I think it is a big mistake to consider poor = poor. My work and travels has led me to 'real' poor places like parts of India, Bangladesh, and Cambodia. But the infrastructure, rules, communities, opportunities,...EVERYTHING is different there.
You just can't compare poverty in NA to poverty in other parts of the world.
It's a different kind of poverty, but it doesn't make NA poverty unreal.
Tvs are so cheap in the states that anybody can have them nowadays, but having one doesn't make you rich.
I don't quite understand what the first bold part means. I haven't traveled to poor areas, but prior to immigrating to Canada I grew up in a third world country in the Eastern Bloc during the fall of the Soviet Union, and there is a big difference between not being able to eat due to a shortage on food, even if you have the means to pay for it, and being able to purchase cheap TVs. Not to mention the excruciating winters, but obviously pockets of US gets these as well.
Why can you not compare the levels of poverty? When you traveled to those destinations, did your dollar not go farther than in your own country? ( I don't know where you're actually from so the default guess is always somewhere in the US)
NA is good at keeping poor people alive longer. But they're just living longer, miserable lives with mlre distractions, things a rich nation like the US can afford. Food is plentiful, so people don't starve here, they're just kept alive living meaningless lives
Just that point alone is huge. You cannot starve unless for some reason you refuse to utilize food banks or handouts.
What would entail a non meaningless life as that seems a bit subjective. (Serious question) As some people think a 9 to 5, 5 days per week is brutal and choose to travel and work sporadically until their next flight or spend their time partaking in the outdoors instead. To each his own.
And how does one "just move" out of a shitty area? People really discount how difficult it is for a poor person to just move to a new area. Do they have a car? Probably not. Can they get a job? How do they even move from house A to B? A lot of these communities are there because their fathers and grandfathers are from there. They're probably living in their family's home, or the apartment lease is under their grandma's name, or the one other family member that has decent credit, or in an area where the government gives them assistance. If it was so easy to move , people would do it.
And where do you think guys in poor places get money to buy phones and shoes? It's not from a 9 to 5
Of course it's hard to move, it is for anybody. But if you have finally had enough, you save up what little you have from government assistance, or your minimum wage job, shit even your "hustle", and go. How far I don't know, do research at a library. If an environment is toxic then a person should abandon it. According to their website, a trip from Miami to Seattle from $198. That covers a pretty far distance.
Why cant they get a job? There are labour ready and places like that pretty much anywhere, do your research and make sure your new destination has one. I'm sure you can also search cash jobs on Craiglist that will pay you peanuts but hard work needs to be done to get on one's feet. Slowly but surely you can move on up.
As far as housing goes, there are shelters. Once you have found some form of income you can then move up to having a bunch of roommates and slowly go from there.
I think where you and I have a disagreement or possibly a misunderstanding is from what I gather you are equating a poor person to what sounds like a gang member/drug addict mentality that only knows of the "hustle", while I am equating them to being flat broke but still able to eat due to the handouts. Which is why I don't understand why a person who is able to eat and has a place to stay would be stealing.
Imo and maybe yours, the real issue is not that the poor people in the States don't have access to money but due to generations of bad habits/decision making being ingrained into them by their family members and their environment, they do not spend it wisely and do not know how to get out of the hole. It also does not help when young people see IG millionaires acting like idiots and strive for that and mimic their behavior instead of focusing on real world skills.
I'm okay with this baiting tactic for serious crimes. Murder, rape, and pedophilia.
Or if they were trying to catch a particular theif that had an MO of stealing in a particular way.
Baiting poor people into commiting small crimes just feels like preying on the weak. Go after real criminals
I understand baiting pedophiles with the Chris Hansen show and all, how do you bait for murder and rape?