For far too long, our foreign policy has been based on militarism rather than partnering with people around the globe to move us all towards a better life. In the 60’s, Martin Luther King, Jr said:
“It is a tragic mix-up when the United States spends $500,000 for every enemy soldier killed, and only $53 annually on the victims of poverty.”
and sadly that “tragic mix-up” remains. In fact “more people have died from extreme poverty in the last ten years, than all of the wars of the 20th century put together.”
This tragedy is increased as we move into an era when Making Poverty History is a real possibility. With more advanced communications, transportation, medicine and technology we now have the very real capability to eliminate extreme poverty world-wide … but we are so far from doing this or even making this our top foreign policy priority.
Consider this:
- According to UNESCO’s 2007 Global Monitoring Report, Universal primary education would cost only $11 billion a year – half of what we Americans spend on ice cream while the Iraq occupation has already cost over $447,000,000,000.
- Or this: $0.6 Billion would immunize children world-wide against measles, tetanus, whooping cough, diphtheria, tuberculosis and polio – yet Congress in May funded the occupation in Iraq once again to the tune of another $120,000,000,000.
At this year’s YearlyKos convention, the team from the ONE Campaign has organized a panel to address precisely this issue. Global Poverty: Creating Leadership for a New Foreign Policy (Saturday morning at 9:15AM) will take a look at how we – as netroots activists – can join the effort.
The panel will include Bread for the World CEO David Beckmann, Anathalie Sugira who grew up in a tiny village in Rwanda, a country where a quarter million people are infected with HIV/AIDS and now lobbies Congress for more federal AIDS funding, Susan McCue who recently became the president and CEO of the ONE campaign after 8 years as Harry Reid’s Chief of Staff … and I’ll be joining in to give a netroots perspective.
Now I want to invite you to help. In my blog reading, I rarely see discussions of global poverty issues – outside of posts like Christy’s this morning on Edwards and poverty in the US. In fact, I see very view posts with a perspective that reaches beyond our borders or that mention global initiatives like the Millennium Development Goals. So I’d like to hear about the blogs or posts I may have missed that talk about poverty issues. I’d also like to hear how folks here think about the connections between global poverty and our progressive agenda so I can share these thoughts with the panel on Saturday – and I hope you will join in this important discussion at YearlyKos.
Related posts:
- Health Care and Poverty: We are Failing Our Most Vulnerable
- At Pivotal Moment in Supreme Court History, Corporate Media Wonders if Sotomayor is “Racist,” “Activist”
- Health Care: White House Discourages Making Waves on Reproductive Health and Choice
- Joe Lockhart Wanted to Say “Blow Job”
- Help Wanted (by GOP): Telegenic Snake-Oil Salesperson
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Uno!
Hey gang, we may have a guest commenter from the ONE campaign if she can take a break and join us.
And I am really serious about wanting your input!
dos?
Hope Francis Moore Lappe will be on the panel about global poverty she has been writing about and involved with this issue for 35 years.
no, tres…
There’s no profit for helping the poor you know, at least not the kind of profit that buys you a house on Nantucket or gets you re-elected.
Well, see, if you don’t talk about it, it will go away. [/sarcasm]
Seriously, that seems to be the way a lot of people – not just politicians – deal with it. Here in CA, Ahnold wants to cut funding for things like the mentally-ill homeless (which is a lot of the homeless), among other things; the GOoPers in the leg want to cut a bunch of other social programs, because, hey, they don’t need them and don’t know anyone who does (and they take care to make sure they don’t).
Poor folks don’t matter to the Bushies: Waxman on the Bushies’ tails again
Siun,have you read Frances Moore Lappe’s more recent books,Hope’s Edge and Democracy’s Edge? These books,IMO are a good springboard for getting people to see change as a local and personally empowering thing,rather than an overwhelming global thing no one can fix.(I also loved reading Banker to the Poor by Muhmmad Yunus,founder of Grameen Bank,and the part of The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Micheal Pollan that deals with local organically grown food and going around the rules to feed people)
I personally want to become involved with local food movements,as I feel locally based food economies are one way to help end poverty. I live in a very white,very red state suburb and people here simply don’t care. Our farmer’s market closed,several others in this part of GA did too,along with the CSAs. So my dream of being part of that kind of food culture is on hold for now,until we either move or I brainstorm a different untried approach.
Many groups working on this. Some for a for a very long time
The Hunger project
http://www.thp.org/
The Grameen project rocks
http://www.grameenfoundation.org/
The Heifer project
http://www.heifer.org/site/c.e…..oup=Heifer Project&gclid=CJij0c7mz40CFRGsGgodNw-VLg
For an international comparison of income inequality, check out Nationmaster. It has hundreds of statistics on every imaginable dimension of societies. Here is a comparison of the Gini Index. The US is right between Paraguay and Cameroon Gini Index, a measure of income inequality, by country
Actually Tom, one thing that I find striking is that many corporations are now discussing how addressing poverty can lead to profit … and that’s leading them to do some very good work.
Next Billion
One of the disconnects for me is that I find my work colleagues put more focus on poverty issues than us netroots seem to … I’m hoping folks can point me to resources that prove me wrong!
Hey- it’s Ginny from ONE. Just got here. Going to scroll through the comments and answer where I can. Thank you so much Christina!
anangryoldbroad – along with the Grameen book, take a look at How to Change the World by David Bornstein – who wrote the first book on Younis and who does amazing reporting on social entrepreneurism.
Child poverty (I was EPU’d from below on this)
Children living in poverty, by country: US is number 2, below Mexico
Welcome Ginny!
Folks – Ginny does amazing work with ONE – it’s a treat to have her join us!
Thanks so much for this post, Siun. And a big welcome to Ginny! Can’t wait for this panel — it is a topic that is so ripe for discussion. Think about the anger and desperation that lends itself to the sort of recruitment that groups like al qaeda do, and you see why addressing the global poverty issue is essential — not just for humanitarian and ethical reasons, but also for national security ones.
We are all interconnected — and we dismiss the importance of acting on that knowledge at our own peril.
Ginny – if you have a minute, could you give folks a little heads up on what ONE is working on – especially the ONE Vote 08?
Here is a great resource on State-by-State information concerning how we take care of our youth.
Kids Count LINK
Siun @ 12
See also this comment from last thread.
This is from Waxman’s letter to Leavitt:
The Waxman letter is 9 pages and worth a read of the politization of health and science under the administration.
Hey Christina- for ONE Vote ‘08- ONE is aiming to make extreme poverty and global disease priorities in the 2008 presidential elections. We’ve already interacted with every candidate, from the left and right- and we have extensive field campaigns in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carlina and Iowa. You can follow a lot of what’s happening on the ONE Blog- one.org/blog.
Sorry OT but “Breaking News”
Iraqi Parliament Adjourns in Blow To Bush
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070730/ts_nm/iraq_dc
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraq’s parliament went into summer recess for a month on Monday after political leaders failed to agree on a series of laws that Washington sees as crucial to stabilizing the country.
Lawmakers said the government had yet to present them with any of the laws…”We do not have anything to discuss in the parliament, no laws or constitutional amendments, nothing from the government. Differences between the political factions have delayed the laws,” Kurdish lawmaker Mahmoud Othman told Reuters.
The parliament is due to reconvene on September 4, just two weeks before the top U.S. general in Iraq, General David Petraeus, and Washington’s envoy to Baghdad, Ryan Crocker, are due to report to Congress on the success of U.S. President George W. Bush’s new Iraq strategy and make recommendations…
“In the absence of political agreement there was not much the parliament could have done. We will wait for the summit, which is expected to be next week,” said a senior Iraqi government official, referring to a planned crisis meeting of the country’s top Sunni Arab, Shi’ite and Kurdish leaders.
Cabinet approved the oil law, twice, but it has gone no further. It has been mired in disputes over how much authority regions and central government should have over oil reserves. Easing the ban on Baathists faces stiff opposition from Shi’ite political parties, who fear a resurgence of Baathists who ruled the country for 35 years. Sunni Arabs say they are the main victims of the ban and are being targeted unfairly.
Bush is under mounting pressure from Democrats in Congress and rebels within his own Republican Party to begin pulling out U.S. troops soon. The April-June quarter was the costliest in American lives since the start of war in 2003, with 331 killed.
The U.S. military reported the deaths of three more soldiers on Monday, taking the death toll since the invasion to 3,651.
A preliminary White House assessment earlier this month faulted Iraqi leaders for failing to enact the laws, but analysts say Shi’ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s government — a brittle coalition of Shi’ites, Sunnis and Kurds — is paralyzed by infighting. Ministers loyal to fiery Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr have pulled out of Maliki’s government, while the biggest Sunni bloc in parliament, the Accordance Front, is threatening to do the same this week if certain demands are not met…”
On the legislative side, we have 7 legislative priorities:
Budget and Appropriations: ONE is asking for no less than the full $39.8 billion for the FY08 International Affairs Budget to help put all children in school, provide access to clean water, and save lives by fighting HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.
The Education for All Act: The Education for All Act (EFA) is designed to help provide universal basic education for all children throughout the world by 2015. Today, 77 million children, most of whom are girls, do not have the opportunity to attend primary school.
The Child Act: Child Health Investment for Long-Term Development (CHILD) Act would extend life-saving interventions in developing countries by doubling current funding for child survival and maternal health programs.
The Jubilee Act: Debt cancellation will free up desperately needed resources for impoverished nations to fight HIV/AIDS, fund education, and provide clean water.
The Growth Act: The Global Resources and Opportunities for Women to Thrive Act proposes changes to U.S. international assistance and trade programs to prioritize the economic opportunities of women living in poverty worldwide.
Farm Bill Reauthorization: As ONE, we are asking our leaders to make trade work for the world’s poor by imposing limitations on trade-distorting subsidies in the upcoming Farm Bill reauthorization.
More is here: http://www.one.org/node/402.html
AZ Matt – that’s a very interesting letter!
Ginny – thanks! one thing that I really like about ONE Vote is the way you are tracking candidates and really staying on top of them. It’s great grassroots action – and something netroots folks can join in!
One cannot discuss “poverty” in general and make any progress. The discussion must be about significant and specific policy objectives.. Universal Health Care is certainly one- $10 minimum wage is another- cost of higher eductation is a third. Without focus “poverty” discussions come to nothing.
Watch people’s eyes glaze over when the word “poverty” is mentioned. Because it is a non-issue with most voters, that doesn’t mean we renege on our responsibility to keep a spotlight on the issue.
If we aren’t in the trenches dealing with poverty we are no more than “pink parlor comunists”. It’s soooo esoteric! We can sit around and discuss the causes of poverty and what and who are to blame. And, it is still with us. Soc*al*sm didn’t end it. Certainly there is no hope of Capitalism ending or reducing it. So what is left?
Personally, I prefer a practical approach rather than a social philosophic approach. In the end, all the concepts in the world will do nothing if the water system isn’t installed to irrigate the plants, preventive health hazzards aren’t sensibly addressed, basic education isn’t a reality and so much more. A simple act of planting trees in a devistated area or planting mango trees so the people have food and fuel are simple practical things that lift people out of hopeless poverty.
Many small NGOs are struggling out there both domistically and internationally to bring simple solutions to people that they can control. Communal farming, small orgnaic family farms, small orchards, local participation in an export crop or product. These are things the people run and control. I think supporting small NGOs and creating specific small NGOs to address particular issues that go beyond handing out to people but rather organizing people so they have full control, works best. You can see the fruits of your labor and you reap the benefits of its success.
~~~ModNote: Edited for content to clear filters.~~~
Sounds like the Iraqi govt’s summer vacation is exactly the same as the US govt. They’ve learned a lot from us.
rwcole @ 25
I agree…and Ginny’s organization ONE has developed a list of very specific objectives that are bundled as a series of Legislative Acts.
One thing we know for sure is that the U.S. and the world cannot take much more of the Bush administrations “compassionate conservatism”
Cinnamonpape – very good point. ONE makes poverty an issue we can discuss in terms of actual targets and projects.
They also address poverty as a global issue – something we netroots seem to rarely do.
P.S.
One thing we don’t need is one more cowboy-hat wearing phony.
Enough already.
-GSD
Kathleen @ 30
Kinda like Clinton’s self-labeled ‘Modern Progressive’
Some reason why I didn’t post? Did my post on poverty go to Never-Never Land?
So Siun and Virginia,what do you see as the biggest obstacles to solving the problems ONE addresses?
Hi, this is Kimberly, also from ONE.
I’ll speak a little more about what ONE is up to with ONE Vote ‘08. ONE Vote ‘08 is the ONE Campaign’s initiative to make sure all of the presidential candidates – both Democrats and Republicans – are talking about how they’re going to address issues like extreme poverty and global disease in their foreign policy platforms.
ONE Vote ‘08 capitalizes on ONE’s grassroots support across the U.S., but focuses particularly on Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina, and makes sure that everywhere the candidates are, ONE supporters are too. Eventually, we would like to see every single presidential candidate agree to meet 5 achievable goals:
1) Save 15,000 lives a day by fighting HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, three of the world’s most devastating diseases.
2) Prevent 5.4 million young children from dying each year from poverty-related illnesses and 400,000 women from dying in childbirth each year.
3) Provide free access to primary education for 77 million out-of-school children with a special emphasis on girls.
4) Improve the living conditions of vulnerable populations by, for example, providing access to clean water for 450 million people and basic sanitation to more than 700 million people.
5) Reduce by half the number of people in the world who suffer from hunger, resulting in 300 million “fewer” hungry people each year.
Welcome aboard Kimberly from ONE – and thanks for giving us such great info!
The problem is establishing the political will to make it happen.
Politicians and candidates need to see that the American people care – and we need to prioritize the issue in our foreign policy.
ONE is helping Americans come together and create that will. We already have 2.4 million members and a sting of victories.
That was interesting. Don’t know what hit the filter on my post @27. Another mystery!
Robert Fisk
http://www.informationclearing…..e18087.htm
The cakewalk warmongers plan is working. Complete chaos in the middle east.
QUESTION: Is economic globalization helpful, hurtful, or neutral in ONE’s view?
“Bush and Brown project unity on Iraq”
NYT
Kathleen @ 10
For those who may not recall, the Grameen project was the pioneer of the microfinancing concept. It was started in 1976 by Professor Muhammad Yunus with a mere $27 from his own pocket, and the success of his project has won for him a Nobel Peace Prize.
Bob in HI
I’m always startled when I see the actual figures of what is needed to solve extreme povert issues – because it it something we can do … and can afford. This is not pie-in-the-sky but instead an accomplishment we can achieve.
As folks here know, I focus on Iraq – and when you look at the 4 million plus refugees who are in such horrific straits then look at the figures UNHCR is asking countries to donate … it’s shocking since we could take care of all with just a tiny percentage of the cost of the occupation. Yet we do not focus on such basics as clean water or basic nutrition or essential education.
I outlined some of our recent victories in this Huffington post post in March:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…..44557.html
“Last Friday, the ONE Campaign’s 2.4 million members, and our many partner organizations, worked together to reverse a $2.2 billion cut to the 2008 international affairs budget. The full 2008 budget process isn’t complete yet, but this vote was a critical first step, and an important victory for the global poverty movement.
Significantly, this comes on the heels of many other recent wins for ONE members. In January, hundreds of thousands of ONE members and global poverty constituents successfully persuaded Congress to restore $1.45 billion for extreme poverty funding in the 2007 budget. ONE members also played a crucial role in the passage of critical Africa trade legislation in December, during the closing hours of the 109th Congress.
If you haven’t been following these developments, this is a moment to note, because these wins reflect an ongoing shift in the way that global poverty is viewed and treated in American politics. The unification of millions of Americans, and humanitarian organizations, coming together to fight extreme poverty is working, and we have a consistent string of truly remarkable victories to show for it. ….”
We can’t discuss poverty because John Edwards is rich. If he would just give all his money away, then I’m sure we could all
ignore him even morehave a meaningful discussion aboutthose lazy-assedpoverty.Instead of humanitarian approaches, Bush is planning a 20 to 30 billion dollar arms sale to Saudi Arabia. Where is the protest to this abominable, stupid action?
Can someone point me to information on the infrastructure already in place to make use of the donations? I guess I’m really asking is some of this money to build infrastructure, or is the infrastructure already there and the money will allow for expansion with a minimum of red tape.
He who controls weapons and purse determines poverty.
QuakerGirl @ 49
Yes,but I think many answers to this,on a local level at least,will need to rely on going around the system and working outside it.
musicsleuth – there are many structures for donations and some recent innovations like microfinance that make a big difference.
But we also need to political pressure to get our government to act – which is what ONE does so well as shown in Ginny’s @#45. Their work is already paying off … and we can take it further with our great grassrootsy skills.
Virginia Simmons @ 45
Small NGOs are the humanitarians of the world. They’ve been out there for a long time and they bring hope and solice to many struggling people. I don’t know of a better place to put financial support. Adopt an NGO!
I’ve read bits and pieces about the economics of poverty concerns — such as providing adequate resources to food and shelter concerns does more to improve local economies than giving tax breaks to the ultra-rich and incentives to multinational corporations…
(sorry for the disjointed posts, I’m trying to write and read while looking after my bored 5-year old)
What does ONE think about tackling global poverty as a human rights issue a la Mary Robinson?
Mary Robinson’s work – for those who may not know of this hero.
anangryoldbroad @ 50
You bet! Whenever possible work outside the system. It is direct, hands-on and you see the results of your influence. I agree, your community is necessary – making a difference in your own backyard. So we aren’t on a treadmill, go after the source – the big picture. In the end, they are both working towards the same goal.
Any one here done blogging on global poverty? Christina is looking to figure out what already exists in the blogosphere on this issue.
Ginny is right – I’m really hoping to find some good links to share from the blogs but so far, I’m coming up empty … any ideas firepups?
The discussions in blogs on Universal Health Care are discussions of poverty- as are many other issues.
AFSC has been in the forefront for many years. http://www.afsc.org/
Kathleen @ 10
The Heifer project has been working at helping relieve poverty for more than 60 years. Giving a Heifer Project gift for a b-day or Christmas is fun and really helps people.
As an OT..I looked at the Heifer Project web site again and read about their new headquarters near the Clinton Library. At the dedication, the participating religious leaders were Episcopalian and R-C Priests, a Rabbi and a Methodist Minister. No representative of an evangelical religion was there. I suspect they couldn’t find one who would want to be associated with a group that is helping poor people of color.
Please forgive the presumptuousness, but one small area where most everyone can help is to visit The Hunger Site and its associated sites each day and click. It takes about a minute total to click through all six sites and allows you to do a small bit of good quickly.
I just did a Google search for Poverty Blogs and got quite a few links,which is so obvious,lol.
It’s such a shame that billions of dollars is pissed away on a war that is actually CREATING more poverty.
And then, when funding for poverty is discussed, it is disregarded because of a budget crisis caused by an expensive war.
anangryoldbroad … there are a lot of discussions on poverty online but I am hoping that someone can point to netroots folks addressing these issues – or is it that we don’t?
cancer_cures @ 64
It costs a lot of money to steal oil.
Siun @ 58
Well, this Technorati link is a good place to start…
“Stealing oil”
Why we’re no more stealin oil than we stole the southwest from Mexico!!!
Siun @ 65
As I clicked through those pages,things quickly devolved into attacks on Edwards or anyone who sees a capitialistic system as part of the problem. ((sigh))
Maybe Siun,it’s that we are mostly middle class people who aren’t touched directly by poverty. Not that people don’t care,I think many more do than we know,but that with everything being a train wreck right now,we’re in a triage mode. I don’t know,I’m just wild ass gussing.
To what extent do poverty awareness movements like ONE
include collaboration with organizations such as:
Planned Parenthood and ZPG (Zero Pop Growth).
Seems that most of the issues we face:
1)
war of attritionoccupation for oil2) self-destructive behavior (drugs, unsafe sex, spiraling debt)
3) Living wage v. slavery
4) Environment (development & climate change)
5) Child abuse
all point to overpopulation (as Sting once wrote:
“the constant fear of scarcity & aggression as its child”)
The fact that rightist fundies suppress basic knowledge about procreation,
and progressives are remiss to talk about population (out of fear of sounding like
Red China), makes this a daunting, however relevant, aspect of the poverty discussion.
We could barely get past “age appropriate sex ed” in the CNN-YouTube debates.
The candidates, audience and networks were holding their collective breath.
Will YKos poverty panel discussions bravely engage this?
Always wondered why we didn’t steal Baja while we were at it- think of all the seaside condos we could build. Turns out we were fixin to – then Santa Anna stopped us (yes THAT Santa Anna- turns out that he was a better negotiator than Bush).
Or wild ass guessing if you prefer,lol
Good afternoon dear friends.
A long time ago, I worked in an inner city school with a brilliant principal who got money donated for a very simple program that got families involved in the school while combating hunger.
The bottomless fruit bowl.
One large basket in the lobby leading to the cafeteria was kept filled with apples, oranges, etc. Any parents, grandparents & siblings of our students were able to come before or after school and help themselves. Many did, and felt safe in the school. And teachers were encouraged to mingle with parents and help themselves to fruit as well. The result was that many more families were involved in the school and many more teachers knew what was happening in the community and in the students’ lives. And no one went hungry on school days.
All for the price of fruit.
TexB @ 73
Betsy! How are you?
Now we’d need a metal detector in front of the fruit bowl.
Awesome story TexB. I love fruit!
Freedom From Hunger has been working on global hunger issues for many years.
From their website:
One program they helped start in Tucson, AZ is Native Seeds/SEARCH that preserves traditional Native AMerican seed varieties in the southwest and northern Mexico: LINK
rwcole @ 75
And we’d need to check for registered sex offenders, which we didn’t do in the old days.
In terms of globalization – generally it brings benefits and hardships to the world’s poor. In general, ONE supports government policies that help unleash the potential of people in developing countries (AGOA and debt relief come to mind). And we seek to reform government policies like the commodity subsidies in the U.S. Farm Bill, which dump commodities like cotton, corn, and wheat on the global market and make it harder for farmers and would-be small entrepreneurs to make a living and feed their families. Globalization is a mixed bag for the poor, but we can certainly harness the opportunities it brings and cushion the inevitable blows and dislocations.
Newton I am doing far better than I was during the night but they had to reschedule the procedure — too risky to use anesthesia today.
TexB @ 73
Really a great idea. Many places could do that.
I’ve only made it through about half the comments — has there been any discussion of the relationship between poverty and gender? In any country?
Or about how, with divorce, men’s circumstances tend to improve and women’s tend to decrease no matter what level they were at as a couple?
OT – I just got an e-mail from Lowe’s saying that they are no longer advertising on Bill O’Reilly’s show.
Ginny – good points. Since we live in a globalized world, the discussion needs to shift from “are we for globalization?” to how do we manage globalization in ways that benefit all the peoples of the world rather than a small percentage.
I think that’s a pretty fascinating challenge for all of us.
TexB – great story!
There are so many small but creative ways to change the world … one fruit bowl at a time, eh?
and nope, no one has mentioned gender …go for it TexB!
TribeScribe @ 70
I appreciate your concern about population, but I couln’t disagree more that all those problems point toward overpopulation!
Now maybe my thinking is out of date, but it seems to me that the underlying problem is not that there are too many people, but that some populations have less power to control their own lives. Give women economic options, for example, and they will choose to have smaller families, and be more nurturing of the children they have.
I think it’s all about human rights, not population control.
I think we also need to redefine,somehow,what “success”is.
One big problem is this need to grow and grow large corporations. What is wrong with a stable income that doesn’t come at the expense of others? I mean,I’d be happy if I had a little company that could hum along making a million or so a year for decades if need be. Why does success HAVE to mean becoming a crushing megaforce?
I can’t help but think of that Exxon guy,I think his name is Lee Raymond. How many millions or billions does one person have to have?
As with many areas, I think this is a matter of priorities, a matter of focus, and a matter of education. I know that when one commenter on this site mentioned in passing that she used to regularly steal food from school and keep it in her backpack to eat at dinner time, even many progressives here were shocked, because we don’t even think of the necessity of such acts.
And yet, there are many generous people. Many who are willing to help. But only if someone tells them of the need.
And then you have people who throw their money away….
snip
Breaking: PARTY princess Paris Hilton is $60 million out of pocket after her billionaire grandfather – appalled by her jail term for drink-driving offences – axed her inheritance.
ccmask @ 89
She’s supposedly worth close to half a billion,so 60 mil isn’t going to make her go without.
Reminds me of a librarian’s meeting several years ago where we discovered that several children’s librarians — independently of each other — were providing food with their after school program because it made such a noticeable difference in latchkey discipline issues. With one child out of five going hungry in our community, I can imagine a little snack here and there might keep a few kids out of trouble.
Well, y’all know about netaid, don’t you?
Firedoglake crew–love your site–related to this thread, you might want to check out the new “Just Security” foreign policy document just released by the Institute for Policy Studies at the Take Back America conference. Just go to http://www.ips-dc.org and click on the globe. Similar issues.
yellowsnapdragon @ 86
I don’t think your thinking is out of date at all.
Among the really wealthy, 100 million is considered the price of admission to the “Rich Fuck’s” club. Even Edwards doesn’t qualify- nor does Clusterfuck- until the old man kicks.
Here’s the difference between me and the super rich — if I had millions, I’d get a more reliable car, buy the kids decent furniture, save some for my medical expenses & for the kids to go to college, and then probably use 95% of it to help people who actually NEED it.
Kenneth Pollack was just slammed on Talk of the Nation. He had the nerve to say that the American Public questions the credibility of the Bush administration.
Hello Pollack I don’t know one person who would trust what you say about anything in the middle east. Hope you have to testify about your involvement in the Rosen espionage trial. That is if it goes to trial.
musicsleuth @ 94
Heh. That’s the argument I heard in college, so many years ago, and seems so simple and obvious that is MUST be flawed since it is almost universally igorned.
OT but worth a look see.
GOP=’s Good Ole Perverts
http://www.correntewire.com/re…..f_perverts
Posted in last thread too:
This talk by Hans Rosling is an absolute must see. It’s about global poverty, but it explodes a whole lot of myths and ends up being actually rather hopeful. And you have never, ever seen stats made fun like this.
emptywheel’s upstairs…
What’s poverty in this country? I know some people who get along pretty well on $1,000 a month- they never miss a meal, they have medical care, and they have a roof over their heads- they have cars too. Are they poor?
Slightly OT: should one pack a suit to wear to DKos or would a blazer be sufficent for any evening events? Tie?
Where do they live for 1K a month? And healthcare?
Todd at 103 — Blazer is fine. And you don’t need a tie unless you love wearing one. *g*
Who killed Pat Tillman? And Why?
By Justin Raimando
http://anti-war.com/justin/?articleid=11367
Raimando reports that Tillman was an avid reader and had read Cholmsky and planned to meet with him when he returned….accept he did not return
Broad
Well some live in Oregon, some in Maryland. They’re retired so they have medicare. I don’t really see how they do it- but they do. They eat cheaply and they don’t SHOP.
todd @ 103
A suit? LOL. Blazer. No tie necessary…
Fact: Republicans work activly to produce poverty.
Fact: Republicans work activly to expand poverty.
Result: More poverty.
Solution: Dissolve the Republican party.
Rational: If there are no more Republicans holding public offices that impact poverty, advocates against poverty will have fewer people to fight in their quest to alleviate poverty. Poverty will be lessened.
Diane Benson, a Tlingit Indian from Alaska, has been spending a lot of time since narrowly losing to Rep. Don young in the 2006 House race, familiarizing herself with povery, how it relates to Alaska Natives, and how that dominating aspect of Alaska village life ties Alaska Natives to Pacific Islanders and other Ameican indigenous cultures.
Diane has been joined in the 2008 US House race today by former Alaska Democratic Party chief, Jake (”the snake”) Metcalfe, who has done nothing, IIRC, about Alaska poverty issues.
Although Jake Metcalfe is a long-time behind-the-scenes Democrat pol and a lifelong Alaska, he’s not progressive. At all. He brags about his role in helping kill the “Mobe,” the progressive arm of the Alaska Dems up into the early 1970s. His allies in the party have a history of corruption almost rivaling the current GOP officeholders who are going down like ten-pins.
Late this spring, I was doing some volunteer work for the party HQ in Anchorage under the proviso that the party would give all Dem US House candidates who have filed an even playing field until the August 2008 primary is over. But no sooner than I started helping on oppo research for them on Don Young than Jake Metcalfe, who was then Chairman of the Alaska Dems, opens his big yap at a friend’s house, severely dissing the only candidate to have filed at the time (about 4 weeks ago) – Diane Benson. So much for that deal.
Jake’s been back in DC, at first allegedly trying to get the DCCC interested in the party, but it now appears he was trying to get an edge up on Benson, who is very progressive.
Diane Benson, who came closer to Young – over 41% of the vote – than any opponent since 1992, filed two months ago, and has started an organization. This may shape up to be a contest between an upcoming progressive and a quaky relic from the old Dem machine which sold out progressive values to try to control how the pipeline contract benefits were parceled out in the mid-70s to mid-80s. The legacy of this earlier incarnation of “The Corrupt Bastards’ Club” was the regulatory laxness that led to the Exxon Valdez tragedy.
Diane Benson’s, son, a trooper in the 101st Airborne, was severely injured in Baghdad in November, 2005. He was on his second tour, and would have been out of the Army then, but for the stop-loss program. Benson filed for the 2006 race when no Alaska Dem had the guts to run against Young, even though Young’s corruption was even then no secret here to anybody willing to spend two or three hours getting acquainted with Young’s record – as has been documented so well at TPMMuckraker and at downwithtyrrany.blogspot.com. But now that everybody is watching the wounded Young limp along, they’re gathering for the kill. Opportunism like this has recently been described quite eloquently by Young himself. I look upon Metcalfe as more a member of Young’s immediate mink family than as a viable step up in political integrity.
If he wins the primary, I’ll support him. But Diane Benson is one of the most charismatic candidates to enter the national scene from Alaska in a while. She’s a progressive version of Governor Sarah Palin. Metcalfe is more like an Arctic version of Joe Lieberman.
I’ve been waiting for it and now happily see John Edwards making the connection between poverty and corporate control of our country’s levers of power. Now he speaks of how oil, big pharma, and insurance centers of power get their way in congress and that they will never give up their power willingly. He now calls on the people to assert and reclaim our power for the benefit of everyone including the poor. This is straight up populism that is a horror to CEO’s of huge multinational corporations.
I’m also happy that Edwards took the political press with him on a poverty tour. They couldn’t figure out why he was talking about poverty, but the ones who had eyes to see and ears to hear changed their hair stories to straight up journalism about what they were seeing – the poor. After the tour was over Edwards moved on to making connections between poverty, corporate power, opportunity for all, equality for all, health care for all, justice for all, .. you get it? He didn’t start with economic justice, he started with poverty and Katrina – that grabs the heart and is visible. Edwards’ caption: we can see what is right and what is wrong and this is wrong. WE – who are we? We are the ones who know the difference between right and wrong. We are the compassionate and moral.
As a worker for the homeless and incarcerated these many years, I see the brilliance is this message movement. What’s next? Where do you want to go next?
I’d go out on a limb and say they don’t have a mortgage or large car payment either then,yes?
So,technically,if my limb holds,they at least have a home when all else fails. THAT is huge,since the cost of a place to live eats up alot of a working poor family’s income.
Some retired people rent a four bedroom house together and share living expenses. Seems to work out OK. Lots of immigrant families do the same.
Iraq soccer captain says U.s. shold leave Iraq
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap…..ahmoud.php
rwcole @ 107
House is probably paid for, too. No student loans either.
tpres2000 @ 83
Woo Hoo -thanks for the best news I’ve seen today!
Snoopy Happy Dance time here, there and everywhere. ;~)
yellowsnapdragon @ 86
As you show in your example, reproductive education is an integral part of women’s economic options.
As for the rest of the list, we observe encroachment on human rights
in at least two ways:
1) the more people sense they are a ‘dime a dozen’ the greater diffusion of responsibility for self and others occurs (either, “I got mine” or “I don’t care”) and
2) the more our government decides it’s “economic” to approach people as such
(commodities and sweeping legislations that
ignore individuality).
imho, the human rights discussion is sorely lacking in addressing population (and making reproductive issues the forefront.)
I think we tried at one point, however, the Left has run into such opposition from the (twitterpated) Right, that we’ve given up on that forefront. Again, I assert that we have not been able to address the population issue, and we would rather sweep it under the carpet, than be accused of being China.
I like this moniker…
broad
Well one pays space rent for a mobile home another owns a small house with no mortgage. Neither have a car payment….
The first thing one would need to do- in my opinion- to get by on $1,000 per month is to ditch the car- but none of these people have done that.
Here in San Diego- a senior can get total access to public transportation (including trolleys) for about $30 per month- and books and movies are free at the library.
Late to the chat about Edwards, but this post by Siun is still on point: Someone post links to bills that Edwards sponsored while a Senator that dealt with poverty, global warming and the environment. Not speeches, and not when he was running for President. When he was a senator.
Hi, allow me to throw in a few ideas that are making the rounds these days in the science fiction community. Our current economic models have basically been around since the nineteenth century. It may be time to argue that problems like endemic global poverty are not only unsolvable with today’s economics, economic models from capitalism, soc*al*sm, and communism are part of the problem. Unrestrained capitalism in particular pretty much guaruntees an enequal distribution of wealth.
SF writers have therefore for a while now been playing with economics built on different assumptions. Iain M Banks’ Culture stories are a good example, with an economics based on abundance instead of scarcity. Ken MacLeod and Charles Stross have also played with economic assumptions in their stories, and in Peter Hamilton’s Neutronium Alchemist seriers, part of the solution of a great moral crisis facing humanity is the necessity of giving up economic systems that promote unequal treatment.
Of course, these guys don’t really know how to do this, the point is that in quite a bit of science fiction today there’s an underlying assumption that the economis that helped get us into the current global population, wealth, and environmental mess won’t be of much use in getting us out.
~~~ModNote: Edited for content to clear filters.~~~
Broad
Yeah Henry David covered the rent problem pretty thoroughly in Walden. It’s been the source of paid for the poor for centuries.
Amusing that O’Reily calls this a hatefest.
I wonder what he’d say to see such activity meant to help others?
OK,thanks for clarifying that rwcole. Yes,it seems as though the elders you speak of are living below the poverty line,but they have community with other elders to lighten everyone’s load. Which is smart.
I live in Atlanta’s suburbs. You simply cannot live without a car. I went without one until my son started school,which meant my husband had the only vehilcle for work and errands(and he couldn’t leave the car with me,since driving is part of his job). There is no public transportation here,not even sidewalks to walk on. The tapdancing we had to do as a one car family was awful. The nearest store is about 4 miles one way,a long walk with a little kiddo in tow. Urban sprawl and the designs of suburban areas make life much more difficult if one can’t drive or afford a car.
David @ 109
The Republican Party needs to be electorally euthanized.
sharing housing also.
If a person is NOT retired and has to pay their own health care premium- one would probably need to kick in another $400 or so on top of the $1,000. If they pay rent- that would come on top too. That gets you to $2,000 or so.
There will soon be an expanding need for practical advice to retirees on how to live on social security. Unfortunately there will be many with nothing else to show for their working years.
Some observations from someone who is no expert:
1. Obstacles to making poverty issue number one:
1.a. People who believe that this is the role of the church and not government.
1.b. People don’t trust the government to address this problem efficiently
1.c. People believe that the problem is so huge and intractable that they are unwilling to address it. (”The poor will always be among us.” — Jesus.)
2. Poverty is not caused by over-population. There is plenty of resources to go around. It is a question of the political will to git ‘er done.
3. Poverty does not lead to terrorism directly. Ossama Bin Ladin is fabulously wealthy. The physicians in England’s latest terrorist plot were not poor. Poverty is exploited by terrorists.
4. There are, I am sorry to report, some bad people involved in the “end hunger now” movement. I refer to people like John-Roger of the Insight movement, and Werner Ernhart (sp?) of EST.
anangryoldbroad @ 124
That’s because in the U.S. the people have forgotten the notion of “The Commons”. Urban planning/design in America is fighting a rear guard action against private developers and governmental officials that think the free market is the only answer. Mass transit has not been given the funding it deserves. The automobile has precedent over the pedestrian or bicyclist. The concrete/asphalt lobby is one of the largest in D.C.. Infrastructure in some urban areas is approaching that of the 3rd world.
There are places where a person can buy a lot and a used mobile home for $50,000 or less with access to public transportation. If you’ve got medicare, no car, and no rent- then your possibilities for living comfortably on social security just got a lot higher.
Great article in NYT about Obama’s voting record in the Illinois Sentate. Mind-boggling support for Health Care, Poverty, and Crime and Punishment.
broad
Yes public transportation is CRUCIAL for the POOR and for the ELDERLY- which are in many cases the same people.
I just came back from a vacation in a town that have a heavy retirement population…Lots of people doin pretty well on not very much- but the town has accomodated them very well- low cost places to buy food- public transportation- a great hospital- and zoning that allows manufactured housing nearly anywhere. The library is great and the community college has lots of programs to give people something to do. Nice place. Two nice golf courses as well.
TribeScribe @ 117
That’s it exactly. Discussion of population is integral to the primary problem of human rights. Not the other way around. Overpopulation is caused in part by powerlessness, but it is not the primary problem.
You cite enviromental degredation as a problem associated with overpopulation. But think about soil erosion, for example. Farmers will be more mindful of preserving the economic viability of land they actually own and control. Again, economic rights could mitigate degredation we commonly attribute to overpopulation.
Much of what needs to be done to help the poor will be done locally.
BigMitch @ 129
Exactly.
BigMitch @ 129
The idea that there are plenty of resources to go around is open for debate.
Usable land mass and sustainable food, water and energy supplies are exactly
what’s at stake.
Go ahead and keep telling yourselves that the Earth’s population doubling in the near future is some kind of “outdated” factor. That’s folly for idealists. When I say integral,
I mean it’s mathematically impossible to parse out. You say it’s correlational. I say it’s a contributing factor. And if we’re talking about sustainability regression equations, that’s splitting hairs.
In a good regression equation, you can’t just drop factors because they have a lesser beta weight. You make invalidate the whole equation. Does that make sense?
I’m saying we’re reaching diminishing returns with the whole power to the people approach that you suggest, if we haven’t gone past critical mass already.
Folks on the population front are cognizant that the economic bubble about to burst in many industrialized nations. Add to that the sheer concentration of people in what passes for habitable land (inviting epidemic) and what we’re gonna wind up with will be something between being forced to get by with less and trying to sustain the kind of empathy for one another that is usually borne out of disaster.
Otherwise, it’s still a resource grab, and apparently, almost a hard-wired one.
When the oceans are filled with our shit and the air is filled with our soot- there’s too damned many of us damn it!!
SO glad this is getting some air here and at YKos.
World poverty is a set of interlinked problems, many of which can be ameliorated by empowering women. Yes.
I think we should ask the Elders what the priorities are in each part of the world. The Elders? A group of respected elder statesmen wanting to do their bit for the people, set up by Madiba at his recent 89th birthday party.viz :
From SA, Mandela, his wife, Graca Machel, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Muhammad Yunus, Kofi Annan, Jimmy Carter, Gro Harlem-Brundland (sp?), Mary Robinson,Ela Bhatt (India)and Li Zhaoxing (China).
Now that group surely must have ideas. Won’t somebody consult the Elders?
Suez in SA
i work in the non-profit sector and have some internet resources i check regularly. it isn’t exactly what you’re looking for, per se, but it will perhaps provide you with some good leads.
http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/ – the foundation center’s philanthropy news digest online… talks about the work of American philanthropy both within our borders and beyond. lots of information and links to other resources.