baltimore (and everywhere else)

[Jack]

Cell phones are easy,   indoor plumbing can be a bitch and is a lot more infrastructure.  My brother told me when he got back from India that poor people in this country have no idea just how good they have it compared to what he saw there.  I have heard pretty much the same from people who came to this country as refugees from various countries in Africa.

Have heard the same from immigrant Hispanics of various origin.

[Jack]

I've seen people without homes or food, and I think they meet the criteria for poor.

That sounds about right.

[Parts]

Cell phones are easy,   indoor plumbing can be a bitch and is a lot more infrastructure.  My brother told me when he got back from India that poor people in this country have no idea just how good they have it compared to what he saw there.  I have heard pretty much the same from people who came to this country as refugees from various countries in Africa.

Have heard the same from immigrant Hispanics of various origin.

Most of the people I have talked to from South and Central America have been from the country not the city and kinda liked it in their home countries just wanted come here to make money before returning,  the few urban dwellers I have talked to didn't want to return.   One of my interests is talking to people other parts of the world and hearing first hand about their countries with the goal of meeting someone from every country,  in South and Central America I am only missing Paraguay

[MLA]

Heck even I've said stuff like that on this forum before, called rioters stupid, called them fucking animals. No one contradicted me at the time

Arguing with a sock is counterproductive 

[Parts]

Heck even I've said stuff like that on this forum before, called rioters stupid, called them fucking animals. No one contradicted me at the time

Arguing with a sock is counterproductive 

What about with a shoe

[Gopher Gary]

Heck even I've said stuff like that on this forum before, called rioters stupid, called them fucking animals. No one contradicted me at the time

Arguing with a sock is counterproductive 

Please warn me if I ever become productive.

[odeon]

I've seen people without homes or food, and I think they meet the criteria for poor.

That sounds about right.

I would agree with them being a minority among the "poor" in the developed countries, but they do exist. Which is what I meant. A rich country does not equal rich people.

[sg1008]

I've seen people without homes or food, and I think they meet the criteria for poor.

That sounds about right.

I would agree with them being a minority among the "poor" in the developed countries, but they do exist. Which is what I meant. A rich country does not equal rich people.

A rich country merely indicates a higher average income (and perhaps some over avg/median measurements)....says nothin about the distribution of that income, or even what opportunities it can buy. I know people who can't drink their own tap water because its brown and has to be boiled- that on top of going hungry quite often, being financially poor, poorly educated, with poor access to food, and living in unsafe environments, regularly profiled, and untrusted by law enforcement. And this all borne out of circumstance. Yet they live in a rich country.

[RageBeoulve]

Nationalize currency, end dual citizenship. Outlaw super pacs.

[sg1008]

Nationalize currency, end dual citizenship. Outlaw super pacs.

Nationalise currency? Isn't it already nationalised? 

[Pyraxis]

Nationalize currency, end dual citizenship. Outlaw super pacs.

What??

What the hell is a super pac?

[Hannah]

I wish I didn't know, I wish it were a six pack...Heck I even would love it if it were pac man...

No A PAC in this case is a

Political Action Committee

In the United States, a political action committee (PAC) is a type of organization that pools campaign contributions from members and donates those funds to campaign for or against candidates, ballot initiatives, or legislation.[1][2] The legal term PAC has been created in pursuit of campaign finance reform in the United States. This term is quite specific to all activities of campaign finance in the United States. Democracies of other countries use different terms for the units of campaign spending or spending on political competition (see political finance). At the U.S. federal level, an organization becomes a PAC when it receives or spends more than $2,600 for the purpose of influencing a federal election, according to the Federal Election Campaign Act.[3] At the state level, an organization becomes a PAC according to the state's election laws.

Contributions from corporate or labor union treasuries are illegal, though they may sponsor a PAC and provide financial support for its administration and fundraising;
Union-affiliated PACs may only solicit contributions from members;
Independent PACs may solicit contributions from the general public and must pay their own costs from those funds.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_action_committee

Yea these should be done away with, both sides are to blame...

[MLA]

Nope, just four old white guys and their self-loathing black friend.

[WolFish]

I've seen people without homes or food, and I think they meet the criteria for poor.

That sounds about right.

I would agree with them being a minority among the "poor" in the developed countries, but they do exist. Which is what I meant. A rich country does not equal rich people.

A rich country merely indicates a higher average income (and perhaps some over avg/median measurements)....says nothin about the distribution of that income, or even what opportunities it can buy. I know people who can't drink their own tap water because its brown and has to be boiled- that on top of going hungry quite often, being financially poor, poorly educated, with poor access to food, and living in unsafe environments, regularly profiled, and untrusted by law enforcement. And this all borne out of circumstance. Yet they live in a rich country.

Damocles, remember him?
I am not poor. I never have been poor.
What makes me feel poor is the knowledge that based on the color of my skin I could lose my life on a whim.
It was my mantra in Florida:
Stay calm. Be polite. Move slow. Give no reason for violence.

What we're missing is the comparison. If you compare me with someone from a third world who has nothing, sure I look privileged. I have a job, shelter and disposable income.

But next to that white guy in a suit who isn't thinking about whether than policeman is going to come over here, I have none. I don't have the luxury of ignoring the police officer. I don't have the luxury of forgetting my ID, or of thinking that I can carry a weapon and safe because I have a weapon. It would be foolish of me to think that I have any kind of privilege other than the fleeting financial sort. My so called privilege won't help me if some police officer decides I need to be dealt with using lethal force.

['andersom']

I've seen people without homes or food, and I think they meet the criteria for poor.

That sounds about right.

I would agree with them being a minority among the "poor" in the developed countries, but they do exist. Which is what I meant. A rich country does not equal rich people.

A rich country, with a growing distance in income between the richest and the poorest, losing the middle group will soon have an abundance of poor people.

The increase of homeless people in my country is alarming. As it is in more "western" countries.
The increase of silent poverty, all looking well, unless you take a closer look, is there too. (Kids going to school without a proper breakfast, no doctors visits when it is needed, no dental work at all, no partaking in anything in school that costs money etc.)