A while back there was a study that suggested that it is more expensive to be poor in the US in some ways, than it is to be rich. And to anyone who has actually been poor, this probably made perfect sense. Among the ways that being poor cost you money:
1. Your infrastructure is limited, so you are limited to what fits in your infrastructure - for example, you don’t have a car, so you can only shop at the convenience stores or those on your bus line, which are more expensive than the Walmart outside town. Your house or apartment is underinsulated, so your utility bills are extremely high. You have to have food and heat, so you pay them, and struggle.
2. You are less likely to have insurance, or to have exhausted your safety nets, so you are more likely to find yourself paying for acute costs because of things you’ve let go - instead of routine dental care, you don’t got the dentist until there’s a major crisis, involving multiple root canals. You can’t afford to have the roof replaced, so you wait until things start falling on your head.
Read on...
Peacenik finds something almost reassuring about Sharon Astyk's description of the poverty of people and states. The process, the road to poverty is the same. And people and states are now poor, although many are still in denial. Sharon is talking about community and social capital. These are the things that will insulate society from the Mad Max scenario. Society still has choices that it can make. It looks like right now society's leaders are choosing to side with the wealthy. Leaders are still determined to protect the bankers and brokers. Peacenik things society will eventually side with the poor. How quickly society's leaders make this transition will determine which scenario plays out.
1. Your infrastructure is limited, so you are limited to what fits in your infrastructure - for example, you don’t have a car, so you can only shop at the convenience stores or those on your bus line, which are more expensive than the Walmart outside town. Your house or apartment is underinsulated, so your utility bills are extremely high. You have to have food and heat, so you pay them, and struggle.
2. You are less likely to have insurance, or to have exhausted your safety nets, so you are more likely to find yourself paying for acute costs because of things you’ve let go - instead of routine dental care, you don’t got the dentist until there’s a major crisis, involving multiple root canals. You can’t afford to have the roof replaced, so you wait until things start falling on your head.
Read on...
Peacenik finds something almost reassuring about Sharon Astyk's description of the poverty of people and states. The process, the road to poverty is the same. And people and states are now poor, although many are still in denial. Sharon is talking about community and social capital. These are the things that will insulate society from the Mad Max scenario. Society still has choices that it can make. It looks like right now society's leaders are choosing to side with the wealthy. Leaders are still determined to protect the bankers and brokers. Peacenik things society will eventually side with the poor. How quickly society's leaders make this transition will determine which scenario plays out.
