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Sunday, February 10, 2008

"They're not REALLY poor-they have color Teevees!"

Today's NYT has a ridiculously offensive pseudo-scientific op-ed piece, "You Are What You Spend" claiming that there really aren't any poor people in America, since poor people spend twice their whopping annual household salaries of $9,500. Which CLEARLY means they all own houses and have big savings accounts, right? Because there's no such thing as credit cards, right?

Tom Tomorrow did a great cartoon skewering this bogus argument 10 years ago. Apparently it's still around, now with all these fancy charts claiming that the prevalence of certain consumer goods--televisions and the internet, for example--prove that there is not really a gap between the rich and poor at all.

The idea that consumption is somehow some great wonderful equalizer is so twisted I don't even know where to start.

Labels: cwa, economic justice, economy, poverty, wingnuts

posted by Mikhaela Reid at 11:47 AM

2 Comments:

Blogger nash said...

The idea that consumption is somehow some great wonderful equalizer is so twisted I don't even know where to start.

That is an excellent sentence.

Yep, you've got to be a special kind of crazy to be one of these people. Unless you live in an unfurnished box, you're not poor! Apparently, having any sort of creature comfort to help the hours pass elevates one into the middle class.

And the very fact that Oliver Twist could ASK for more gruel proves that he was not poor. QED.

--nashtbrutusandshort
Categorical Aperitif

4:15 PM  
Blogger Nancy Jane Moore said...

Did you notice in the article that poor people were able to spend more to consume because they sold assets like houses or used savings? I can't quite see how someone forced to sell their home is suddenly well off because they can buy a few things with the proceeds. Of course, this just increases the imbalance between those with substantial financial assets and those without.

I'd try to say something funny, but that Times article made me so angry that I lost my funny bone.

9:12 PM  

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