I got the Miracle bit 'cause Sam Smith posted the WaPost
article:http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-sad-facts-behind-rick-perrys-texas-miracle/2011/08/16/gIQAxc3zJJ_story.html
highlights: **Harold Meyerson, Washington Post -* Consider the Texas
that Perry holds up to the rest of the nation for admiration. It has the
fourth-highest poverty rate of any state. It tied with Mississippi last
year for the highest percentage of workers in minimum-wage jobs. It
ranks first in adults without high school diplomas. Twenty-six percent
of Texans have no health insurance the highest percentage of medically
uninsured residents of any state. It leads the nation in the percentage
of children who lack medical insurance. Texas has an inordinate number
of employers who provide no insurance to their workers, partly because
insurance rates are high, thanks to an absence of regulations.
Perry seems quite comfortable with the state's lagging performance in
what we might term the pursuit-of-happiness index. Consider his
indifference toward education: In 2008, the state comptroller found that
12 percent of Texans lacked high school diplomas and that the level
would rise to 30 percent by 2040 unless the state's commitment to
education was considerably increased. This year, though, when confronted
with a $27 billion budget deficit, Perry did not raise taxes but instead
slashed $4 billion from K-12 schools.
*And I presumed that child poverty would almost rival the US because of
somewhat similar economies and educational systems. I could make the
leap about at-risk environment being the lot of the poor.
But what I sent in had to do with criminal nuclear energy maintenance
negligence and mismanagement and convenient earthquake/tsunami cover-up,
casting further doubts on nuclear energy safety anywhere. So to my mind,
the connection is vague, and I'm curious if more was meant.
Meltdowns and near meltdowns occur in wealthier countries too, with
varying degrees of secrecy. All people worry about keeping their jobs.
Ray, what were you saying?
Natalia
On 8/28/2011 2:25 PM, Robert Stennett wrote:
I cannot speak for Ray's thinking, but I can state that the poor tend
to be under-nourished (not always malnourished, but that problem
affects some, as well), and thus less resilient to environmental
teratogens, toxins, or other shocks to the system. In addition, in the
US (and presumably in Japan and other countries), the poorest
individuals live in the most undesirable neighborhoods - closest to
landfills, powerplants (nuclear and conventional), industrial areas.
This ensures a greater exposure to environmental toxins, and thus, a
greater 'load' to overcome.
You and Ray may want to look at
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/ed20100125a2.html. I've pasted
the article below.
Ray's reference to the "Texas miracle" is a reference to a current US
politician with presidential aspirations. The governor of Texas has
claimed that his policies have helped protect Texas from the current
recession, but this doesn't seem to be true....
https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/15/opinion/the-texas-unmiracle.html
for more details on this. Ray's link showed the child poverty rate in
a number of areas of the US. In Texas, it ranges from 25% to 37%,
depending on the area of the state, and is 11.7% in Canada (18.8% in
B.C., according to data from Statistics Canada)
Barry
On Aug 28, 2011, at 4:13 PM, D and N wrote:
Could you please make the connection that you have in mind?
Natalia
On 8/27/2011 2:41 PM, Ray Harrell wrote:
I wonder what the child poverty rate was in Japan? Check out the
Texas miracle.
REH
Monday, Jan. 25, 2010
<http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/ed-a-all.html>
Poverty in Japan
Japan's relative poverty rate as of 2007 stood at 15.7 percent, the
Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry announced last October. This marks
the first time the government has officially released its own data on
the subject. Past rates were known only through surveys conducted by
the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The public
announcement of this data is a welcome end to the willful denial of
previous administrations, but one demanding a response and action.
The 2007 relative poverty rate, up from 14.9 percent in the 2004 OECD
survey, is the fourth-highest among OECD's 30 member nations. With
half the median income for all income earners in the nation serving as
the dividing line, the relative poverty rate is likely to have
worsened in the past few years, but we will never know until more
recent data is forthcoming. For now, though, the reality is that 19
million Japanese are living below the poverty line, or nearly one in
every six citizens.
Japan may imagine itself as middle class and, compared with other OECD
countries, the distribution of income before redistribution has
remained better than many, but Japanese society is increasingly
becoming pear-shaped. The elderly, older workers, recent unemployed
graduates and especially single mothers and their children make up an
ever-larger portion of those in poverty. According to the OECD survey,
some 59 percent of those below the poverty line are single parents.
This figure was one of the worst of all OECD countries in 2004.
Now that the administration has announced its base figure for the
first time, it will have a clear, public benchmark. Once ministries
start announcing statistics, academic researchers, independent
organizations and the press can check these figures. That will help to
hold the current and future administrations accountable. Admitting the
problem is the first, big step, but finding solutions is the more
important second step.
As welcome as this announcement was, facts are sometimes not as
visible as the human beings in poverty. Last year's "temporary workers
village" in Hibiya Park over the new year holidays caused the
administration to scurry around this year to find shelter and extend
unemployment benefits to over 230,000 people.
The hard work of creating a fair and just economic system will demand
a substantial readjustment of Japan's past socioeconomic norms and
practices. Now that the government has admitted there is poverty,
action must follow.
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