Warren teenager shot in Centerline fireworks show.

[Shollin]

While that is somewhat interesting, are you actually amused or surprised that people are more enthusiastic about Ferndale than Centerline?? People are willing to tolerate a reasonable degree of crime in exchange for living in a reasonably interesting place.

The downtown may indeed be "yuppie" but it sure as hell beats the nuts out of the same bland junk you find everywhere else. In Ferndale, for example, in one evening you could go see live theatre, and walk to get drinks and dinner. In Centerline you get to watch the paint dry after your trip to ABC Warehouse [[which is the only place I've ever been in Centerline because why else would anyone go there?)

After my family moved out of Detroit when I was young, we moved to Warren at 11 and Van Dyke and I went to Center Line schools. I'm not sure if it's still open, but there was a little bar called T Roma's in Center Line that made terrific pizza. It was a neighborhood bar and they didn't over charge you like these yuppy places in Royal Oak and Ferndale. When I was a kid I could say the exact same thing about Ferndale as you did about Center Line.

I guess people are unable to find good little bars unless they are grouped with other bars with over priced food and catchy names. In Center Line I also can't walk from the Dollar Castle to Buffalo Wild Wings either. My main point is the perception of cities. Ferndale has had a higher crime rate then entire decade over Center Line, is losing people faster than Center Line, yet Center Line is talked about as going down hill. Did people suggest Royal Oak was going down hill when the elderly woman was robbed and killed in her house?

[Cincinnati_Kid]

Call out the National Guard!!!

This figures.

[Cincinnati_Kid]

I'm interested in what you think of when you say America "tolerates" poverty. It implies class warfare and abandonment, but doesn't acknowledge citizens that CHOOSE poverty.

I don't think everyone chooses poverty. What kind of statement is that?

[thecarl]

I don't think everyone chooses poverty. What kind of statement is that?

It's a statement you invented.

[Jimaz]

It's a statement you invented.

Cincinnati_Kid quoted you making that statement yet you claim he invented that statement?! What is your motive for doing that?

Monks choose poverty. Christ chose poverty. Others are falsely accused of choosing poverty despite having no such choice. Some make that accusation to justify unjust exploitation.

On which side of the ledger do you stand?

[noise]

Cincinnati_Kid quoted you making that statement yet you claim he invented that statement?! What is your motive for doing that?

Monks choose poverty. Christ chose poverty. Others are falsely accused of choosing poverty despite having no such choice. Some make that accusation to justify unjust exploitation.

On which side of the ledger do you stand?

Come on, he never said "everyone chooses poverty". Let's slow down before firing off a response.

[gazhekwe]

He did say something about prior posts not considering people who choose poverty. Post is now missing.

[thecarl]

Originally Posted by laphoque
America tolerates a level of poverty that no other similarly affluent country does. We need to keep people up above the threshold where more people than would otherwise become criminals. That means ensuring basic needs and a level of comfort that matches the affluence of the country.



I'm interested in what you think of when you say America "tolerates" poverty. It implies class warfare and abandonment, but doesn't acknowledge citizens that CHOOSE poverty.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Okay, above is the original exchange. I am curious about what, if any, source states or supports the supposition that "America tolerates a level of poverty that no other similarly affluent country does." I am interested in understanding how the author arrived at this point of view.
It obviously comes to mind that America gives a great deal of its resources to help those in disadvantaged economic strata. In fact, it's created quite an uproar that you don't even need to be a U.S. citizen to enjoy the largesse of the United States, as we know from the debates concerning immigration in this country.

And isn't it interesting that a portion of the dialog here has centered on the notion that the impoverished classes will resort to crime in desperation - yet many of the poor own tennis shoes, designer glasses, and even firearms that are beyond the means of many middle-class families? Dare we ask where the money's coming from?

So, there it is. But as noise pointed out, I never said "everyone chooses poverty." It's fair to consider, in this discussion, the fact that SOME folks CHOOSE poverty. That's a fact, and it's worth noting.