Bobert:

You are the one that brought the stats into the discussion. Why?

Now that they are here, if someone feels that they are not accurate or do not relate to the real poverty situation in America, I think they can discuss it.

You throw out a number about how much money Exxon/Mobil made. Is that the reason for poverty? People are piss poor in Mexico where the state took over the oil companies, some of them were seized from the US. Are the people in Mexico better off because they have no huge oil company there?

There has to be the biggest everything. Hamburger chain, ball of string, city, etc. Exxon sells the most oil and therefore makes the most money. Is that the reason for poverty? Get rid of Exxon and the next oil company becomes the biggest.

Exxon made $39 billion off of $339 billion in revenues. Citicorp made $24 billion off of $131 billion in revenues. Nearly twice the profit margin. Is Citicorp less evil than Exxon because they had less revenues or more evil because they made a higher percentage of profit? Microsoft made $12 billion profit on $39 billion in revenues, a 30% profit. GM lost $10 billion on $192 billion revenue.

Stating how much money the largest corporation made is a red herring, a straw man issue, a diversion and will not get to the root of the reason for poverty.

Companies want people with money that they can sell goods and services to, not poor people that can't buy anything and are a poor credit risk.

The only way companies can profit off of poor people is from cheap labor such as illegal aliens. The same anti-poverty crowd is pro-illegal alien. These people work cheap and bring down wages all over the country. The law that makes it illegal for companies to hire illegal aliens needs to be enforced. That will increase wages on the low end of the scale and help poor people.

Now, on to the root causes of poverty. It begins at home, with the family. All you need to do is study the Asian minority for example. They have a sense of family that is lacking among other minority groups. They start out with less than other minorities and soon they are middle class.

It is very true that education is the key to eliminating poverty but the people must want and seek to get an education like the Asian minority does. The government cannot do that for people, they have to do that themselves. Civil rights leaders need to encourage young poor people to get and education and tell them it is possible, give them a positive attitude. Instead I hear them blaming others for the problem and sending the message that they can't get ahead because other people are preventing them from getting ahead.

Dianavan said: "I quite often wonder why some people seem to dwell in poverty while others are able to lift themselves out of misery. I think it may have something to do with the ability to network, socially, and the ability to access services and goods that are available.

I also know that to escape the cycle of poverty, you must be able to see that you have choices and are able to make decisions. You must have hope. When people feel that they are trapped, they become helpless. I also know that you must be very assertive about your right to access the programs that are out there."

It looks to me like the Civil rights leaders need to be giving the poor people a message of hope and making them aware of the opportunities to escape poverty.

I don't want to belittle the sacrifices or important and valuable contributions to society Bobert has made with his social work. He knows a hell of a lot more than I do about the plight of the poor down in the trenches but you have to treat the disease, not just the symptoms. Citing a bunch of stats that may or may not be accurate and that may or may not related to the problem are not helpful and only serve to exacerbate the problem.

The Brown Daily Herald

"Problems facing the black community in America are primarily due to the breakdown of the nuclear family, the Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson told a half-filled MacMillan 117 Tuesday. His speech was followed by a heated question-and-answer session.

Though he cited personal experiences with segregation during his childhood, Peterson said the major perpetrators of racism in America today are organizations such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and black leaders like the Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton....."

Bill Cosby

""....What was needed, said Cosby, was "parent power!" He elaborated: "Proper education has to begin at home.... We don't need another federal commission to study the problem...."