Dianavan - there is no need for a personal attack here, particularly one completely out of the blue.

I did not say that I would get preganat in order to go on welfare... I said that if I would be absolutely supported for being pregnant I sure as hell would get pregnant, as would pretty much any woman who cannot support herself by her own efforts alone! (And there are a lot of women who cannot fully support themselves for whatever reason, past poverty and malnutrition don't help there either.) I am QUITE aware that the current state of welfare is no help at all for poor people. I am also working to improve my situation - which you seem completely unaware of despite the many threads there have been about me.

However, this thread is not about me personally, please keep it that way.

Don - I agree that affluenza is a definite problem as well, and one that contributes to the feeling of poverty. It also contributes to actual poverty by creating companies that promote affluenza on the backs of sweatshops, and that export jobs from places that demand a minimum wage to places where people can be exploited for their time.

Affluenza is the reverse face of the coin of poverty, and it is encouraging that many people are reaching towards the appropriate life instead of the garish life these days. Hopefully that "simple life" movement will keep gaining momentum. But again, different people have different needs, and to some what is simple is completely different than what that is to another. People have different talents to support, as well. Some people might just need one guitar, where others may need an acoustic, an electric, and a midi guitar as well.

I think we can all agree on what the basics are though, as this thread has already demonstrated.

Would you say that the pressure on companies from stockholders contributes to the attitude of "profits at all cost" that leads to the promotion of affluenza among the public and the use of exploitative labour tactics by those companies?