4 ms·
I think you have a point. Most of the people in poverty in America right now are materially better off than almost everyone 500 years ago, and most of the poor
by timwiseman 16y ago
I think you have a point. Most of the people in poverty in America right now are materially better off than almost everyone 500 years ago, and most of the poor in America remain better off than most of the people in say Afghanistan.
With that said, the close tie in to material wealth is your place in society. A good hunter-gatherer might have none of the luxuries we take for granted now, but he probably has the respect of those around him and looks around and sees he is well off compared to his comrades. He is likely to be happy, and to feel that his work is paying off.
A poor person in a ghetto may look around and see many others that are much better off than he is. He may see that many people outside the ghetto give him no respect, and that even many of the well meaning ones look at him with pity. He may react to this with determination to improve and leave the ghetto. But he may react with anger or resignation, and he may feel (whether accurate or not) that no amount of work will help him change his lot in life. He is vastly better off in a material sense than the hunter gatherer, but worse off in terms of his place in society and his (perceived) ability to improve that place.
It is this emotional response to the social issue, much more than their material situation, that is cogent to the situation.
- yummyfajitas 16y agoMost of the people in poverty in America right now are materially better off than almost everyone 500 years ago, and most of the poor in America remain better off than most of the people in say Afghanistan. Or even better off than most of the people in America, 1960.
- starkfist 16y agoIs this true? My grandparents were poor in 1960 yet had a big house and a decent car, a coffee maker, a big yard, etc. Why are poor people better off now? Because they have the internet?
- yummyfajitas 16y agoThe poor of today also have the house and the car. They also have air conditioning, a washer dryer, a microwave, cable TV and other such things. No one had that in the 1960's. In fact, a big chunk of the 1960's poor didn't even have a flush toilet. http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2004/01/understanding-poverty-in-america http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2004/01/understandi... I got curious why you mentioned that your grandparents had the coffee maker. It's because they were actually pricey in the 60's: $29.95 or $215 in 2009 dollars! A coffee maker was actually pricier than a wii. http://www.dadsvintageads.com/viewitem.php/dadsvintageads/pd959405/Vintage_Ad_1960_Toastmaster_Toaster_Coffee_Maker_Fry_Pan http://www.dadsvintageads.com/viewitem.php/dadsvintageads/pd...
- mkramlich 16y agoand free libraries, etc. You're way better off being poor in the USA than in the middle of Africa, for example.
- nandemo 16y agoAnd better off than most of the people in underdeveloped countries in 2010, including so-called emergent countries.