America's Poor: Where Poverty Is Rising In America

[mawilson 2,133]

Like Europe, Australia is a place where people have a life. No one lives to works, so anyone who has this desire, will be miserable there.

This attitude is also the reason it's the number one destination for Brits emigrating. To the contrary, Brits who prefer Mexican food, money or do not mind the nasally accent of the NE, come to the US. Not too many of those types of Brits though.

Not too many ambitious people, period. Most people are happy with a 9-to-5 thing and an average paycheck. Not me.

[Heracles 417]

Not too many ambitious people, period. Most people are happy with a 9-to-5 thing and an average paycheck. Not me.

Everything comes at a cost though. For a small business to be successful, there has to be a lot of personal sacrifice, especially during the beginning years. I value my downtime a lot more than earning $1 mill a year.

Europeans are a 100 times happier and living a better Q.O.L than people here who work their azz off and for what. Interesting enough, 6% of Americans are self employed versus 12% in AUS and even higher in Europe.

The best type of employee though, in this regards, for American organizations are people from India. They just love to work work work. These people would hate AUS and its laid back work ethic.

You only get one life, who wants to spend it slaving away for some shareholder. Hence, Europe and the rest of the first world's demand of benefits over salary alone. For example, four plus weeks annual leave, with three months after ten years.

Edited October 20, 2010 by Heracles

[spookyturtle 9,466]

Everything comes at a cost though. For a small business to be successful, there has to be a lot of personal sacrifice, especially during the beginning years. I value my downtime a lot more than earning $1 mill a year.

Europeans are a 100 times happier and living a better Q.O.L than people here who work their azz off and for what. Interesting enough, 6% of Americans are self employed versus 12% in AUS and even higher in Europe.

The best type of employee though, in this regards, for American organizations are people from India. They just love to work work work. These people would hate AUS and its laid back work ethic.

You only get one life, who wants to spend it slaving away for some shareholder. Hence, Europe and the rest of the first world's demand of benefits over salary alone. For example, four plus weeks annual leave, with three months after ten years.

So you have no ambition or desire to better yourself? Slacker.

[Gemmie 142]

I love that Americans work so hard, but I have to admit, the prospect of only getting 2 weeks off per year in my new job, and only 3 months maternity leave is making me want to cry a little.

[Danno 1,228]

How many times do I need to go through this with you guys? Third world countries have cheap homes and cheap stuff. Is this a good thing for them? Has it benefited them in any way? NO, they are still impoverished - dirt poor.

While it's true we have done this dance a few times before... you have yet to answer the question. Here let me try once more.

Q: How much does a typical 3 bedroom house on a quarter ac. lot cost .....in a part of Australia that you would want to live in?

For a guy who posts stats ...like nobodies business (most the time) you sure are hesitant to post this one.

(or so it would seem)

[Heracles 417]

While it's true we have done this dance a few times before... you have yet to answer the question. Here let me try once more.

Q: How much does a typical 3 bedroom house on a quarter ac. lot cost .....in a part of Australia that you would want to live in?

For a guy who posts stats ...like nobodies business (most the time) you sure are hesitant to post this one.

(or so it would seem)

I plead the fifth.

Noo Speaka Engrish...

[Danno 1,228]

I plead the fifth.

Noo Speaka Engrish...

Well I just wanted to see how far that 846 per week per household went.

YOu keep bringing up the great "quality of Life".

If one can't even buy a nice home for his family.... it would seem his quality of life is quite restricted... No?

[spookyturtle 9,466]

What's the quality of life for gays?

[Heracles 417]

Well I just wanted to see how far that 846 per week per household went.

YOu keep bringing up the great "quality of Life".

If one can't even buy a nice home for his family.... it would seem his quality of life is quite restricted... No?

Well for a family where both parents work, which is a sign of the times, they will bring in close to $1.9K a week. Lets ignore the average salary and say $1.5K a week. Obviously could be higher, considering most couples I know earn over $100K.

The median house price is $500K, though they could move a little further out and get something for $400k. Keeping in mind that unlike the US, in most countries, the further you go out from downtown, the cheaper homes get. Vice Versa.

For a $500k house, with 50K down and the current interest rate there of 7.51%, payments would be $713 a week. That still leaves $780 a week to spend. Keep in mind health care comes as part of your salary - no copay. You also have no personal property tax as the tax is collected elsewhere, like in stamp duty when you buy or sell. You do pay a yearly HOA equivalent fee to the county of about $1k; less in rural areas. Also factor numerous companies provide, from white to blue collar workers, a work car [like a Malibu, Camry, Accord equivalent] and a fuel card, as part of their salary package. So they save there too.

Are things more expensive there? Of course but there is a sound reason for this. A family that works will never have to work more than one job, due to the minimum wage being over $13+ an hour. Even if both parents work for Kmart or retail, they would still make ~$1.3K a week together.

But see you still cannot compare the two, even when comparing Charlotte, NC to Melbourne, VIC, well this is no comparison. The quality of life you have access to in the latter is second to none. There is A to Z for families to do, from local parks to you name it really. Four different modes of transportation to get anywhere. Nice clean and safe neighborhoods, all streets and roadways cleaned weekly etc etc etc. Heck, you can leave your kid outside from noon to night and not have to worry about someone grabbing them off the street, even in a city of 4 million.

Edited October 20, 2010 by Heracles

[spookyturtle 9,466]

So these people take home $1500 per week after taxes?

[Danno 1,228]

Well for a family where both parents work, which is a sign of the times, they will bring in close to $1.9K a week. Lets ignore the average salary and say $1.5K a week. Obviously could be higher, considering most couples I know earn over $100K.

The median house price is $500K, though they could move a little further out and get something for $400k. Keeping in mind that unlike the US, in most countries, the further you go out from downtown, the cheaper homes get. Vice Versa.

For a $500k house, with 50K down and the current interest rate there of 7.51%, payments would be $713 a week. That still leaves $780 a week to spend. Keep in mind health care comes as part of your salary - no copay. You also have no personal property tax as the tax is collected elsewhere, like in stamp duty when you buy or sell. You do pay a yearly HOA equivalent fee to the county of about $1k; less in rural areas. Also factor numerous companies provide, from white to blue collar workers, a work car [like a Malibu, Camry, Accord equivalent] and a fuel card, as part of their salary package. So they save there too.

Are things more expensive there? Of course but there is a sound reason for this. A family that works will never have to work more than one job, due to the minimum wage being over $13+ an hour. Even if both parents work for Kmart or retail, they would still make ~$1.3K a week together.

But see you still cannot compare the two, even when comparing Charlotte, NC to Melbourne, VIC, well this is no comparison. The quality of life you have access to in the latter is second to none. There is A to Z for families to do, from local parks to you name it really. Four different modes of transportation to get anywhere. Nice clean and safe neighborhoods, all streets and roadways cleaned weekly etc etc etc. Heck, you can leave your kid outside from noon to night and not have to worry about someone grabbing them off the street, even in a city of 4 million.

No, lets go with the numbers you first offered as the "average" family income" ...

846 per week.

house payment 713.

That leaves a cool $133 to

eat,

pay for a car

utilities

clothes

insurance

Are you kidding me?

I can have 1st world QOL on 133 bucks a week?

Sign me up!

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

A Recipe for Creating Poverty

Jack F. Kemp

What if you wanted to create poverty. What policies and principles would you use to destroy the economy of cities and make people dependent on government? How would you do it? Let me offer some suggestions:

1. Impose steeply graduated and progressive tax rates and then inflate the currency to push people into ever higher tax brackets;
2. Reward welfare and unemployment at a higher level than working and productivity;
3. Tax the entrepreneur who succeeds in the legal capitalistic system much higher than in the illicit underground economy;
4. Reward people who stay in public housing more than those who want to move up and out into private housing and homeownership;
5. Reward the family that breaks up rather than the family that stays together;
6. Encourage debt, borrowing, and spending rather than saving, investing, and risk-taking;
7. But most of all, if you really wanted to create poverty and dependency, weaken, and in some cases destroy, the link between effort and reward.

…The poor don’t want paternalism, they want opportunity—they don’t want the servitude of welfare, they want to get jobs and private property. They don’t want dependency, they want a new declaration of independence. ⁵

Excerpted from a speech by the late Jack Kemp, former Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary, at The Heritage Foundation, June 10, 1990.

[scandal 951]

A Recipe for Creating Poverty

Jack F. Kemp

What if you wanted to create poverty. What policies and principles would you use to destroy the economy of cities and make people dependent on government? How would you do it? Let me offer some suggestions:

1. Impose steeply graduated and progressive tax rates and then inflate the currency to push people into ever higher tax brackets;
2. Reward welfare and unemployment at a higher level than working and productivity;
3. Tax the entrepreneur who succeeds in the legal capitalistic system much higher than in the illicit underground economy;
4. Reward people who stay in public housing more than those who want to move up and out into private housing and homeownership;
5. Reward the family that breaks up rather than the family that stays together;
6. Encourage debt, borrowing, and spending rather than saving, investing, and risk-taking;
7. But most of all, if you really wanted to create poverty and dependency, weaken, and in some cases destroy, the link between effort and reward.

…The poor don’t want paternalism, they want opportunity—they don’t want the servitude of welfare, they want to get jobs and private property. They don’t want dependency, they want a new declaration of independence. ⁵

Excerpted from a speech by the late Jack Kemp, former Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary, at The Heritage Foundation, June 10, 1990.

Jack Kemp was a great man, who passionately believed in the promise of America. He advocated the big-tent Republicanism of Reagan's era, he preached inclusion and truly compassionate conservativism. He was bipartisan and reached across the aisle, was a gentleman and respected the views of his peers in the opposition party. His was a style of politics shared by erstwhile Republicans such as Arlen Specter, kicked out of the current GOPs as simply not conservative enough. I'm glad you're quoting Kemp, I'm glad you have the decency to see the greatness of the man and his views.

[spookyturtle 9,466]

No, lets go with the numbers you first offered as the "average" family income" ...

846 per week.

house payment 713.

That leaves a cool $133 to

eat,

pay for a car

utilities

clothes

insurance

Are you kidding me?

I can have 1st world QOL on 133 bucks a week?

Sign me up!

What about taxes on the earnings? Do they take home $846 per week or is that the gross? We know that they pay a lot more overall in taxes there than we do here because they have a budget surplus and every service there is the best in the world. That doesn't come cheap. Even a WalMart greeter there makes $18 per hour, so the cost of living must be quite high.

[spookyturtle 9,466]

Jack Kemp was a great man, who passionately believed in the promise of America. He advocated the big-tent Republicanism of Reagan's era, he preached inclusion and truly compassionate conservativism. He was bipartisan and reached across the aisle, was a gentleman and respected the views of his peers in the opposition party. His was a style of politics shared by erstwhile Republicans such as Arlen Specter, kicked out of the current GOPs as simply not conservative enough. I'm glad you're quoting Kemp, I'm glad you have the decency to see the greatness of the man and his views.

But he did play for Buffalo.