Addendae
Criminalizing Poverty: America’s War Against the Poor
https://www.counterpunch.org/2023/08/04/criminalizing-poverty-americas-war-against-the-poor
* poverty affects 37.9 million Americans incl. 11 million children
* tendency in U.S. to treat poverty as if it were leprosy, a contagious disease to be avoided by good & healthy people
* seeing rise of a “war on poverty” - e.g. laws by both conservative/liberal local governments criminalize panhandling
#poverty #homelessness #WealthInequality #capitalism #discrimination #PovertyIndustrialComplex #debt
cont'd
Public discourse in U.S. is of a relatively stable political system, h/e
* only country w/o universal health coverage
* lowest life expectancy @ birth
* highest death rates for avoidable/treatable cond.
* highest maternal infant mortal.
* among highest suicide rates
* highest multiple chronic cond.
* obesity rate 2x OECD avg
* see physicians less than people in most countries
* among lowest rate of practicing physicians, hospital beds/1,000 persons
* COVID-19 vacc. trails many nations
cont'd
https://mastodon.social/@persagen/110741245846598653
DeSantis states repeatedly that Florida is "No. 1 in"
*economic freedom
* education freedom
* parental involvement in education
* public higher education
DeSantis’ miserable record of governance:
* FL close to bottom of state rankings for health care, school funding, teachers salaries, employment benefits
* 1 of 10 states that refused to expand Medicaid; 12% FL have no medical insurance
* refused to raise minimum wage
* lowered taxes on the rich & corporations
