Poverty is a criminal offense in America.

[Brian37]

Our subconscious class warfare. Toronto's mayor, obviously not poor, does stupid shit and people merely call him "a joke". Florida politician gets caught with cocaine, and will "get help". But when poor people have the same problems they are treated like dirt and become indentured slaves to paying lawyers and probation.

And the other aspect, I get accused of being a "loser" being college educated and a dishwasher while saying the same things famous atheists such as Ricky Gervais or Chistopher Hitchens.

It does not matter when I point out wealthy people whom try to do the right thing. It does not matter that I point out our secular roots. Poverty is a criminal offense in America. We are working hard to look like the same Caste system as India which is nothing we should aspire to be as a nation.

We are in total denial as a nation that we have a class of "untouchables". I want everyone in my poor class to have a quality education. I want everyone to have a livable wage. There is no excuse for a nation that has 57 trillion GDP to even have abject poverty. Japan has dishwashers and janitors too. But they do NOT have abject poverty and their "poor" are much better educated on average than our poor.

I also hate the meme's floating around showing poor in third world countries who have it worse. You do not help them by pulling that shit, nor do you help keep our poor from falling further down. Knowing I have it better does not mean we should have a race to the bottom. Humanity should want better for their fellow human.

For far too long we have allowed Corporate America dictate wages down to the point of mom and pop shops following suit. We have seen our wages stagnate while Wall Street keeps breaking records in profit. The workers HAVE the numbers even if the uber rich have the money. We do not want to end private business, we just want to live without being slaves to low wages. The more we the worker raise our voices, the sooner those at the top will have no choice but to listen. I encourage everyone reading this to raise your voices on all social media to these corporate bullies and demand that they stop squeezing the rest of us. If Moo Cluck Moo, COSTCO, and Trader Joe can pay better wages, all of you can.

[Zazzy]

Homelessness is essentially illegal in many US cities- there is no legal place for your body to be for much of the time if you are homeless.

This is a tough one- I live in a downtown neighborhood close to several soup kitchens, and some of these guys are scary and dangerous. But where the fuck are they supposed to go if you can't sit or lie on any public property?

[Minimalist]

The OP is essentially correct, however.

The Upper 1% does not want to be bothered with such losers.

[Brian37]

The OP is essentially correct, however.

The Upper 1% does not want to be bothered with such losers.

You treat enough people like "losers" like billionaire Gaddafi did, and that certainly worked out well for him didn't it?

The worst part is when you point this out you are not saying you want it to get to that point, but starve enough people to death and they will react, it is evolutionary.

Sharing to some degree works better than hording. You have to accept a diverse income as an aspect of a society, and a gap has to exist as a motivator, but just like anything in life, to much will upset the ecosystem.

Japan had a huge disaster in their Tsunami, but there was no looting or riots.

I get really tired pointing out that I am poor as if I am asking for some class loyalty in saying you cant move up because I didn't.

You are always going to have in an open market a ratio of incomes including those who never move up. But the poor in America are NOT lazy and I really fucking hate that meme. I know that my co workers bust their asses and all they want is simply not to drowned in bills. And most DO NOT want to be on food stamps.. And the sad thing is big companies say they want the same thing but have the power to get people off of food stamps. And food stamps we pay for as tax payers. So it isn't that we are subsidizing the poor, in reality we are subsidizing the rich because that money that pays for the food stamps ends up in the bank accounts of these big companies.

[Tea Earl Grey Hot]

I honestly don't understand why homeless people don't go to a shelter.

[Minimalist]

A lot of them are homeless because they are crazy.

Crazy people don't make rational decisions.

[houseofcantor]

I honestly don't understand why homeless people don't go to a shelter.

'Cause they dumb.

I've spent half my life being "homeless" because I've never approved of "the system" and the vast majority have their own elitism going on. They want to be in people's faces and they do feel like they're somehow owed something. I ain't got much pity for 'em.

When I do that stuff, I go deep into the bushes, collect change off of the sidewalk, go to labor halls; people don't know I'm "homeless."

(I'm American, btw)

[Brian37]

People outside America are by comparison much more sane about this topic on average.

[houseofcantor]

People outside America are by comparison much more sane about this topic on average.

That's the way to make friends and influence people.

[Tea Earl Grey Hot]

I walk through Harvard square once a week. There are so many bums there for some reason. A lot of them are young. I'm wondering if many of them (particularly the young ones) are faking being homeless for money.