Many of us have it pretty good in this country – compared to other third world nations that is. We dwell in a television-based culture, which incessantly promotes the idea that things are mostly pretty good no matter what. That is especially true now that the press has rolled over and is playing dead. We see very little coverage of poverty, hunger, homelessness or other issues that involve human suffering. It’s just not PC.
If you are among the fortunate who are still employed and not facing layoffs, or impending financial or medical doom; if you are managing to make ends meet, pay the bills, and put food on the table; if you have savings, investments, or prospects for the future; you may not be aware of just how many Americans are trying to cope with gut-wrenching realities.
Just last year, the national poverty rate rose to include 35.9 million Americans, 12.5 percent of the population. More than 36 million people were at risk of suffering from hunger in the United States, including 1 in 3 children. In addition, 3.5 million people were forced to sleep in parks, under bridges, in shelter or cars.
The combination of the high cost of living, low-wage jobs, and high unemployment rates only exacerbate these problems and force countless Americans to choose between food, housing, and other expenses. Studies show that money devoted to food is typically the first to be sacrificed. Families will often pay their fixed payments first, such as rent and utilities, rather than pay for food. Bread for the World reported that 35% of Americans had to choose between food and rent, while 28% had to choose between medical care and food, in the first half of 2004.
Unfortunately, these problems will only continue to grow if our society does not make it a national priority to address them in any systemic way. Source
Surprisingly, in the world’s richest and fattest nation hunger is a persistent problem. Many people are shocked to learn how many people go hungry in this spoiled and bloated land.
One of the most disturbing and extraordinary aspects of life in this very wealthy country is the persistence of hunger. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports, based on a national U.S. Census Bureau survey of households representative of the U.S. population, that in 2004 11.9 percent of all U.S. households were "food insecure" because of lack of resources. Of the 13.5 million households that were food insecure, 4.4 million suffered from food insecurity that was so severe that USDA's very conservative measure classified them as "hungry." Source
Only rarely are we reminded that things aren’t so good for just everyone in America. The shocking aftermath of Katrina was one such event. Anyone paying attention to the news couldn’t escape the observation that here was a large population of people who were impoverished and suffering, and who had been written off by our government long before the hurricane ever roared ashore. The usually invisible mountain of unconcern for the poor was suddenly and glaringly obvious to us all.
It is easy to forget the millions of Americans who lead desperate lives at the edge of the abyss: the hungry; the homeless; the hardcore unemployed; the uneducated; the sick; the elderly; the mentally ill; ex-convicts; drug addicts; war veterans who’ve received inadequate care; the laid off; people whose jobs have been exported; those who have suffered catastrophe or just plain bad luck.
We used to hear about homelessness, but we don’t hear much about it any more. Could it be that we’ve solved that problem? Well…um…no.
Who is Homeless and Why?
The homeless population includes people from all walks of life:
· In the U.S., more than 3.5 million people experience homelessness each year.
· 35% of the homeless population are families with children, which is the fastest growing segment of the homeless population.
· 25% are U.S. military veterans.
· 25% are children under the age of 18 years.
· 30% have experienced domestic violence.
· 20-25% suffer from mental illness.
· In urban communities, people experience homelessness for an average of eight months.
And families who are snug and secure in their own homes can be out on their asses tomorrow. All it takes is a layoff, a business failure, a divorce, a major medical claim denied, or any number of other disasters. Many of those who are making it, nevertheless teeter on the edge.
We seem especially blind to the suffering caused by our government’s failed social policies such as the so-called War on Drugs. This one wrong-headed policy has wrought infinitely more death and human suffering than drugs themselves ever could. Because of the hype, hysteria, and misinformation we are subjected to on the subject, many of us don’t realize that the majority of the harm caused by drugs is actually the direct result of our draconian drug laws, aggressive and violent enforcement of those laws, and the criminality imposed by prohibition.
We need to bring all of this drug hysteria to an end. Prohibition does not work. The fact is that people have always used drugs and they always will. But the point here is that this misbegotten war causes terrible and heart-breaking damage to our society, and to innocents, children, and others who would do us no harm.
There's a war going on. It destroys lives and families, spawns violence, suspends civil liberties, tramples on the infirm, locks up millions of peaceful citizens, costs billions, and subjugates reason with fear. Source
And God help anyone who is caught up in the Drug War or for any other reason goes to prison in this country. For decades prison populations have been rising dramatically while prison conditions have been deteriorating just as dramatically. Prison reformers once imagined that as time went by, conditions would improve because awareness would naturally increase and Americans would act on their consciences. They were wrong.
California is no anomaly; over the last 20 years, the number of prisoners has surged in every state in the country. While the nation's population has grown by only 20 percent, the number of Americans held in local, state, and federal lockups has doubled -- and then doubled again. The United States now locks up some two million people. That's far more than ever before, and more than any other country on earth. And the number is still growing.
Most Americans never even see, let alone become ensnared in, the nation's vast correctional system. But the unprecedented prison boom is incurring unprecedented costs -- economic, social and ethical -- that are being paid, one way or another, by everyone in this country. Source
We are the world leader in imprisoning our citizens. We have a higher percentage of our population in prison than any other country in the world. That’s any other country: more than Ghana; more than Colombia or Brazil; more than China or Russia; more than anyone in the world. And the remarkable rise in our prison population is not tied to attendant rises in the crime rate.
Prisons certainly aren't expanding because more crimes are being committed. Since 1980, the national crime rate has meandered down, then up, then down again -- but the incarceration rate has marched relentlessly upward every single year. Nationwide, crime rates today are comparable to those of the 1970s, but the incarceration rate is four times higher than it was then. It's not crime that has increased; it's punishment. More people are now arrested for minor offenses, more arrestees are prosecuted, and more of those convicted are given lengthy sentences. Huge numbers of current prisoners are locked up for drug offenses and other transgressions that would not have met with such harsh punishment 20 years ago. Source
Our prisons are filthy, overcrowded, inhumane gladiator academies where people are routinely tortured, raped, murdered and treated like human refuse. Equally disgraceful is our treatment of American Indians. The most shameful event in all of American history is our slaughter and abuse of those who were here first. From the beginning we saw them as an inconvenience and as sub-human pests to be exterminated. And exterminate them we did, right down to the last Indian with the will to fight, Geronimo – the last wild Indian.
After Geronimo was captured his followers, the last free Indians, were herded onto barren reservations to join their kin who went before them. There they were forced to live like the whites, and forbidden to speak their own language or practice their tribal rites, religion, or culture. In the years since, our treatment of them has scarcely improved.
Like many American Indian tribes, the Lakota were once a self-sufficient nation. Today the reservation is known for high rates of poverty, disease, alcoholism, and suicide. Poor living conditions are exacerbated by overcrowding because of a shortage of as many as 2,000 housing units on Pine Ridge -- one family of 23 lives in a single trailer. Source
People often form the misconception that American Indians are getting rich off of gambling operations. The fact is that only a very small percentage have benefited from the casino phenomenon. A near majority of the rest live in persistent and debilitating poverty.
Native American Indian heritage is rich in tradition and culture unique to the legacy of our country. But many Native American tribal members living on Indian reservations are struggling with a different legacy. More than 300,000 Native Americans are either homeless or living in life-threatening conditions. American Indians are faced with a suicide rate double that of all other nonwhites, and higher levels of school dropouts, alcoholism and unemployment (45% average, with 82% on the Rosebud Reservation). Because many Native American reservations are located in isolated areas, much of the housing on Indian reservations lack electricity and running water.
With the reported success of Indian gaming, it might be hard to believe that nearly 50% of all American Indian families currently live below the poverty line. Native Indian tribes are individual sovereign nations and have always been responsible for the needs of their people, regardless of tribal income. There are 562 federally recognized Indian tribes, and only about half operate any type of gaming business. It is just a handful of the smaller Indian tribes, like the 50-member Cabazon, and non-Indian investors, that have become the wealthy "headline making" exceptions. (Other tribes, such as the 250,000-member Navajo Nation, are not involved in gaming.)
Native American Indians are a proud and capable people. They aren't looking for a handout, they are searching for ways to face the challenges of maintaining their native culture, while overcoming years of poverty. source
If there is anything more shameful that our treatment of America Indians, it is our outrageous treatment of our veterans. In this era of hyper-inflated patriotism, in a time when people plaster their cars with magnetic ribbons that scream, “Support our troops,” and anyone who opposes war is attacked for being unpatriotic, we have much to answer for, for our treatment of “Our troops” once they come back home. It is nothing less than a national disgrace (I know, it’s hard to keep up with them all).
Referring to America’s war dead, President Bush told an audience at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day that “America acknowledges a debt that is beyond our power to repay.” Many of the nation’s 26 million living veterans, some of whom were wounded in wars, some of whom are old and frail, are wondering if President Bush is interested in repaying the debt owed to them. Veterans, as well as other Americans, are asking, where is George Bush's “compassionate conservatism”?
A memorandum from the White House Budget Office, recently obtained by the Associated Press from congressional sources who requested anonymity, instructs government agencies to prepare for massive cuts to domestic programs in 2006, even as the administration pushes for $1 trillion in new tax cuts. Source
Yes, while W prepares a
trillion dollars in tax cuts for his billionaire buddies, he is viciously screwing the good people to whom we owe “a debt that is beyond our power to repay.” It is apparently beyond our
intention to repay as well.
The President's budget calls for drastic cuts in many federal programs and services which will harm millions of children, seniors, and working adults.
Defense, foreign aid and homeland security funding are all increased, while other domestic spending is drastically reduced. Given expected inflation, this would mean a cut, in real terms, of 14 percent by 2010. The budget also reduces or eliminates 150 programs, block granting and slashing vital public services for a wide range of needs. The cuts are especially harmful for job training, community development programs, social services, veterans' health care, law enforcement, housing, election reform assistance to the states, and childcare. At the same time, the budget calls for far-reaching changes in the congressional budget process that will hide the true costs of the Bush tax cuts, make it easier to pass new tax cuts, and impose spending caps on most domestic spending. Source
The gall, the nerve, the audacity, the hubris, the hypocrisy, the sheer outright Bushiness of these assholes is beyond insane. Compassionate conservatism my ass!
George W. Bush, who constantly and piously waxes ineloquent on “supporting our men and women in the armed forces” is a lying, hypocritical douche bag. But then you already knew that, didn’t you?
It has become one of the most shameful realities in this country. The number of veterans who return home to the US and end up living on the streets or in homeless shelters. According to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, nearly 300,000 veterans are homeless on any given night, and almost half of those are Vietnam vets.
Now, with the occupation of Iraq and some 150,000 troops deployed there and thousands more who have returned, a new generation of soldiers are facing the same realities experienced by their colleagues who fought in Vietnam and in other conflicts. Some of them are suffering from the effects of depleted uranium; others from posttraumatic stress disorder or mental illness sparked by their time in the zone of combat. Others find they have no place to live. Source
The suffering in this country is substantial and egregious, but largely hidden. It is compounded by the policies of the Republicans. Compassionate conservatism is a despicable lie.
Where’s the compassion?
Now, after observing Bush's first few years in the Oval Office, we have a clearer understanding of what his words meant on that auspicious day in New Hampshire. Being a "fiscal conservative" meant passing lopsided tax cuts for the wealthy few and leaving the federal budget in deficit for the foreseeable future. Being a "family conservative" meant looking after certain families, particularly if their annual incomes are higher than $200,000 and their estates are valued at more than $2 million. And so far, being a "compassionate conservative" appears to mean nothing very different from being a hardhearted, stingy, old-fashioned conservative. Source
Enough already!
I hope that all of you, like me, have had a bellyful of this disgraceful crap. A modern society is just a large, complex version of a tribe. People banded together in tribes in the first place in order to better be able to take care of themselves, and each other. People in tribes assist each other and take care of one another. And that is what the American tribe should be doing. So far, we are failing miserably.
The richest 5 percent of American households control nearly 60 percent of the nation’s wealth, while the bottom 40 percent have less than a percent. What’s more, low- and middle-income families are increasingly saddled with debt. Given an inability to make ends meet, not to mention the spiraling cost of housing, millions of Americans are literally mortgaging their futures. Source
Conservatives far from being compassionate, offer us a dog-eat-dog, every-man-for-himself philosophy. We can no longer endure such madness. No one should be hungry, homeless, without healthcare, or without employment that provides a living wage in this, the richest nation in the world.
In 2004, 37 million Americans lived below the poverty line, a 1.1 million person increase from 2003.
Some Americans are more likely to live in poverty just because of their gender, age or color of their skin. African Americans only earn 62% as much income as white Americans, and women only earn 77% as much income as men for comparable work. 1 in 4 African Americans lives in poverty, and more than 1 in 5 Hispanic Americans live in poverty. A total of 7.9 million American families live in poverty. Female-householder families with no husband are the most likely families to live in poverty — a staggering 28.4% of them are impoverished. Children are more likely to live in poverty than adults.
The status of the uninsured Americans is similarly staggering. 8.3 million children do not have health insurance. Last year alone, 800,000 Americans lost their health insurance. Today, 15.7% of all Americans lack health insurance (up from 14.2% in 2000). Nearly 33% of Hispanic Americans and nearly 20% of African Americans have no health insurance. Native Americans have less access to health care than other Americans, with large-scale fatal consequences. Native Americans are 500% more likely to develop tuberculosis and 391% more likely to develop diabetes. In addition, they live almost 6 fewer years than the average American, too. Source
Do you think the greedheads, and the “tax cuts for billionaires” crowd give a rat’s ass about all of this suffering? Do you think they’re willing to give up a few luxuries or perks to help out? Do you believe they would forego tax cuts they don’t need to help the less fortunate? Do you think guys like this really care?
Exxon is giving Lee Raymond one of the most generous retirement packages in history, nearly $400 million, including pension, stock options and other perks, such as a $1 million consulting deal, two years of home security, personal security, a car and driver, and use of a corporate jet for professional purposes. Source
The suffering of millions of Americans can no longer go ignored by our government. We need to purge our government of every last “compassionate conservative,” replace them with progressives, and demand that they do the following:
- Rescind the Bush tax cuts
- Eliminate tax breaks for Corporations
- End the war on drugs and the counter-productive prohibition of same
- End the war on the poor and the middleclass
- Declare war instead on: poverty, discrimination, homelessness, mental illness, addiction, and suffering
- Implement universal healthcare
- Provide adequately and generously for the needs of veterans
- Raise the minimum wage (and not by just a little), and guarantee full employment at a living wage
- Curtail egregious corporate abuses such as the Lee Raymond $400 million retirement package
- Restore and strengthen a safety net for all Americans
- Guarantee free and fair elections
- Guarantee a free Internet by legislating Network Neutrality
- Reform our disgraceful prison system
- End the war in Iraq immediately
- Provide shelter for the homeless, food for the hungry, and assistance for all who are in need
With over 37 million Americans living in poverty, 40 million without healthcare insurance, 4 million homeless, and with the ratio of executive pay to everyone else’s at 431 to 1, it is high time that we bring this sorry shitwagon to a screeching halt.
The American people have suffered enough.
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