America, the pinnacle of capitalist development, the land of the free, the land of opportunity, we have heard all that shit for years. Seldom does the truth behind the myth get spoken, the media wouldn't want to spoil the illusion.
Poverty is no stranger in that land of plenty, as these figures from Feeding America show:
In 2012, 46.5 million people (15.0 percent) were in poverty.In 2012, 26.5 million (13.7 percent) of people ages 18-64 were in poverty.In 2012, 16.1 million (21.8 percent) children under the age of 18 were in poverty.In 2012, 3.9 million (9.1 percent) seniors 65 and older were in poverty.The overall poverty rate according to the Supplemental Poverty Measure is 16.1%, as compared with the official poverty rate of 15.1%.Under the Supplemental Poverty Measure, there are 49.7 million people living in poverty, 3.1 million more than are represented by the official poverty measure (46.5 million).
Food Insecurity and Very Low Food Security
In 2012, 49.0 million Americans lived in food insecure households, 33.1 million adults and 15.9 million children.In 2012, 14.5 percent of households (17.6 million households) were food insecure.In 2012, 5.7 percent of households (7.0 million households) experienced very low food security.In 2012, households with children reported food insecurity at a significantly higher rate than those without children, 20.0 percent compared to 11.9 percent.In 2012, households that had higher rates of food insecurity than the national average included households with children (20.0 percent), especially households with children headed by single women (35.4 percent) or single men (23.6 percent), Black non-Hispanic households (24.6 percent) and Hispanic households (23.3 percent).
It would appear that the plenty is not spread around. Ah, that's capitalism at its best.And according to the November 2012 US Census Bureau, more than 16% of the population lived in poverty, including almost 20% of American children
Another myth that our babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media, push, is that working conditions in the developed West protects children, not like those nasty people in the Eastern sweatshops, where children are used as cheap labour. We would never do that in the civilised West, would we?
Published on May
13, 2014
Child labor is common on tobacco farms in the United States, where
children are exposed to nicotine, toxic pesticides, and other
dangers. Child tobacco workers often get sick with vomiting, nausea,
headaches, and dizziness while working, all symptoms consistent with
acute nicotine poisoning. Many work 50 to 60 hours a week without
overtime pay, often in extreme heat. They may be exposed to
pesticides that are known neurotoxins. Many also use dangerous tools
and machinery, lift heavy loads, and climb to perilous heights to
hang tobacco for drying. The largest tobacco companies in the world
purchase tobacco grown in the US to make popular cigarette brands
like Marlboro, Newport, Camel, Pall Mall and others. These companies
can't legally sell cigarettes to children, but they are profiting
from child labor. US law also fails these children, by allowing them
to work at much younger ages, for longer hours, and under more
hazardous conditions than children working in all other sectors.
Children as young as 12 can work legally on tobacco farms and at even
younger ages on small farms.
