hunger in the usa

[peaccenicked]

Hunger Basics
Who's Going Hungry In The U.S.?

Bread for the World is a nationwide Christian citizens movement seeking justice for the world's hungry people by lobbying our nation's decision makers. Editor's note: This excerpt is from Bread for the World's fact sheet, Hunger Basics: Frequently Asked Questions.


Is hunger really a problem in the United States?

When Americans think about hunger, we usually think in terms of mass starvation in far-away countries, but hunger too often lurks in our own backyards. Even in the most prosperous times, 31 million people, including 12 million children, in the United States did not have access to enough food for an active healthy life, and were often forced to choose between relying on emergency food sources or going hungry.

The economic downturn has further complicated the efforts of millions of poor people to simply get by. In October alone, the U.S. unemployment rate jumped from 4.9 percent to 5.4 percent, the largest one-month jump in two decades. The 0.5 percent increase represents 415,000 more people in the ranks of the unemployed. November saw the unemployment rate jump again, this time to 5.7 percent. For a family already struggling to make ends meet, losing a job can be catastrophic.

Who is going hungry in the United States?

Although most people think of hungry people and homeless people as the same, the problem of hunger reaches far beyond homelessness. While the thought of 31 million people being hungry or at risk of hunger may be surprising, it is the faces of those 31 million individuals that would probably most shock you.

The face of hunger is the older couple who has worked hard their entire lives only to find their savings wiped out by unavoidable medical bills; or a single mother who has to choose whether the salary from her minimum wage job will go to buy food or pay the rent; or a child who struggles to concentrate on his schoolwork because his family couldn't afford dinner the night before. A December 2001 survey by the U.S. Conference of Mayors estimated that 54 percent of those requesting emergency food assistance were either children or their parents.

Aren't most of the people going to soup kitchens to blame for their own situation?

A recent study commissioned by America's Second Harvest, the nation's largest network of food banks, found almost 40 percent of households seeking emergency food banks' assistance had one or more family member currently employed. Hunger is becoming a growing problem among the working poor.

Food banks have had to fill the gap left since eligibility requirements for the Food Stamp Program were changed in 1996, leaving millions of poor people without a place to turn for food. Indeed, America's Second Harvest served an estimated 23 million people last year, while only 17 million received government food stamps.

If people are willing to work, why are they still at risk of going hungry?

There are various reasons many working Americans are unable to feed their families. From a broader economic perspective, we can point to the fact that the United States has the highest wage inequality of any industrialized nation (Hunger in a Global Economy: Hunger 1998, Bread for the World Institute). People can work full-time, low-skill jobs and still not make enough money to maintain a basic standard of living -- buying food, paying their rent and medical bills, buying clothes for their children and affording a car so that they can travel to work.

Just providing food seldom gets to the roots of hunger. In the United States, food pantries provide urgently needed help. But food assistance is less important to overcoming hunger than job opportunities. Empowering people, providing them with opportunities or helping them cultivate an awareness of what they can do to improve their lives, is one of the most important ways of overcoming hunger and poverty.

How does hunger affect children?

According to a July 2001 study by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, of the 4.1 million food stamp households that included an able-bodied, non-elderly adult, 77 percent also included children.

Child poverty is more widespread in the United States than in any other industrialized country; at the same time, the U.S. government does less than any industrialized country to pull its children out of poverty (What Governments Can Do: Hunger 1997, Bread for the World Institute).

We have long known that the minds and bodies of small children need adequate food to develop properly. But science is just beginning to understand the full extent of this relationship. As late as the 1980s, conventional wisdom held that only the most severe forms of malnutrition actually alter brain development. The latest empirical evidence, however, shows that even relatively "mild" undernutrition -- the kind of hunger we have in the United States -- produces cognitive impairments in children which can last a lifetime, according to Dr. J. Larry Brown, director of the Center on Hunger, Poverty and Nutrition Policy at Tufts University.

By taking youngsters and subjecting them to hunger, we rob them of their God-given potential, Dr. Brown continues. "We then deliver them to the schoolhouse door with one arm tied behind their backs and expect teachers to perform an often-impossible task. This, in turn, results in the waste of billions of dollars we invest in the education of our children because hunger prevents so many of them from getting the full value of their educational experience."

[I Will Deny You]

I'm really glad that you posted that, peaccenicked. I see plenty of kids whose parents don't (or can't) feed them, it's sickening. It makes me realize how lucky I was to grow up on a farm . . .

Their parents work their asses off and can still barely feed their children while some CEO who does next to nothing (except eat lunch with Karl Rove) gets millions of dollars and spends it on whores. School lunch programs are never enough, either.

1 in 5 American children goes hungry.

[rebel with a cause]

Somethin really pissed me off last week, I was at a gas station filling up my VW bug, and on the other side pulls up this well to do buisness man in his brand new Mercedes SUV, all decked out in his Armani 3 piece suit, he goes to hand the attendent, a $20 bill, (he has to use the high perfomance 91 octane gas of course) and returns to fill his car, meanwhile, a homeless man pushing his shopping cart goes by, he stops in front of me holding a sign that read: "Please help me, a homeless man" I pulled out my wallet, and gave him the last 2 dollars i had left, and gave him all the change I had in my tray inside the car. Then he goes over to the other guy, and holds his sign. Now it wasn't the fact that this man didn't give him any money (though he sure as hell could've afforded it), it was the fact that he looked the other way, he wouldn't even acknowledge him as a human being, as if the poverty that stood before him didn't even exist, now there were several other people around, so I decided to make a scene, I went to up the Capi and said, "What the hell is your problem? You know he's standing in front of you, acknowledge him, and at least tell him you can't "afford" to give him even a nickel because you're in such great financial hardship!" Everyone was struck in awe and just stared at the Capi, this guy turned so red his face was like a fuckin' cherry. I just got in my car and drove off after, so I don't know what became of the situation.
The homeless man was there again today, i didn't have any money, i'd paid for my gas and bought a Gatorade cause I was thirsty as hell, so I gave him my drink.

Two quotes to think about:

"The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing" ~Albert Einstein


"The worst sin towards our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them. That is the essence of inhumanity" ~George Bernard Shaw

[Capitalist]

That would explain the obesity in this country and why 1/5 of Americans are Obese.

Hunger is not a problem here.

Too many fat people is the real problem.

[peaccenicked]

Why cant you just admit there is something wrong with wealth distribution in America.
Why do you dismiss the plight of poor people so easily.
Your fellow countrymen and women and children.

[Capitalist]

The poorest Americans are richer than most common class Cubans and Chinese. There is no middle class in communist countries - just the poor and party members (who are quite wealthy).

If you can't make it in the USA - the problem is you! - not the USA.

[rebel with a cause]

You guarantee liberty and justice for all.
Be a fuckin man of your word.

"Charity is no substitue for justice witheld."
-St. Augustine

[I Will Deny You]

Quote: from Capitalist on 11:27 pm on Jan. 21, 2002
That would explain the obesity in this country and why 1/5 of Americans are Obese.

Hunger is not a problem here.

Too many fat people is the real problem.
CLASS DIVISION is the "real problem." Obesity is one problem and hunger is definitely another. But if wealth was distributed differently, there would be less obesity and less hunger.

I don't know where you live, but I would like to invite you to SW Washington, DC so that you can say "the problem is you!" to hard-working parents who work 80 hour weeks and can still barely feed their children.

[Imperial Power]

The reason they are going hungry is that they don't ask for help. Food shelves, Churches, Social Programs all gurantee people will have enoguh to eat; especially with children. It's people with personal problems that don't go out and ask for help that are going hungry.

[I Will Deny You]

Quote: from Imperial Power on 2:30 am on Jan. 22, 2002
Food shelves, Churches, Social Programs all gurantee people will have enoguh to eat; especially with children.They try, but there can never be enough. It's not about personal problems, it's a lack of donations.

[Jurhael]

Social Programs? Let's not forget that many of these programs have been regularly gutted and cut by mostly Republicans claiming to care about the "average person".

4/5ths of the country ARE NOT obese. Chew on that, Capitalist.

People in the US DO go through hunger AND poverty.

So the poor of the US are better off than in a third world country. SO FUCKING WHAT!? That doesn't make ANY OF IT OKAY.

Got that? Or do you need the extra brain cell to breathe?

(Edited by Jurhael at 4:14 am on Jan. 22, 2002)

[Dreadnaht1]

Capitalist, here's some Who Wants To Be A FUCKING Millionare trivia for ya. I bet you any money you don't get a single question right. So speaking of money, here are the questions:

1.) The number of US Citizens without healthcare is

A.) A FEW OLD PEOPLE

B.) 45 MILLION

The correct answer is B.) 45 MILLION

2.) The Richest 10% in America own

A.) CONNETICUT

B.) 80% OF ALL WEALTH

The correct answer is B.) 80% OF ALL WEALTH

3.) Women make

A.) BABIES

B.) 30% LESS THEN MEN

The correct answer is B.) 30% LESS THEN MEN

4.) How many people in the world live on less then $1?

A.) 1 BILLION

B.) NOT POSSIBLE!

The correct answer is A.) 1 BILLION

And now for our 1 zillion dollar question:

How many Americans live in poverty?

A.) 35 MILLION

B.) WHAT POVERTY?

And the answer is: A.) 35 MILLION

Unfortunately cappy, you don't win. Since you apparently think that every homeless person can just go to McDonalds and buy a house. YOU CANNOT LIVE ON $4.17! And that wage is dropping dramatically. It's because of capitalists like Capitalist that they're aren't more programs to help the homeless in this disgusting nation. It's only a matter of time before the number of homeless becomes so overwhelming that this nation is forced to give up it's capitalistic ways. Either that or it will be overthrown.

-Regis Philban





(Edited by Dreadnaht1 at 2:19 am on Jan. 22, 2002)

[Imperial Power]

Dread do you live in the USA?

[peaccenicked]

Imperial 's weakness change subject, ask silly question nothing to do with topic.

[Dreadnaht1]

Well I'll answer anyway, yes I can assure you I live in the U$A. I've lived here all of my life. I've seen it's many faults and reprecussions. I've seen the vast poor and the small amounts of super rich. I've been influenced by the propaganda. I've been mindlessly taught the national anthem ("and justice for all" is really quite funny) and I can assure you I know, personally, what I'm fighting against. Pure evil.

It suprises me more people don't actually look at the current situation instead of looking away and not aknowledging the truth like it's a homeless bum asking for pennies in his McDonalds cup.

If there's one thing more disgusting then capitalism it's American Capitalism.

-Dread

[I Will Deny You]

Quote: from Imperial Power on 10:29 pm on Jan. 22, 2002
Dread do you live in the USA?
I live in the USA as well. I live in the damned capital of the USA, home of some of the richest and some of the poorest citizens. I can tell you for a fact that plenty of people are not paid living wages and plenty of people go hungry.

Why haven't any capitalists accepted my invitation to come on down and tell parents that "the problem is you?"

[reagan lives]

Fools.

Look, you all obviously believed Marx when he said that Capitalism is based on the subjugation of the working class by the upper class...one of the greatest and most ironic examples of intellectual fraud known to man. The truth is that capitalism erases classes as Marx defined them. While Marx suggested that the workers should rule over those who owned the means of production, he was actually cementing the class system. Whereas in capitalism, the workers are allowed to own the means of production, and a whole new group of people who fit neither group emerged...the Middle Class. The emergence of the middle class is actually the erasing of the class structure that Marx based his argument on and railed against so furiously. The suggestions of Marx and the perverted practices thereof were predicated on stark division between the owners of the means of production and the working class. In Communist systems this was the government vs. everyone else.

Capitalist systems, most notably America's, allow those who do not own the means of production to become wealthy anyway. Relative to the rest of the world, the social mobility in America is off the charts, even during the slowest economic periods. And that's what you guys don't want to confront...the fact (FACT) that the systems you espouse promote class division, while those that you rail against destroy it. Does 10% of the American population control 80% of the wealth? Absolutely. But compare the American working class to any other in the world...they're downright goddamn bourgeoise. This little factoid, and more specifically your attempt at using it to prove a point, is indicative of another fundamental mistake that you all make. See, in America it's not important whether your "piece of the pie" is as big as the next guy's. Why? Because THERE IS NO PIE. There's not a static amount of wealth to be divvied up in capitalist systems. There is, for all practical purposes, an infinite amount of wealth to be had. Only in socialist systems does your "piece of the pie" matter. Your criticisms of American capitalism reflect an either incomplete or highly warped understanding of the system.

[I Will Deny You]

Quote: from reagan lives on 4:45 am on Jan. 23, 2002
THERE IS NO PIE.I've worked in soup kitchens and I've fed people who worked at legit workplaces and got the minimum wage that the capitalist government set. THERE IS NO PIE, you are correct. Sometimes, THERE IS NO SOUP. THERE IS NO BREAD. People who work at the bottom of the ladder, class system or not, often find that THERE IS NO FOOD. None, whatsoever, and definitely no pie. Whether or not Marx' class system is still around and whether or not there is a theoretical infinite amount of wealth to be had, I cannot speak for everyone else who posted in this thread but I personally have found that people who work hard in the richest country in the world have no food. That post belongs in the Theory forum (I'm not sure if right-wingers are not allowed in there, or if it's only the General Political Topics forum) but we're talking about conditions that exist right now.

Do you honestly believe that I have an incompetent or highly warped view of the system? I've worked in homeless shelters and soup kitchens in "the system" and I'm an assistant teacher at public schools in "the system." I've SEEN hungry people with my own eyes. Perhaps my view of the system might be considered "incompetent" only because I've worked in the inner city, but I haven't seen all of what the system can do because I never volunteered in the suburbs.

[reagan lives]

Who among us has not seen poverty in the United States? I live in New York City, I see it every day. But simply seeing and dealing with that poverty doesn't mean you understand it. I find that post hard to take seriously, since you didn't address any issues, you're just employing argumentum ad misericordiam (look it up). It's a sophistic trick and fallacy. Your commendable work in the soup kitched doesn't mean that you understand the system any better than anyone else.

[Dreadnaht1]

Reagan lives, while your post is correct on the subject of Marxism it is very incorrect on the subject of Communism. See, Marxism is the type of communism adapted for Britain in the 1800's. It's the same thing as saying Leninism is the communism adapted to Russia in the early 1900's. So, Marx's communism was quickly elipsed in the ever changing industrial UK and hence became wrong or just outdated. But the point is that one of the main advantages of communism is that in every revolution and in every nation it can be adapted to fit the current economy and change it. While on the other hand capitalism is narrow and very unadaptable.

It works quickly and pulls an economy into one form and starts decaying from there on out. This usually leaves millions of people homeless. But, American capitalism is far different because it was founded as a capitalist state. Therefore, thoU$Ands of people were not able to be pushed into poverty but staying true to capitalism it has begun it's decay and millions are now becoming poverse.

Communism's adaptability allows the people to remain out of poverty while the system slowly changes and the poverse join into one class and everyone has an equal amount of money, goods, etc. I think the capitalists like to use Darwin's theory of natural selection here. So I will use it myself. If we look at Darwin's theory we see capitalism in the beginning is a powerful form of economy that widely seperates people and sucks money into one class. But, in the long run, we can see this class gap will lead to the people's desire to change the system and find a new better economy. This is where communism will come in.

-Dread

[reagan lives]

That's a beautiful story, Dreadnaht, but there's simply nothing to back it up, either logically or historically.

[I Will Deny You]

Reagan, I was saying that arguments about Marxism applied to America are irrelevant. Whether there is a middle class or not, there are people starving. It has nothing to do with Marx, that's all.

[peaccenicked]

Reaganlives you are almost as dumb as your namesake.
You say you know how marx defined classes. Yet you say the middle class is bigger than the working class in America. That is simply a lie.You are saying that the advent of the middle class is abolishing classes as marx defined them. That is simlpy a lie.
If anyone is foolish it is you for believing these lies.
Is there anybody else in the whole wide world who believes these lies. You have nothing to back up this intellectual fraud. I doubt whether there is any American proffessor who would try and make you swallow that crap. It is not worth my while exposing such wild and ill founded allegations from someone so bankrupt of intellectual integrity as yourself.
for those interested in the truth. here is new book to put on your list.
The Working Class Majority:
America's Best Kept Secret


WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT?

The point of this book is to bring class back into focus in the United States, especially the working class. It is meant as a resource for workers, students, and anyone else interested in the world of work, power, and politics at the start of the new millennium.

Author Michael Zweig treats class as a question of power rather than income or life style. The book defines classes – the capitalist class, the middle class, and the working class – in terms of the relationships among them in the social power grid, and explores the interactions that operate among class, race, and gender. Using the latest data and new ways of thinking, Zweig shows why class is important by showing how our understanding of important social issues changes when we look at them through the lens of class. Based on these findings, Zweig explores the possible shape and meaning of a new working class politics that is already beginning to emerge at the start of the twenty-first century.
http://naples.cc.sunysb.edu/CAS/wcm.nsf/pages/book
For a comprehensive look at class
Here is the first chapter State and Revolution by Lenin
http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/work...aterev/ch01.htm (http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1917/sep/staterev/ch01.htm)


(Edited by peaccenicked at 6:03 pm on Jan. 24, 2002)

[reagan lives]

"I doubt whether there is any American proffessor who would try and make you swallow that crap."

A statement that makes one of my points so very well. You need to learn to think for yourself, peacenick, don't worry about what crazy pinko linguistics professors say to get their name in the paper.

"It is not worth my while exposing such wild and ill founded allegations from someone so bankrupt of intellectual integrity as yourself."
Of course, it's not worth your time. A convenient excuse.

OH, but you have sources I see. To refute my points about the lies of Marx and his followers, you link to a book review from SUNY Stonybrook and some choice selections from Lenin, the original Marx-following liar. And I'm bankrupt of intellectual integrity. Right.

[Dreadnaht1]

Reagan (is dead): "A statement that makes one of my points so very well. You need to learn to think for yourself, peacenick, don't worry about what crazy pinko linguistics professors say to get their name in the paper."

Maybe instead of getting all your ideas, etc. from some stupid fucking moron (Reagan) you can take your own advice. You really shouldn't give out advice that you can't follow, yourself. Reagan was an evil evil man as most presidents are. So, Reagan lives, why don't you loose that hollowed knowledge in your head and get some real, truthful ideas in there.

-Dread