Well said Susan.

I've been poor, not desperately poor, but poor. Many a day I skipped lunch and worried that the gas in the car might not get me to work near the end of the month. I've put off repairs on the car, medical care (I've dug glass out and stitched up my own lacerations), dental care (I once installed my own temporary filling), and patched holes in boots and clothing. I've got by without heat when it was freezing out, and AC when it was over 100F. But no, I've never been really poor.

The fact being that educated and knowledgeable enough to know what I needed to do get by and being able to scrape enough cash together to buy needles and thread, filling and suturing supplies I was lucky. Far better off than many others.

Fortunately without kids I was always able to slide by. If I had kids. Or if my luck had failed, I would have been in desperate straits.

Money is freedom. Having money in the bank means you have options. The poor always pay more.

I don't think we will ever eliminate poverty. I'm not sure we should even try. I do think that as Americans and human beings we should do whatever is practical to knock the worse of the rough edges off extreme poverty. IMO there will always be poor, but poverty needn't involve suffering and degradation.

It is interesting to see how different people think about poverty. Some people see it is primarily a moral failing. A lack of will and drive. Others, particularly those who have been poor, or near poor, don't see morality and drive making much difference.

For those interested in how conceptual thinking about poverty and wealth, success and failure, shape the arguments and policies one of the better books covering how the two main communities think:
http://www.amazon.com/Moral-Politics-Lib...1687&sr=8-1