single header

If you want to comment online, use the Reply form following this commentary.

Hopeful Statistics About Poverty

Howell Hurst Uncategorized

It is absolutely not my intention to start a fight here over statistics. Anybody can use numbers to make a point – even an invalid one. But since our politicians are finally discussing poverty, now that some 30 million Americans are unemployed and without firm incomes, it seems that looking closely at some documented figures on the subject is not out of line.

The following information is an article in The New Yorker expressing the opinion that government measures have positively reduced poverty levels in America. I am neither endorsing nor judging the opinion. I am only providing the data so you may read it and judge for yourself.

Whether you agree with how the result has been accomplished, it does appear to indicate that government poverty programs have helped poorer people maintain reasonable levels of subsistence in the highly competitive atmosphere of our capitalist corporate economy.

If you care about the actual condition of less fortunate people, you might wish to expend the energy to read the study and absorb some the information presented. Does it take work to get through the article? Yes it does. But work is what is needed to reach some sort of agreement on how to deal with the problems of the poor. It affects us all.

The New Yorker’s Review of Government Poverty Data:

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/johncassidy/2014/01/the-successful-war-on-poverty-in-four-charts.html?utm_source=tny&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailyemail&mbid=nl_Daily%20(97)

Return to Blog

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.