Defining Poverty
What is poverty? Well, online dictionaries describe poverty as the state or condition in which one lacks the financial resources and essentials for a basic standard of living. Poverty can have diverse social, economic, and political causes and effects on communities. Many people say poverty is caused by large corporations paying small to minimum wages, instead of paying a living wage based on the U.S.A. cost of living index.
When someone is without primary resources, they often become very creative in finding shelter, food, clothing and security. Hungry and homeless people will wander streets and dumpster dive, do sidewalk hustle, begging, entertainment, or steal whatever they need. They take risks, more risks than the average individual to survive. Every day these daily risks expose them to violent crimes, bad weather conditions, human trafficking and overall poor health. Every living person need a place called home or a place to have dominance over and build independent wealth. For this reason, real estate investing is #1 in cultivating wealth.
Survival is shrouded in hope, gratitude and contingent on others. Because, without the support of others, no one person could survive without resources or the right connections. It’s believed the man-made system of governing bodies has failed to care for its people. Therefore, poverty has set in due to a lack of government funding, programs, and job allocation.
Today, people are discovering the old and new ways of self-sustainability by “living off the grid”, in tiny homes and converting to farming of lands, fishing and livestock. They are cultivating what they have and turning back the clock to labour-related tasks of homesteading, bartering, buying and selling goods and services. Small and large corporations are designing their own international and domestic trade deals, crowdsourcing and crowdfunding. The internet is largely responsible for these resources and connections.
How federal poverty levels are used to determine eligibility for reduced-cost health coverage
- Income above 400% FPL: If your income is above 400% FPL, you may now qualify for premium tax credits that lower your monthly premium for a 2023 Marketplace health insurance plan.
- Income between 100% and 400% FPL: If your income is in this range, in all states you qualify for premium tax credits that lower your monthly premium for a Marketplace health insurance plan.
- Income at or below 150% FPL: If your income falls at or below 150% FPL in your state and you’re not eligible for Medicaid or CHIP, you may qualify to enrol in or change Marketplace coverage through a Special Enrollment Period.
- Income below 138% FPL: If your income is below 138% FPL and your state has expanded Medicaid coverage, you qualify for Medicaid based only on your income.
- Income below 100% FPL: If your income falls below 100% FPL, you probably won’t qualify for savings on a Marketplace health insurance plan or for income-based Medicaid.
(United States-based statistics from Federal Government Healthcare.gov)
Are there too many people?
Did you know when most people’s back are against the wall they will perform better while others do not? Do you perform well under pressure? Does the phrase “last chance” inspire you? For many the act of desperation is a switch turned on. It’s like the firing of a pistol before a big race to the finish line.
It never ceases to amaze me how resilient humans are. All over the world millions have died from 2019 thru 2022 because of a pandemic, others by homicide, some by accidents and of course natural deaths every day. Animal species become extinct because of environmental changes, scarcity in diet and poachers. Yet, more people remain on this planet in staggering numbers and many of them are poor. How is this possible? Are there more births than deaths? Half of all states and nearly three-quarters of all counties experienced more deaths than births in their populations between July 1, 2020, and June 30, 2021, according to U.S. Census Bureau population estimates.
However, according to Our World in Data, the speed of global population growth over the last few centuries has been staggering. For most of human history, the world population was well under one million. As recently as 12,000 years ago, there were 4 million people worldwide. The one-billion mark wasn’t reached until the early 1800s. It was only a century ago that there were 2 billion people. Since then, the global population has quadrupled to eight billion.
Through our personal online surveys, we discovered how or when we die or give birth play a tiny, yet significant role in population data. Regardless of environmental changes, our natural diet, homicides or accidents, we remain at the top of the food chain, adaptable to change, and intelligent. We are more resilient than any other species based on our ability to choose (free will). e.g. Whether we choose to remain in an adverse or a peaceful state, we will eventually die but the how or when will change.
Choosing the right relationships and conditions make all the difference. (people you associate with, foods you eat, habits formed, places you go, etc.) The same goes for wealth
Do governments print enough paper money?
It’s believed when you print your own country’s money, all you have to do is print more to distribute, along with the bills currently in circulation.
- Do you know how money is produced?
- Do you know how much money it costs to produce it?
- Do you know where it goes once it’s made or who gets first dibs?
Send us your comments and letters we’d love to hear your opinion. Thank you for your time.
This article was inspired by an old private Quora inbox message: Why are Africans starving and there is so much wildlife running around? Our answer: Not everyone chooses to eat an elephant no matter how hungry they get. The keyword is chosen. Previous article: The Journey Begins Here
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