Hunger Games: Americans Lose
These days, it's very easy to complain about the economy, the recession, the lack of good jobs, how expensive things are. Yet, for many of us, the economic downturn has manifested itself in very limited ways. In my case, instead of getting a salaried job right out of college, I had to work part time for six months, and then work at a job paying above-minimum hourly wage for a year. I was not well off, certainly, but neither was I starving by any means. I never lacked enough money to buy groceries, to eat healthy, or even to party every now and then with my friends. Occasionally, there would be a week at the end of a paycheck when I worried about having enough money for bus fare, but it was never dire. Not so for many millions of Americans. This article really illustrates how immediately problematic a recession can be for many people, especially for people like single mothers or those with health problems. These are the kinds of people who disappear in rural America, in small towns, and who don't have time or energy to make their poor condition known through Twitter or Facebook or a blog. These are the silent poor. And a lot of them are children.
However, it is hard for me not to think that much of the problem here in the US is lack of education about how to survive on a limited income. The family interviewed for the BBC article has almost $1500 a month to live on. Granted, that is for three people, an adult and two children. Yet, a one bedroom apartment in a city as big as Chicago is $700-900/month. Beans, rice, pasta, and canned or frozen vegetables are doable with perhaps $300-$400/month. That leaves $300-$500 for other expenses. Granted, not a lot. I certainly would not want to live on that. It is close enough to poverty that a $50 co-pay for a doctor's visit could mean not eating for a day. Yet, it is doable. My point here is not to say it is 'ok' for some people to live in near-poverty. Far from it. My point is that people in America have expectations of what their lives should be like, and often they do not have the means to live up to those expectations (even if this is not an indication of poverty, it could be of debt).
There is a distinct lack of education about how one can live frugally. I have met many people who claim to be extremely poor, yet who eat at Subway every day. Subway is very expensive in comparison to a diet of rice, beans, and stewed tomatoes - a meal which could be made on a hot plate (a hot plate which can be bought at Salvation Army for $20 or less). It is also delicious if prepared with salt, pepper, and cumin (relatively inexpensive spices that can be bought cheaply in bulk). What I mean to say is that people in the US frequently no longer know how to live when money is scarce, skills which generations of our forefathers were familiar with. I am reminded of a recent New York Times article, where a journalist attempted to eat healthily on a very limited budget, perhaps $30/week. He chose foods like fresh vegetables, a dozen eggs, etc. Not the worst choice, but certainly not the best. By the end of the week, he was starving. Eating healthy does not have to be synonymous with shopping at Whole Foods, or eating all fresh (probably not seasonal) food. In fact, the healthiest foods are often those that are cheapest, especially dried peas, beans, and lentils. They just require knowledge about how to prepare them. Today, some people do not know how to cook an egg or boil lentils or use vinegar or baking soda as cleaning products. You can live cheaply. It is not pleasant, but it can be done.
