Newsweek, Dec 1 issue, "The Last Word" by Anna Quindlen - pg 76

[Deja Q]

"A New Kind of Poverty".

It's a great read.

America is a country that now sit atop the precarious latticework of myth. It is the myth that working people can support their families.

It's in the magazine only, though. :-(

She points out that 5 out of the 10 most likely to grow big occupations are the lowest-paying jobs. Thank you, corporate america. x( x(

Also add a wake-up call that 1 out of ever 4 jobs created during the supposedly wonderful 1990s made less than $8.70 per hour, really wonderful too, huh? x( I'm glad for the other 3, but 1:4 is a very small ratio. And just how great were those other 3 anyway?

She also points out universal health care and other issues as well.

She points out stuff that is just jaw-dropping in the richest nation on Earth. (stuff I knew on a certain level already, but at least people are able to spread the word to the masses. Let's hope the masses rise up.)

[liberalhistorian]

1. And just wait for the

shitstorm of "socialist", and "commie", that will be hurled her way simply because she wants all Americans to have a decent life.

[mhr]

2. Link And Article Snippets

http://www.msnbc.com/news/997103.asp

A New Kind Of Poverty
Anna Quindlen
NEWSWEEK

America is a country that now sits atop the precarious latticework of myth. It is the myth that working people can support their families

Dec. 1 issue — Winter flits in and out of New York City in the late fall, hitching a ride on the wind that whips the Hudson River. One cold morning not long ago, just as day was breaking, six men began to shift beneath their blankets under a stone arch up a rise from the water. In the shadow of the newest castle-in-the-air skyscraper midwifed by the Baron Trump, they gathered their possessions. An hour later they had vanished, an urban mirage.

THERE’S A NEW kind of homelessness in the city, and a new kind of hunger, and a new kind of need and humiliation, but it has managed to stay as invisible as those sleepers were by sunup. “What we’re seeing are many more working families on the brink of eviction,” says Mary Brosnahan, who runs the Coalition for the Homeless. “They fall behind on the rent, and that’s it, they’re on the street.” Adds Julia Erickson, the executive director of City Harvest, which distributes food to soup kitchens and food pantries, “Look at the Rescue Mission on Lafayette Street. They used to feed single men, often substance abusers, homeless. Now you go in and there are bike messengers, clerks, deli workers, dishwashers, people who work on cleaning crews. Soup kitchens have been buying booster seats and highchairs. You never used to see young kids at soup kitchens.”

America is a country that now sits atop the precarious latticework of myth. It is the myth that work provides rewards, that working people can support their families. It’s a myth that has become so divorced from reality that it might as well begin with the words “Once upon a time.” According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1.6 million New Yorkers, or the equivalent of the population of Philadelphia, suffer from “food insecurity,” which is a fancy way of saying they don’t have enough to eat. Some are the people who come in at night and clean those skyscrapers that glitter along the river. Some pour coffee and take care of the aged parents of the people who live in those buildings. The American Dream for the well-to-do grows from the bowed backs of the working poor, who too often have to choose between groceries and rent.

Snip ......

[Deja Q]

3. Much thanks and thanks much!

msnbc, hmmm... they own newsweek. Given the opportunity, how much more would they buy?

[Iris]

4. kick

[MountainLaurel]

5. Read it and wanted to hit someone

Corporate bastards, the politicians who ignore the working poor, and the reporters who never see what's in front of their noses. Here in DC, it's much the same situation, though it's been like that for at least 6 or 7 years, when I began volunteering at a family shelter that provided medical care, social workers, housing, job and life skills training, and the other things you need to survive. Many of the residents were single parents of both sexes, but there were also families that had experienced a catastrophic illness when uninsured, grandparents raising children and grandchildren, and families crippled by serious mental illness. At that time, there was a 6-month waiting list to be placed in the shelter. Since then, rents have increased so much and so many apartments have optioned out of Section 8, that I ache to think of how desperate the situation is.