In Reply to: So does America oppress its own poor? posted by Carol on September 27, 2004 at 16:41:57:
That's a very good question but I'm afraid about an issue better analyzed in political terms. Most of us have been abroad and seen types of poverty that make US poor living in abundance.
Personally, I tend to think that without government assitance, some form of violent unrest would have already taken place post WW2. FDR postponed it but the abundance of weapons and the lack of will to promote economic development in some pockets of poverty (Philadelphia, West Virginia, for example) may just create the conditions. The black panthers of the 60s didn't come out of nowhere. Rights given to the people were not gain in the hallways of DC but in the streets. Dangerous days ahead.