As we look for solutions to the problem of poverty, we are doing wrong in looking to the government to solve those problems. Proposals such as socialism do not eliminate poverty; if anything they only serve to widen the pool of poverty. I believe the answer lies in encouraging civic responsibility. It has always amazed me that most parents believe in the idea od positive reinforcement as applies to their children, but don't see the value of such as applies to corporations. The fact is, ...

I pulled some interesting statistics off of the association of gospel resuce missions ( www.agrm.org ) website, and here are some facts (in a year's time): · Served 33 million meals (the approximate population of California). · Distributed more than 24 million pieces of clothing. · Provided 12 million nights of lodging. · Graduated more than 12,000 homeless men and women into productive living. · Provided more than 155,000 medical and den...

Tom Joad got out of the old McAlester Pen There he got his parole After four long years on a man killing charge Tom Joad come a walking down the road, poor boy Tom Joad come a walking down the road Tom Joad he met a truck driving man There he caught him a ride He said: "I just got loose from McAlester's Pen On a charge called Homicide, A charge called Homicide." That truck rolled away in a cloud of dust, Tommy turned his face toward home, He met Preacher Casey and t...

This is a repost of one of my articles from Gideon's Trumpet (http://gideon-macleish.joeuser.com), sharing part of my experience as Miner #43 in American Borate Company's Billie Mine in Death Valley, California: I know many on joeuser think I'm a walking enigma. And I don't blame them. Many of my thoughts and ideals are seemingly contradictory until you understand how I would go about them. And knowing how I would go about them comes about only as you begin to know me as a person. So le...

I did a little more digging on statistics on poverty in America, and will detail my findings here. For those who wish to do so, you can take a short quiz on poverty in America at: http://www.nccbuscc.org/cchd/povertyusa/povquiz.htm The statistics in the two following categories are taken from: http://www.heartsandminds.org/articles/childpov.htm Poverty's Effect on Children Unfortunately, not all America's poor have been so fortunate. According to figures released by the U.S. C...

I wanted to post this from the viewpoint of someone who has known poverty the majority of my life, and, when it finally looked as if I was working my way out of it, was thrust back in, hard and fast. There are many misconceptions that people standing "outside the box" don't understand about poverty. One of the first, and saddest, problems with poverty is what sociologists call "crab bucket syndrome". This is based on the fact that apparently crabs, when caught, are put into a bucket they c...

This article is taken from http://www.nvo.com/ecnewletter/homelessinamerican/. There's a significant amount of good information on the face of homelessness in America: Homeless in America I am an invisible man/woman...of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids, and I might be said to possess a mind. I am an invisible simply because people refuse to see me...When they approach me they see only my surroundings, or fragments of their imagination, indeed, everything and anything exc...

This from yahoo! News: Schwarzenegger Vetoes Minimum Wage Bill Sun Sep 19, 4:20 AM ET Add U.S. National - AP to My Yahoo! By STEVE LAWRENCE, Associated Press Writer SACRAMENTO - Siding with his business allies, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (news - web sites) vetoed bills Saturday that would have raised the minimum wage to $7.75 an hour and required economic impact reports before local governments approve Wal-Mart-like mega-stores. AP Photo The Republican gov...

These facts are from the National Poverty Center at the university of Michigan (www.npc.umich.edu). I recommend going to their website for more information, as they have the charts and graphs that go with this for a better explanation (my attempt to copy them onto my blog is usually not met with the best of results): How does the United States measure poverty? The United States has two tools for measuring poverty. Poverty thresholds are used for statistical purposes such as calculating ...

I posted this originally on my personal blog (http://gideon-macleish.joeuser.com), but as it has to do with the plight of workers in America, thought that it was at least peripherally appropriate to this page In my previous article on the conditions at the mine in death valley, I mentioned the very real dangers there. To be fair, mining will always be a dangerous occupation, but as long as there is a need for ore, there will be a need for laborers to extract it. Job pay, in my opinion, s...

Hello, JoeUsers, it is I, Gideon. I created this blog site for all of the canningpoverty.org releases. I will be reposting some articles from *my* site onto here, as I am hoping to use this site for all external traffic related to canningpoverty.org. For those who don't know who we are, I am posting the basic information as follows: Canning Poverty – A Proposal In the wake of our recent circumstances, I have had many people emailing me asking “What can we do?” They want to help but are ...