal serf/lord system isn't a caste system? Admittedly, there was a minuscule chance that a person might rise from serf class to warrior class but the possibility to rise to the elite class was nil. There is a technical difference on paper but for the vast majority born into poverty there was no possibility of bettering their lot, no matter how hard one worked. If you were born poor you would surely die poor.

Technicalities aside, I agree with you that the Capitalist system is merely window dressing that masks the underlying reality that the rich are the new Kings, Queens, Dukes and Lords. And all the benefits of our labor "rises to the top" to enrich the upper crust only. It doesn't seem like anything but the names have changed. I think we can both agree on that. And just as in the feudal days, there is a periodic overthrow at the top but usually nothing changed for the better for the rest of the society. "Meet the new boss, the same as the old boss."

You seem to disagree, however, with my point that Capitalism is designed to remove money from the poor and filter it up to the rich. Please show me how that is a flawed analysis. There may be several layers that hide the true purpose but the net effect remains. All the fruits of your labor go to the wealthy. Every excess penny generated when you buy a loaf of bread or a gallon of gas ultimately makes its way to the wealthy. The feudal lord sent his thugs out to collect taxes or his tribute. The difference with Capitalism is only in the clothing of the one who removes your money and how many transactions it takes to empty your pockets. This year, 77% of Americans are living from paycheck to paycheck. And we seem to be moving in the wrong direction with that statistic:

It's just more subtle than feudalism. To clarify, the only part with which I disagreed is that Capitalism was created to be a caste system or created a caste system.


I think the existing caste system from the feudal age created Capitalism.

The #399 billion in interest is not military spending. Much of it did not come from the expenses of wars. Traditionally, there are three main causes of deficits (and therefore debt) the three are wars, recessions and tax cuts. War does not account for all of the debt. Over the last 20 years there has been $1.4 trillion added to the national debt just because of tax cuts that went to the top 1%. If you looked at tax cuts that went to families making over $90,000 a year, the total would be that much higher (the top 1% make over $388,000 a year0.

Also, it is not reasonable to contrast $1 trillion in military spending (which it would be without erroneously adding the interest expenses) against $1.79 billion on homeless assistance. Total social spending, not including social security, which is paid for by its own tax, was almost $400 billion in 2005. http://journals.democraticunderground.com/hfojvt/95

the "Defense" spending, makes us less safe. We create more "terrorists" with each life we take. "They" know this and count on it. It's a great excuse to spend more "Defense" money.

At risk of sounding insensitive to poor people in this country:

We don't have it as hard as many nations when it comes to poverty. In America, poor kids may only eat one meal a day, or have plain bread for dinner. In Haiti, mothers make mud pies to fill their kids bellies because there is no food. After Hurricane Katrina, Americans who lost their homes moved into FEMA trailers. After the earthquake in Haiti, people who lost their homes moved into make shift tents on an 8 foot wide dirt median by a busy highway. That's not to say poverty in America is acceptable or not a problem, but some one brought up terrorism and poverty and only mentioned Americans.

Now, look at the poverty in many of the nations with a high Muslim population. Could this be a reason they hate us? If people in desperate circumstances turn to religion for comfort, and the message their religious leaders give them is not one of peace, is it any wonder they want to harm us?

My theory is imperfect, as it doesn't explain why some poor nations become breeding grounds for terrorists and others do not. Still, maybe if instead of dropping bombs on these countries we dropped money/food/etc. it would do a lot more to defeat terrorism. That's just a maybe. I could be wrong on it. Anyway, I don't think our government has a good understanding of terrorists. The Republicans didn't care to understand the terrorists and the Democrats are too worried about looking soft.

neoliberals, libertarians, and conservatives, rise up in outrage and vow to fight for economic justice in the U.S..

We hold the world hostage with our weapons and we hold the world hostage with our wheat, meanwhile people within 20 miles of each one of us are going hungry. This is what the social conservatives have brought us to thru their deception and pandering to their master. We as progressives can help slow the decline by GROWING COMMUNITY THRU GARDENING. Plant some tomatoes in your south facing landscape beds and take your harvest overage to a local food pantry. Check out the Indiana Urban Growth Co-op, because Capitalism without Compassion is nothing but Satanism in it's purest form!

Poverty is used to force people into submission while fear of terrorism is used to take away freedom.

Fear of poverty is not a choice, fear of terrorism is a choice.

rather than the less insidious ones.

.. listen and help, so we worked for them and gave what we could, would actually listen and help. Instead, we are ignored at best, or beat down and told "STFU and eat your gruel, before YOU cost us the election," at worst. I don't know where to turn anymore.

I also don't know where to turn.

Some times I feel like I stepped into an alternate Universe, where most of what made life worth living has been removed. And those that actually COULD do something about it, won't even try.

you describe that because I get those same kind of feelings.