The US Version of "Crushing Poverty"

I've made the point before, about our poor people here in the good ole' US of A, but this takes the cake. This is the perfect example of what I've said - check this out.

As the mercury rises here in mid-July, I have a great idea for a story about how the anemic economy is squeezing the poor - the increasing cost of energy is forcing electricity bills higher, pinching the budgets of poor Americans who are now forced to make the wrenching choice between watching TV or running the air conditioning.

Or how about the 58 year old guy whose employer cut back on healthcare expenditures and will now require him to chip in more than just a few hundred dollars to have miracle of science, life-saving triple bypass surgery.

Truth is, we don't have poverty here in the US. Certainly, we have an incredibly small group of people in poverty, many of which are in poverty for non-economic reasons like mental illness or drug addiction; but, in general, we don't have poverty as a serious social condition. What we do have is income inequality, which is different, and, I would argue, is alot better problem to have. First, let's thankful about what we do have and what we have achieved. Then, as we attempt to ameliorate the conditions of our least fortunate, let's be cognizant to preserve and strengthen that which got us here, here being the state of affairs in which our poverty problems are very small compared to history and true poverty as it is understood around the globe.

P.S. - Don't believe me? This the Census Bureau's picture of poverty in America.