“Poor” in America

I would imagine that most of you have never read this article. Its pretty enlightening in regards to discussions about poverty in our country.

Here’s a little teaser from the piece.

The following are facts about persons defined as “poor” by the Census Bureau, taken from various government reports:

• Forty-six percent of all poor households actually own their own homes. The average home owned by persons classified as poor by the Census Bureau is a three-bedroom house with one-and-a-half baths, a garage, and a porch or patio.
• Seventy-six percent of poor households have air conditioning. By contrast, 30 years ago, only 36 percent of the entire U.S. population enjoyed air conditioning.
• Only 6 percent of poor households are overcrowded. More than two-thirds have more than two rooms per person.
• The average poor American has more living space than the average individual living in Paris, London, Vienna, Athens, and other cities throughout Europe. (These comparisons are to the average citizens in foreign countries, not to those classified as poor.)
• Nearly three-quarters of poor households own a car; 30 percent own two or more cars.
• Ninety-seven percent of poor households have a color television; over half own two or more color televisions.
• Seventy-eight percent have a VCR or DVD player; 62 percent have cable or satellite TV reception.
• Seventy-three percent own microwave ovens, more than half have a stereo, and a third have an automatic dishwasher.

What Wage Is Fair?

So hiring people at minimum wage isn’t Godly, correct?

What wage is fair? Ten dollars an hour? Twenty? How about one hundred?

I understand there are flaws in capitalism, but I haven’t seen any better options anywhere?

Say we raise minimum wage to 20 dollars an hour. Then people will be able to buy housing and food and everything they need, right? Probably not.  If businesses did stay in business and kept all workers in their jobs at the new wage, massive inflation would occur. First off, in order to keep up with rising labor costs, prices would have to rise on everything from a gallon of milk to a mercedes benz. These costs would adversely affect those making the now twenty dollar minimum wage. Beyond that, massive inflation would occur. A minimum wage earner who worked forty hours a week would be making 40,000 a year. The average income of an american citizen in 2005 was 34,000 dollars. That means a vast majority of the country all ready is making less than 40 grand. Were they all to be bumped up, massive inflation would occur, likely making their buying power the same or less than it was before (those whose incomes were nearer to 40,000 a year would have less spending power while those at the bottom would most likely have the same amount).

I would be all over a new idea that is better than free market capitalism, but until I see one, I’m still going to support our current economic system

Lacking a Plan

School is driving me absolutely out of my mind.

I know that I’ve only been one day this semester, but I’m all ready frustrated beyond belief. I’m planning on eventually attending Mississippi State to get a degree in broadcast meteorology, and they have changed the required classes for the major. No longer do I just need Trig for my Math requirements. Instead of trig (which I wasn’t excited about taking anyway) now I have to take Calc 1 and 2. I am not a math person, and I have taken a semester of math in the last four years, so needless to say I’m pretty scared about this. I want to do this weather thing, but I don’t know that I can pass these two math classes (and I’ve also got to take physics 1 and 2).

Anyway, I no longer need 4 semesters of Spanish so I dropped it for this semester. Long story short, I now only have 11 hours for this semester, 4 of which are calculus.

I’m just kinda frustrated. I wish what I wanted to do would be a little easier to figure out. This whole transferring thing is annoying because sometimes classes transfer and sometimes they don’t. Like, at MTSU, they wouldn’t accept my speech class from lipscomb. I’m pretty sure I can convince the people at Mississippi State to accept it, so I’m not going to take it just for the heck of it here at MTSU.

Besides all that, I’ve got a terrible cough. I’m not sure what’s going on. I went to the Doctor yesterday and they gave me an inhaler and some singulair. Hopefully that will help, but as for last night, I pretty much didn’t sleep because of coughing fits.

This isn’t how I wanted to start the semester.

School

This morning, I will have my first classes of the semester. I am not exactly a fan of going to school

Thought this was interesting

This was on the wordpress homepage. I thought there was a lot of truth in it.

How Much Is Too Much?

Recently, I’ve been struggling wondering what things are comforts and what are considered necessities.

In our capitalist society, many advances have been made in nearly every facet of our lives. We have cures for diseases that couldn’t have been imagined 100 years ago. We have vehicles, clothes, computers, air conditioning, clean water. So many things that were amazing just a century ago have become completely common place in American society.

It makes me wonder, what things in life should we consider essentials to existance and what is too much? We talk about giving the poor things that are essential in life, but what makes something essential. Just by existing, does a person have a right to the most sophisticated health care possible? Do they have a right to perfectly pure water? Does everyone have a right to a certain standard of living?

This troubles me because I hear a lot from the social justice crowd (of which I consider myself a part) about giving people free medical care, free housing, etc, through the government. The reason our standard of living is what it is is because of capitalism. Were there not a capitalism system, likely the advances that have occured would not have come to fruition. So what do we do in response to that? In the first century, did everyone have pure drinking water? Did they all have access to the best medical care? The best medical care in the 1st century was probably little more than first aid that we have today.

I guess I’m full of more questions than answers at this time. In reality, we don’t need much for survival. A set of clothes. Some place to sleep. Food. What makes something beyond that a need for the poor, or a need for anyone? The poor in this country have a much better standard of living than the vast majority of people in the world. How do we determine what poverty is and where to send our moneys? When we give a poor person in this country a better house, are we not in essence making the rich richer and the poor poorer?

I don’t know. Life is weird. And I can’t seem to find easy clear cut answers. Anyone smarter than me have some ideas?

Is it August 23rd?

I just came out of my bomb shelter. Apparently the internet is still working. Hmm… Islamic Messiah must have been a no show.

Dan McGuinness, the Homeless, and an Irresistable Revolution

I guess this post is a grouping of ideas, moreso than an actual collective thought.

On Friday, I bought the book “The Irresistable Revolution” by Shane Claiborne at the suggestion of Mike Cope. I read about 100 pages on Friday and another 100 pages yesterday, and I honestly think its going to screw up my life. In a good way… but things may change. I just don’t know that I can honestly persue my own goals in life anymore.

On Sunday night, Carrie and my small group had our get together, and a few of us went to Dan McGuinness (a pub) afterwards for 2.50 pints. I had two Woodchuck Ciders and they were delicious. We spun a cell phone and whoever it pointed to when it stopped had to tell a story about their life. It was a great night, but something that happened just as we were arriving has kept my thoughts occupied since then. A homeless man was leaning against the sidewalk rail as we walked up. I’ve made it a habit to make sure I at least make eye contact with the homeless as I walk by so they’ll know I’m friendly and that I care about them, even if I can’t help them much. And when I talk to a homeless person, I always shake hands with them or pat them on the shoulder. I’m not saying this to toot my own horn, its just after hearing how Jesus touched the leper, when he could have easily healed him without touching, I realized how important touch is, and how, by shaking a hand or even giving a hug, I am being Jesus to these people who may have had very little human contact in quite a while.

Anyway, that night I met John. A homeless man of about 50 with one crutch and a hand that was missing a finger. I leaned against the railing next to him and we began to talk. He explained to me that he lost his finger to bone cancer recently. He then was back out on the streets (there was a bad divorce where he lost everything) and he was robbed and beaten by people. This beating left his knee broken in 7 pieces and his head with 5 staples in it. When he went to the hospital, they asked him to fill out some paper work. He doesn’t have an address, but he was supposed to be on TennCare. For some reason, he was no longer registered as a Tenn Care participant, so his knee that was badly in need of surgery, was drained of fluid, put in a cast, and John was back on the streets.

I don’t know what we need to do to fix this problem. John probably holds some blame for the situation he’s in right now, but he still deserves to be treated like a human being. We need to do more for the homeless in this city. I realize many of them are mentally handicapped/ addicted to drugs but they are still human beings. Look into their eyes. You will see the humanity inside of them. Sure, its behind layers and layers of heartache, alcohol, abuse, callousness, and haze; but there IS humanity there.

Recently here in Nashville, a homeless woman was sleeping on the pedestrian bridge over the Cumberland River. Two men, not homeless, hopped a fence, ran up to her and shoved her in the river. Her body hasnn’t been found yet. What is wrong with people? Where did we go wrong? Where did we forget that Christ had no home?

I want to do something. I want to take a week and leave everything I have at home, all my money, identification, credit cards, toiletries; and I wanna go live in Downtown Nashville. On the streets. In solidarity with those that aren’t doing it by choice. I wanna do this and I want to write about it. I don’t know what God will show me when I do this, but I know I’ll learn a lot and come back a changed person. If anyone has any ideas about how best to do this, I would appreciate hearing them.

Pray for my friend John. He needs it now. He even told me that it wasn’t God’s fault that he is where he is. He said that “God’s holding up his end of the deal…” He realizes that bad things that happen aren’t from God, and he’s still trusting as he tries to get ahold of his life.

Snakes On A Plane: The Review

Greg Kendall-Ball summed it up best in three words, “Greatest. Movie. Evar.”

This movie couldn’t have been more of what I expected. In most cases, this would give a movie a major thumbs down, but Snakes On A Plane prided itself in using as many action/horror film cliches as was humanly possible. This movie was one of the most atrociously funny things I have ever seen. The dialogue was abismle. The acting was as good as the dialogue (which tends to be the case in any movie. which is why I love Aaron Sorkin) but neither the acting nor the dialogue was supposed to be good. This was a B movie from the start, and everyone knew it, and they loved it. Nearly every part of the story was foreshadowed in the first 30 minutes as passengers boarded the plan, you had the couple that can’t keep their hands off of each other, the newlywed couple, one of whom is deathly afraid of flying, a mother and baby, a germaphobe rap star, a rich girl bimbo, and a flight attendent who is on her last flight before law school. Such blatant foreshadowing of the brilliance to come.

And then, the biggest plot twist, there are Snakes on a PLane!

If you want to be scared, and simultaneously want to laugh at a terrible movie, this is one you should go see.

Snakes on a Plane

I know you’re waiting for my review. I saw it last night, but I’m going to see it again tonight. Hopefully Sunday or Monday I will have a complete review of a movie that will change your life.