The Census Bureau
has released new information highlighting the skyrocketing poverty
rates in the United States. According to the Bureau’s data, more than
49 million Americans are now living in poverty. Even those who
consider themselves middle class and are not technically living below
the poverty line as defined by the U.S. government are struggling to
avoid falling below that line.
High food and gas
prices, low wages, massive joblessness and rising costs for health
care and education are major factors contributing to the increase in
poverty. Those considered in the low-income group now number more
than 98 million, almost one-third of the U.S. population. These
economic problems, rooted in capitalism, are hurting those most
vulnerable—the sick, the elderly and the children. We cannot fix
these problems until we have a system that is structured to meet
people’s needs, not individual greed and profit needs. We cannot fix
these problems until we have socialism.
