Drug, Antidepressent, Depresses Political Uprisings of Suppressed Masses Re: OT- U.S. Rentals Unaffordable to Poor

[Guest guest]

RE: " There was a time in this country's history when the mere thought of an

army

of the poor that might cause social and economic revolution put real fear in

people. "

Right on, Healther. But with the MKUltra trained and supplied psychiatrists

the Illuminati, Bilderbergers, Council on Foreign Relations, EU, UN, Pres.

Bush with " Nes Freedom in Mental Health " compulsory mental health

screenings, don't have to worry about that, do they?

(Hi all, this is the type of thing that really gets my goat, as it were.

This may appear to be off-topic, but it isn't, in fact it reinforces my

belief that the personal is political.

Some of the more dubious 'studies' we've seen posted here and reported on

elsewhere have as their a presupposition that anxiety/stress/depression is a

bio-chemical phenonmenon. That by affecting brain chemistry the individual

can rid themselves of anxiety/stress/depression, or at least manage it to

lead fulfilling lives. This thinking permeates everything---its not the

inequality or inequity or horror of anyone's actual situation, its simply a

cocktail of brain juice that must be managed in order for everyone to be

happy-happy. There are people in this wealthy nation who cannot afford

rent, cannot find work, didn't get an adequate education (especially in the

south), or make enough to keep them living in a refridgerator box, who will

get labeled mental--not for manifesting symptoms of mental illness---but for

simply exhibiting the age-old anxieties of being poor! Its called

reactionary psychosis, and its the only normal reaction a person could have

when placed in a highly stressful survival situation. Like getting paid

minimum wage. There would be something seriously wrong with you if it did

not affect you to not know whether you'll be homeless from month to month.

Or if you had to stay in an abusive relationship for example. Or if your

kids are acting up at school because they are stressed at home.

There was a time in this country's history when the mere thought of an army

of the poor that might cause social and economic revolution put real fear in

people. But there was also a time when the so-called 'working class' were a

respected force in our culture--salt of the earth is what they used to say,

but then even 'poor' families had enough food, enough clothing, and

reasonable shelter. The capitalist machine is annihilating people daily.

If you're lucky enough to earn enough money to survive comfortably, you're

probably depressed anyway because your existence is so vacuous,

unfulfilling, stressful, lacking any spirituality, and mind-numbingly

boring. Or you might be dead already from your insurance sponsored vioxx.

Sorry to be a grumpus--just needed to blow off steam. I'm college educated

and I have a 'good' job, and I still wonder how I'll ever be able to afford

to buy a house, have a family, save money for kids to attend college

themselves...its hard even for the fortunate! This Christmas, help the

poor, please!)

December 20, 2004

Report: U.S. Rentals Unaffordable to Poor

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 1:53 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Most Americans who rely on just a full-time job earning

the federal minimum wage cannot afford the rent and utilities on a one- or

two-bedroom apartment, an advocacy group on low-income housing reported

Monday.

For a two-bedroom rental alone, the typical worker must earn at least $15.37

an hour -- nearly three times the federal minimum wage, the National Low

Income Housing Coalition said in its annual ``Out of Reach'' report.

That figure assumes that a family spends no more than 30 percent of its

gross income on rent and utilities -- anything more is generally considered

unaffordable by the government.

Yet many poor Americans are paying more than they can afford because wage

increases haven't kept up with increases in rent and utilities, said Danilo

Pelletiere, the coalition's research director.

The median hourly wage in the United States is about $14, and more than

one-quarter of the population earns less than $10 an hour, the report said.

``A lot of people continue to be squeezed out,'' said Judy Levey, executive

director of the Homeless and Housing Coalition of Kentucky. ``Housing here

is relatively inexpensive, but because the wages are so low, people can't

afford housing,''

The report quoted federal Bureau of Labor Statistics data that showed hourly

wages rising about 2.6 percent over the past year, slower than the 2.9

percent rise in rents recorded in the Consumer Price Index.

In addition, Pelletiere said, government spending on Section 8 rental

vouchers, which helps 2 million Americans -- mainly poor -- pay rent hasn't

kept up with demand.

The study analyzed data from the Census Bureau and the Housing and Urban

Development Department to derive the hourly wage figures.

In only four of the nation's 3,066 counties could a full-time worker making

the federal minimum wage afford a typical one-bedroom apartment, the

coalition said. Three were in Illinois: Lawrence, Crawford and Wayne

counties; the other was Washington County, Fla.

California topped all states in the hourly wage needed to afford a

two-bedroom apartment, at $21.24, followed by Massachusetts, New Jersey,

land and New York.

States with more residents in rural areas were generally the most

affordable, although no state's housing wage was lower than the federal

minimum wage of $5.15 an hour, which has not changed since 1997.

West Virginia was the lowest at $9.31 an hour for a two-bedroom rental,

followed by North Dakota, Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama.

Pelletiere said the coalition's data for 2004 could not be compared with

previous years because of changes in the way that HUD calculated ``Fair

Market Rents,'' which is the cost of rent and most utilities for a typical

apartment. The fair rent varies widely by metropolitan area.

Overall, though, utility costs appear to be rising at a faster rate than

rents, Pelletiere said. Add in stagnant wages and the housing situation for

the nation's poor ``has gotten worse over the last year,'' he said.

^------

On the Net:

National Low Income Housing Coalition: http://www.nlihc.org/index.html

HUD: http://www.hud.gov/

Copyright 2004 The Associated Press

[Guest guest]

RE: " There was a time in this country's history when the mere thought of an

army

of the poor that might cause social and economic revolution put real fear in

people. "

Right on, Healther. But with the MKUltra trained and supplied psychiatrists

the Illuminati, Bilderbergers, Council on Foreign Relations, EU, UN, Pres.

Bush with " Nes Freedom in Mental Health " compulsory mental health

screenings, don't have to worry about that, do they?

(Hi all, this is the type of thing that really gets my goat, as it were.

This may appear to be off-topic, but it isn't, in fact it reinforces my

belief that the personal is political.

Some of the more dubious 'studies' we've seen posted here and reported on

elsewhere have as their a presupposition that anxiety/stress/depression is a

bio-chemical phenonmenon. That by affecting brain chemistry the individual

can rid themselves of anxiety/stress/depression, or at least manage it to

lead fulfilling lives. This thinking permeates everything---its not the

inequality or inequity or horror of anyone's actual situation, its simply a

cocktail of brain juice that must be managed in order for everyone to be

happy-happy. There are people in this wealthy nation who cannot afford

rent, cannot find work, didn't get an adequate education (especially in the

south), or make enough to keep them living in a refridgerator box, who will

get labeled mental--not for manifesting symptoms of mental illness---but for

simply exhibiting the age-old anxieties of being poor! Its called

reactionary psychosis, and its the only normal reaction a person could have

when placed in a highly stressful survival situation. Like getting paid

minimum wage. There would be something seriously wrong with you if it did

not affect you to not know whether you'll be homeless from month to month.

Or if you had to stay in an abusive relationship for example. Or if your

kids are acting up at school because they are stressed at home.

There was a time in this country's history when the mere thought of an army

of the poor that might cause social and economic revolution put real fear in

people. But there was also a time when the so-called 'working class' were a

respected force in our culture--salt of the earth is what they used to say,

but then even 'poor' families had enough food, enough clothing, and

reasonable shelter. The capitalist machine is annihilating people daily.

If you're lucky enough to earn enough money to survive comfortably, you're

probably depressed anyway because your existence is so vacuous,

unfulfilling, stressful, lacking any spirituality, and mind-numbingly

boring. Or you might be dead already from your insurance sponsored vioxx.

Sorry to be a grumpus--just needed to blow off steam. I'm college educated

and I have a 'good' job, and I still wonder how I'll ever be able to afford

to buy a house, have a family, save money for kids to attend college

themselves...its hard even for the fortunate! This Christmas, help the

poor, please!)

December 20, 2004

Report: U.S. Rentals Unaffordable to Poor

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 1:53 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Most Americans who rely on just a full-time job earning

the federal minimum wage cannot afford the rent and utilities on a one- or

two-bedroom apartment, an advocacy group on low-income housing reported

Monday.

For a two-bedroom rental alone, the typical worker must earn at least $15.37

an hour -- nearly three times the federal minimum wage, the National Low

Income Housing Coalition said in its annual ``Out of Reach'' report.

That figure assumes that a family spends no more than 30 percent of its

gross income on rent and utilities -- anything more is generally considered

unaffordable by the government.

Yet many poor Americans are paying more than they can afford because wage

increases haven't kept up with increases in rent and utilities, said Danilo

Pelletiere, the coalition's research director.

The median hourly wage in the United States is about $14, and more than

one-quarter of the population earns less than $10 an hour, the report said.

``A lot of people continue to be squeezed out,'' said Judy Levey, executive

director of the Homeless and Housing Coalition of Kentucky. ``Housing here

is relatively inexpensive, but because the wages are so low, people can't

afford housing,''

The report quoted federal Bureau of Labor Statistics data that showed hourly

wages rising about 2.6 percent over the past year, slower than the 2.9

percent rise in rents recorded in the Consumer Price Index.

In addition, Pelletiere said, government spending on Section 8 rental

vouchers, which helps 2 million Americans -- mainly poor -- pay rent hasn't

kept up with demand.

The study analyzed data from the Census Bureau and the Housing and Urban

Development Department to derive the hourly wage figures.

In only four of the nation's 3,066 counties could a full-time worker making

the federal minimum wage afford a typical one-bedroom apartment, the

coalition said. Three were in Illinois: Lawrence, Crawford and Wayne

counties; the other was Washington County, Fla.

California topped all states in the hourly wage needed to afford a

two-bedroom apartment, at $21.24, followed by Massachusetts, New Jersey,

land and New York.

States with more residents in rural areas were generally the most

affordable, although no state's housing wage was lower than the federal

minimum wage of $5.15 an hour, which has not changed since 1997.

West Virginia was the lowest at $9.31 an hour for a two-bedroom rental,

followed by North Dakota, Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama.

Pelletiere said the coalition's data for 2004 could not be compared with

previous years because of changes in the way that HUD calculated ``Fair

Market Rents,'' which is the cost of rent and most utilities for a typical

apartment. The fair rent varies widely by metropolitan area.

Overall, though, utility costs appear to be rising at a faster rate than

rents, Pelletiere said. Add in stagnant wages and the housing situation for

the nation's poor ``has gotten worse over the last year,'' he said.

^------

On the Net:

National Low Income Housing Coalition: http://www.nlihc.org/index.html

HUD: http://www.hud.gov/

Copyright 2004 The Associated Press