The Return of Poverty.

AlekSmart

To my mind Ireland finally managed to rid itself of Poverty in and around the mid 1950`s.
My definition of Poverty would be the ongoing inability to provide for basic human existential requirements from one`s own or other available resources.

I am aware that many non-governmental organizations put forward the theory that we never escaped Poverty and that it continued through the Boom years also.

I differ on this and am of the belief that what poverty we had in the past 10 years came about through a combination of ignorance,laziness and a refusal to avail of the educational system.

Today however,I sense a very real fear amongst that group of hoary old chesnuts,"the working classes" that they are on the verge of losing everything.

As our national systems struggle to comply with the newly increased demands placed upon them there is a sense of impending doom centreing around those who have contributed most to the Social Insurance pot now finding it empty when they get to it.

The images on a BBC2 documentary earlier this week which dealt with the Wall Street Crash and it`s aftermath left me feeling very fragile indeed.

Now as we look around we see and hear the rustle of Inward Looking Protectionism creeping into that wonderful EEC/EU new world order that was...should we be preparing ourselves for the "Say Buddy,can you spare a dime" era ..?

nesf

I assure you there was plenty poverty to go around after the 1950s. It wasn't pretty in a lot of rural areas in the 70s and 80s, Christ I can still remember people having dirt floors never mind central heating etc in the 90s. I Though I would be sympathetic to scepticism of the "relative poverty" figures brought out by different groups, I wouldn't consider being relatively poor in a well off country as living in poverty.

dresden8

Bizarrely enough;

As people lose their jobs and paycuts kick in and median income level drop, there will be less people below the 60% median income level and official poverty levels will drop.

If everybody is living in cardbox boxes there is no relative poverty, we're all as rich as each other.

nesf

dresden8 wrote: »

If everybody is living in cardbox boxes there is no relative poverty, we're all as rich as each other.

Which is why measures like relative poverty are pretty useless. Real incomes (i.e. inflation adjusted) are the only useful way of comparing people's purchasing power over time.

Apart from people living on the streets etc we have very little true poverty in this country despite income still being fairly unequally distributed. I think this is something we should be quite happy about to be honest about it.