2y ago

Nearly 240,000 Chicagoans living on less than $19 a day

www.illinoispolicy.org

Living on less than half of the federal poverty level is considered “deep poverty.” That describes 53% of impoverished Chicagoans.

19 comments

For those wondering. The Illinois Policy Institute (IPI) who wrote this is a rabid libertarian/conservative think tank group. If you read through on this you'll see their "solution" is that government just makes it difficult for able-bodied people to work.
To which I would say, "Yes government should make it difficult for able-bodied people to be coaxed into slave labor wages that while technically gets them above the poverty line, offers no economic mobility. The entire point is that all people should have the ability to not just work but to work towards something that personally affects them in a positive manner, not just grind out 300,000 widgets to allow some CEO buy a new yacht."
Conservatives: Lazy welfare queens and druggies! They just don't want to work! They chose to be this way! They should all be arrested and/or executed.
Progressives: throws money vaguely in that direction without direction Look we're helping! We're doing all we can.
Leftists: This is the fault of the capitalist system run by an ownership class!
Those of us who've been homeless or near homeless and those genuinely dedicated to helping the homeless: We need a comprehensive approach that takes all the challenges that cause homelessness into account and addresses them as a whole and in a meaningful way to create a long term sustainable solution.
Conservatives, Progressives, and Leftists to us: Shut the fuck up! What do you know about any of this? We'll figure it out! Now shut the fuck up!
- This is a weird take to me. One of the groups is not like the other two in your own example. It is obvious that there is a huge wealth gap driven by unregulated capitalism which is contributing to the problem, and multiple studies have shown that homeless people that receive free money (i.e. a universal basic income) use that money to stop being homeless.
- So wait... progressives and leftists are people who have never been homeless or dedicated to helping the homeless?
I guess you might be able to eat on around $19 / day if you only bought the cheapest staples at the grocery store. Sounds very difficult, though.
- That’s only eating. Now start to think about housing and all the other necessities.
  
  Right. Most of those would not be possible.
- Lentils, rice, bulk spice, butternut/acorn/spaghetti squash
  
  Misery to survive, got it.
Does anyone else feel like this instance gets a disproportionate amount of news focused on Chicago?
- Post something else, then.
  
  Just out of curiosity have we posted about the dog leading their owner to a cat that was stuck down a well? I haven't quite got the hang of searching here yet, but we could post about that if we haven't already. Just saying.

19 comments