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I am a Canadian citizen of 26 years. Now, while I am of Indian decent, I currently reside in the United States. I have now lived in the U.S. for 7 years, and I have paid interest in its policies of Government. While I knew that the U.S. was a capitalistic society, I could never imagine what I see is happening now! This great country, "The United States of America" is now tossing our elderly and our poor (the builders of our great country) to the wolves! This is all being done in the name of "capitalism." The following words are my response to an article written by Dinesh D'Souza (Sunday, June 29, 2003), which I happened to come across on the net about a month ago. Refer to the article at the address listed below. http://www.goanet.org/pipermail/goanet/2005-August/031943.html Dinesh asked a friend, ""Why are you so eager to come to America?" He replied, "I really want to live in a country where the poor people are fat." Let's state the facts! Here in the U.S. most poor people are fat and many are obese! However, this is not because they get fat from the good and nourishing food they eat (as many of you consume in India). These people are obese from the cheap, fatty and unhealthy food they can only afford to consume. As a result, these foods are restricting the longevity of the lives of our poor! Dinesh also said.... "We now live in a country where construction workers regularly pay$4 for a nonfat latte, where maids drive nice cars and where plumbers take their families on vacations to Europe". Maybe Dinesh does not know the differences in construction workers. Here in the U.S, we have skilled or certified construction workers i.e. Plumbers, Carpenters, Framers, Electricians, Bricklayers (also referred to as Journeymen) etc. These professionals are highly paid as they go through an apprenticeship in their trades which includes practical and theory. Unlike India, these skills are an educated trade. Much education is put into the label of being a licensed journeymen in these skills. We, here in the U.S., also have the helpers of these trades. These helpers, while also referred to as electricians and plumbers, are not certified. They are only laborers. They are paid only an above average wage yet, they are forced to work in temperatures from 110 degrees to below 0 degrees. Here in the U.S. the plumbers that Dinesh refers to are taking their vacations in Europe are business owners with a staff of many laborers! These people are highly educated! Less than 20% of American Citizens own a passort, compared to Canada which is over 60%. When Dinesh refers to maids driving nice cars, I wonder if he comparing the cars to the ones in Bombay. Cars here, are not a luxury, they are a necessity! Public transportation is the pits all over North America. One needs a car to get to work or get to the store to buy groceries. Try walking a mile in the middle of winter to go buy your groceries. While the car may look good, compared to a car in Bombay, it's probably been bought used and is over 10 yrs old. If anything goes wrong with the running of the car, try taking it to a mechanic. This will cost you nothing less than $300 to fix. Here in the U.S. a diagnostic check alone cost $65 and up. While some of these so called good looking cars cost under $2000, many have been financed at an outrages rate of interest. Dinesh says....."the poorest Americans have TV sets, microwave ovens and cars". If the poor could not afford a TV set, they would probably go insane from boredom! T.V is America's entertainment. The poor in this country can't afford any other entertainment. Our poor are confined to their home, during the long cold winter months. In Bombay, you have hundreds if not thousands of people you can talk to. Here in the U.S., you are lucky to say "HI" to the next door neighbor! Social contact (as most would define in India) is rarely existent in comparison to India! The people of India are so giving, so hospitable and joyful in life! Perhaps Dinesh is comparing the quality of life in monetary means! Here in the U.S., some poor folks can only afford a microwave. They cannot afford an electric range. A microwave today cost $45 and an electric range $350 and up. Does Dinesh realize the poor cannot cook in an apartment with a primus stove because they are not sold here in North America? Besides, it would also be a fire hazard as our homes here are built of wood. Have you ever tried making Curry or even Rice in a microwave? For an Indian a microwave is a luxury, for an American its not. Dinesh says..."no country has created a better ladder than America for people to ascend from modest circumstances to success". Maybe Dinesh has stayed out of India too long. I personally know of a person that came to India after the Second World War with his son wrapped in a towel and left India 25yrs later a Multi Millionaire. A personal friend of mine that had nothing to show for when he was in his mid 20's, and had probably made his first million 15yrs later, is too modest to admit it. Dinesh says...."People live longer, fuller lives in America" Yes the Rich live longer and fuller lives in America. Comparing that the life span has increased all over the world including, India. Maybe he does not realize that over 40 million American do not have health insurance. What does he think the life span for those 40 million Americans are? Maybe Dinesh has not read or come across old folks in this country whose children have no time for them even when they are in a nursing home. America caters to the rich under the banner of Corporate America. While I have not lived in Europe, I have heard of the social programs available to their citizens. I do want to point our neighbor Canada, and tell you that the system of government is far better than here in the U.S. After having lived in Canada for over 26yrs, it's easy to see the differences! . Social Security here in the U.S. pays a death benefit of $250 to defray funeral expenses. Canada's Canada Pension Plan pays $2500 for the same, and they are thinking of raising it to over $4000. Canada has an Old Age pension (non-contributory) for those over $65. America has 0 Unemployment benefits in America are paid for 13weeks. Canada pays it for 50 weeks. Canada has labor laws far superior to those of America. Just one example: If a person has been laid off for more than 13weeks, the company has to pay him/her a severance pay, which is one weeks pay for every year of service if the person has worked for the company for over 5yrs. In America there is no law. A company laid off all their drivers some of whom had 28yrs of service, with 1 weeks pay as a bonus. Health Insurance premiums have been going through the roof here. For the last 3 yrs my premiums have gone up over 25% every year even though there were no claims. Canada has a Govt. Health Plan, where everyone is covered. Lipitor that is manufactured in Ireland is sold here at 50% more than the price it's sold in Canada. And yet the U.S. Govt. says it's illegal to purchase your drugs in Canada. And by me saying "drugs" I am not talking of cocaine or marijuana. An American can die a pauper even though he has had health insurance. If a person here has a serious illness that cost the insurance company more than what the limit on the persons policy covered (usually $1 million for the working Joe) the Govt. will cover the additional cost only if the person signs over all his assets to the Government, now that is Corporate America. This can never happen in Canada. With the present policies of the American Government, I see the poor getting poorer while the rich getting richer. A tax break was given to all Americans from which the rich profited. Now due to the natural disasters, and the war in Iraq which is costing billions, they have decided to cut funding to Medicaid and Medicare to the tune of $10 Billion over 5yrs. We all know that Medicare and Medicaid benefit the poor. To add insult to injury, our government is planning to cut food stamps that are handed out to the poor. The majority of these elected officials in our government are so called Christians, (professing to be God fearing). They all profess high morals values. Can you give me one example of what they done to make life better for the poor and struggling in this country? As Christianity teaches us to do. Good Friday is not a public holiday, because I feel it would cost the corporations money to pay their employees for the day off. I have made these points to a few of my friends here. While these friends and family are so well able to quote the Bible to the "T", their practice of its lessons are left on the way side. As the riches of this great nation shows it's prosperity, there is no reason that any of its own should be left behind! We are the richest nation on earth! Why can't we show our compassion to fellow man by raising them up? Instead, only the wealthy and those with assets gain through tax cuts and corporate welfare! The American people were lied to on going to war with Iraq. The spin given by the government that they care about the plight of the people, under a ruthless regime, is a sham. I say to America, look after your own people first, see that every American, Man, Woman and Child has health insurance before you use an excuse to go to war. People may not realize this but, most of the men and woman in the armed forces are from the poorer classes. My point is this..... None of us can compare the poor of one country to another. Instead, we must look at the overall picture of a country to see how the poor are treated. I am not defending the treatment of the poor in India. The Government in India can do more by stemming the flow of what is called Black Money. I see the middle class in India not even paying their servants a fair wage. Yes, the rich in India flaunt their wealth which will not be seen here in the America. But that does not make the rich in America any better than those in India. The difference is, here in America the Government looks after the interest of the rich instead of the poor. The Minimum Wage in America is $5.15 an hour and was last increased in 1997. The effect of the last minimum wage increase in 1996-97 has been completely eroded by inflation. $5.15 today is the equivalent of only $4.23 in 1995 - lower than the $4.25 minimum wage level before the 1996-97 increase. The Government still refuses to consider raising the minimum wage, while the Senate voted themselves a pay raise. A point to note 70 out of the 100 Senators are millionaires, they sure did need that raise. In the last 5yrs of Bush's presidency, can Dinesh point out a single law that was passed to benefit the poor? I can point out all of the laws that were passed that benefited the rich! 1. Doing away with the Estate Tax or what is normally referred to as the Death Tax. Even Bill Gates the richest man in America came out and said it was wrong to remove it. (Gates' estate stands to loose the most). 2. This year, corporations were allowed to bring their foreign profits back into the country at a taxable rate of 5% instead of the normal rate of 35% with no conditions attached. (All the while.... we have a whopping deficit). What's wrong with this picture? 3. Doing away with taxing dividends. 4. Finally, reducing the tax rate for all Americans, which benefited the rich and the poor saw a pittance off their paychecks. ***The federal government says that two parents raising two children anywhere in the U.S. need only $17,463 in annual income to lift their family out of poverty. But take a moment to calculate what this family might need to pay for rent, food, child care, health care, and transportation to work and school, and you'll soon realize that this is nonsense. Two-parent, two-child families with incomes twice as high as the poverty threshold are struggling to meet their basic needs, due to high costs and the fact that they don't have incomes low enough to qualify for much of the federal assistance that poor families receive. As a result, millions of families across the country simply forego needed goods and services. Even with an economic boom well underway, over 40 percent of families with incomes twice as high as the poverty level regularly worried about going hungry. Nearly one in five families had to miss meals for lack of food. One in four were unable to pay their rent, mortgage, or utility bills every month. These families are just as likely as "officially" poor families to go without necessary medical care or decent housing. They are sometimes forced to live with other families to afford housing costs.*** THIS PIECE APPEARED IN THE SOUTH FLORIDA SUN-SENTINEL ON AUGUST 20, 2001. Has anyone ever heard of a country in the world that reduces taxes when they are at war and at the same time have a ballooning deficit? This only happens in Corporate America. Another point of interest: 30% of American live paycheck to paycheck (paid weekly). If these poor people miss just 2 paychecks, they are unable to pay their rent. As a result, they may be evicted! Godfrey D'Souza
