Hi Shoppers, Sorry I have not talked about the 100 best town yet,but I came across this. Will start the talk on the towns next post promise.
I would like to talk about the problems that most of our country's people have. And how it is over looked in our eyes. And that is the real people that live down and out here. Yes the people that live in poverty,because of the work wages are so low for the working people. And then the price of everything gos up with out the wages going up,what happens? More and more of our follow American's go into poverty,by no fault of their own. But by the fault of a government that that just don't give a dam. To that I say SHAM SHAM!! I know cause I have been there and I am steal fighting to get out.
I have came across a article that Liz Pulliam Weston has wrote on the subject,and it is a very good. Her is what she has to say about poverty:
Liz Pulliam Weston
The Basics
Lessons from living down and out
Article To
*
5 lessons learned from poverty
Poster "milee" grew up with a divorced mother who barely made ends meet.
"The
house we lived in for seven years, until I was around 10, had no heat
or air conditioning and was slowly decaying around us. It was an old
Florida home propped up on cement blocks and since there were large
portions of floor and wall missing, snakes and bugs (usually roaches,
but also those really nasty-looking, huge wolf spiders) found their way
in pretty regularly. Even when it was very hot, which was often in
Florida, my sister and I slept completely tucked under a blanket,
because it was scary to think that one of those spiders that was bigger
than your hand might crawl over you when you were sleeping. When we
finally moved, the house was condemned and bulldozed. . . .
"We
wore clothes that the neighbors or charities gave us and thought that
some of our neighbors who lived in mobile homes were rich because they
had cable TV and snack food. As things got harder, mom developed some
fairly pervasive mental issues and stopped buying food or coming out of
her room for weeks at a time."
Milee's break came in third grade.
"One
of my teachers had me tested to see if I qualified for a local magnet
school. I'll always be grateful for her, because without her, I
probably wouldn't have had the same opportunities I had when I
qualified and went to the magnet school. It was a public school but
with small, advanced classes and 100% of the graduates going to college
-- a significant portion going to Ivy League schools. As grateful as I
am to have gone there, it was not easy being a poor kid at a school
like that, where most of the kids come from very wealthy families. . .
. You can't participate in sports because you can't afford a uniform or
equipment, debate is difficult because you can't afford the trips to
compete, you sometimes don't have supplies like paper to get
assignments done. I skipped school on days when there were class
parties because I didn't have the money to bring something to
contribute."
More from MSN Money
(c) Corbis
* 'We were so poor': Share your experiences
* Why you need $500 in the bank
* Money trouble: It's your own fault
* How to survive your hospital bills
* The emergency fund you can eat
Milee learned five lessons from this childhood:
1) You control your own destiny.
"Short term, there are things that can knock you off course and put you
in temporary situations that are unfair and awful, but if you are there
for the long term, it's probably because of a series of choices you
yourself have made. I know (it) sounds harsh, but I saw firsthand how
even in my mom's case, there were many things she could have done
differently to steer her life in a better direction. . . . You can
blame the universe, others, God, the government or the SOB who didn't
send the child-support check, but that really doesn't get you anywhere.
On the other hand, if you buckle down and do whatever you can to fix
your situation, you'll usually end up better off, even if it's very
hard for a while."
2) Education is key. "Without
a good education, you have many fewer options for financial security.
Luckily, in this country, if you're willing to work hard enough, you
can get that. It may not be easy, it may not be free, but it's out
there and you need to do whatever it takes to get it."
3) Money does not equal happiness. "We
were poor and unhappy, so I thought having money meant being happy . .
. (but) my husband also grew up very poor, and his family was close and
he had a loving childhood. (Meanwhile,) many rich people are miserable.
Don't confuse money and happiness. They're separate issues and you need
to work on your family and relationships just as hard as you work on
finances. Don't give up family and relationships in pursuit of money
and don't assume money will fix your personal life."
Liz Pulliam Weston
3 steps for solving your money problems
Liz Pulliam Weston gives you a few simple steps that can start you on the road to financial security.
4) If you do work hard, you can make your life better.
"Things might not get better overnight, but if you keep making good
decisions, things will get better. Sounds simple, but it's hard to see
sometimes when you're in the middle of it."
5) With the exception of some devastating health issues, hardly any bad situation has to be permanent.
"If you follow the first four points, it might take a long time to dig
your way out of whatever situation you're in, but it is possible. The
more time you spend complaining about things just leaves you with less
time to get out there and make it better. Learn from whatever happened
and figure out how to improve things in the future."
As you read, perhaps you were as struck as I was by:
* The toll that addictions -- drugs, alcohol, gambling -- take on families.
* The enormous impact that one sympathetic adult can have on a child who is poor.
If your family is struggling with addiction, you can get free help. There are 12-step groups for both the addict (Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, Gamblers Anonymous) and for the family (Al-Anon and Alateen, Nar-Anon, Gam-Anon).
If
you're doing OK and are able to reach out to a child who is poor, ask
around at your local schools or places of worship, or check out Big Brothers Big Sisters to see if there is someone who needs your help. Your caring can make a huge difference in someone's life.
Columns
by Liz Pulliam Weston, the Web's most-read personal-finance writer,
appear every Monday and Thursday, exclusively on MSN Money. She also
answers reader questions on the Your Money message board.
Published April 5, 2007
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Cool Tools I hope this helps my shoppers out to understand the there are more people out there that can not even afforded the type of shopping that most of us can. Maybe one of these days that will with our help to get them back on their feet and hope that day comes soon for those that are really trying. And Again As I Always Say, STAY SHOPPING!! If You Can!
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