More than 40 million Americans live in poverty, according to the US census.
Maudine Fall has spent her life working minimum wage jobs. At 56 years old, she became homeless. Although she continues cleaning and catering, she rarely gets more than 30 hours of work a week.
Occasionally, she stays in shelters, some nights she sleeps on the street. The worst part she says; you can never let your guard down.
"I worry about the danger, you put yourself in a vulnerable position when you're out here," she says.
Fall says it's impossible to save money for a rental deposit.
"You're never able to save, you're never able to really just build up and have a big deposit to put down. You're struggling, day by day. Even working," she says.
If you are among the working poor living pay check to pay check, one illness or natural disaster can put you on the street.
Ну, короче, тут всякие страсти пишут про то, как страшно на самом деле жить в нищете (пусть и в Америке), но вот последняя фраза самая верная и я привел эту историю в качестве иллюстрации: если вы работающие бедняки, то всего одна болезнь или природный катаклизм (от вас не зависящие) отделяют вас от того, что бы оказаться на улице. То есть присоединиться к 40 миллионам американцев живущих в нищете.
Всё ещё ненавидите социализм? Ну тогда не злите Господа Бога Вседержителя - а то вот всяко разное может случиться и вы будете абсолютно не в состоянии ничего поделать. "Безумный! В сию ночь душу твою возьмут у тебя; кому же достанется то, что ты заготовил?"
И вот иллюстрация про владельцев бизнеса:
John Bobbit is one such man.
He used to own a maintenance business employing four people.
That all changed after Hurricane Katrina slammed into New Orleans in 2005. He lost everything and ended up homeless for almost a decade.
"Pride was my biggest sin because I wouldn't ask people to help me. I always thought, 'I'm on my own, I've got to do this on my own.' I turned to drugs and alcohol just out of self-pity, and I ended up digging myself into a deeper hole," Bobbit said.
He was at rock bottom when he decided to walk some 500 miles (more than 700kms) from New Orleans to Atlanta to start anew. It took him 32 days.
Safehouse Outreach in downtown Atlanta helped him find work in a major hotel.
"I was in a job program and they started me off at $8.50. It's the most humble I've ever been in my life and I'm 50 years old. I'm used to making $25-30 an hour when I ran my own business."
He was quickly promoted to a manager position but was out of work 18 months later when illness struck.
Вы почитайте оригинал. Там вообще интересно написано об американской нищете. И да, в США есть даже нищета африканского уровня, в ней живет 5 миллионов человек - население какого-нибудь даже не самого маленького штата.