Hunger Among The Elderly - Red State/Blue State Divide

Much of the time when we discuss the conflict between liberal and conservative policies, we fall back upon iconic flash points: civil rights, the place of government in people's lives, "values," etc. We lose sight of the human casualties in these ideological battles.

Usually, the face of hunger in America is that of a child, or the child's mother and sometimes (young) grandmother who may be raising the child. (Indeed, 4 of every 10 people who use food pantries are children under 18.)

But there is another face of want and it is old, and it promises to get older as the Baby Boom generation ages.

While the problem crosses all geographical and ideological lines, it is most acute in conservative states more likely to embrace "small government" philosophies.

Meals On Wheels has compiled a sobering list state-to-state of the percentage of people 60 to 90 at risk of going hungry. In all, about 6 million older Americans are going hungry on a regular basis. Every day, every night.

The statistics, mind you, bear only on "hunger," and not on good nutrition. It is simple enough to connect the dots between poor nutrition, the aging population and skyrocketing health care costs. Without even tabulating the numbers carefully, we know the cost of not confronting hunger among older people runs well into the tens of billions per year.

Mississippi, South Carolina, Arkansas, Texas, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, North Carolina and Oklahoma headline the hall of shame, ranging from 12.39% at risk in Mississippi to 7.12% in Oklahoma.

The Dakotas fare particularly well, as do many northeastern states. More populous states, aside from Texas and its miserable record - 8.9% of older Texans are hungry - perform somewhere in the middle of the pack. (No state really gets a free pass on this one except perhaps North Dakota at a 1.53% of hunger among older people.)

At first glance, you could believe this is a rich state-poor state imbalance. It's not.

Kentucky, and Tennessee float slightly above the national average, while West Virginia is a bit below. Hawaii, a rich state, is right at the national average.

One can only surmise that it is the relative effectiveness of government (and private) programs that alleviate such conditions - or not.

Above and beyond the misery factor, we face a failure of moral will. Starving our elderly (and children, and people in between) is not humane, and casts doubt on our collective claim to be a civilized society.

An expenditure of $13 billion dollars per year would largely wipe out this problem.* That's about $36 million dollars per day.

By contrast the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan cost us $312 million per day. A 5% cut in the overall U.S. military budget would end all hunger in the country.

 *An intractable fraction could remain because of issues of the very old who are immobilized due to illness, injury or infirmity and reconfiguring housing, nursing home care, etc. Fully treating with this last remnant would create more costs. See North Dakota above, which has cut its rate to near zero. One could conclude that the communal will is there in ND, but perhaps not the financial resources to reach out to the hard core hungry.

The Cost of War Rolls On... and On

Since this blog was begun on January 22, 2010, America has spent another $10 billion on the twin wars in Asia. That's in just 32 days. Or $312,500,000 per DAY. One dollar a day from each of us. (Click here for the "War Cost Clock" and see how much your state and local contribution has been.)

SEE VIDEO BELOW:UNIVERSAL SOLDIER

Meanwhile, much ado is made of Scott Brown and a handful of other "moderate" Republicans voting for closure on a skimpy $15 billion jobs bill. This is the country we want? Say it ain't so.

Young men and women dying, our debt going through the ceiling, and a need to create 22 million jobs by 2013 just to get us back to the employment rate we enjoyed we late 2006...

Marketing Environmentalism 2

See video below.

When it comes to common folks who merely want clean air and less dependence on foreign oil, the right wing usually just can't spit the words out. So we'll have to settle for this excellent short video put together by Senator John Warner (R-Va), even if it is with a divided heart.

Hard as it is we'll have to hold our liberal noses and swallow the clarity and professionalism of the message. It's a brilliant strategy and terrific execution. Warner's 100% correct. His points are dead center bulls eyes. $700 billion a year flows out of our economy mostly to countries with whom at best we share a tense antipathy. Soldiers and civilians alike are dying over the black, murky liquid gumming up the works.

Note the flag waving in the opening seconds, the serious tone, the mentions of security, terrorism, the visuals showing soldiers sandbagging floodwaters, discussion of "our sons and daughters" who may serve in these energy wars, and the handsome captain-spokesmodel saying "it's like taking every hornet's nest we have around the world and shaking it up." Images of warfare, natural disaster, refugees, and a masked Islamic radical firing his gun are intermixed with apple pie images of America. The apocalyptic music lends the perfect creepy touch.

This is the way to sell the huge changes we need in order to get off our oil high. Contrast this video with the stiff, didactic way in which we on the left have framed the argument.


Climate Patriots from Laura Lightbody on Vimeo.

The Cost of War(s) and New School Construction

Just a quick update... since I last posted below on January 27, less than five days ago, (see High Speed Trains), showing the Cost of Our Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, another $1 billion has been spent (click).

Another perspective is this: in the ten years between 1999 and 2008, we spent about $298 billion on new construction and renovation of older schools. Many school construction statistics can be found here at the National Institute of Building Sciences. In the 8 years we have been in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, we've spent about $1 TRILLION there.

Because of budgetary and many other considerations, here in New York, city government is planning to close 19 "under-performing" schools. Meanwhile, the Federation of Catholic Teachers says they've been informed of a plan to close Saint Patrick's Old Cathedral School in Little Italy, the oldest parochial school in town.

This is not to say that education is solely the province of schools, public, private or parochial. Indeed, the main burden rests on the shoulders of parents. A simple calculation of time available for individual instruction in a classroom of 20 children, even if teachers could undertake such a mission, would show that perhaps - big perhaps - that a single child might receive 5 minutes of individualized attention on a given day. And I think that is being generous.

More schools and more teachers, smaller classes, longer days and longer school years, the reintroduction of phys ed, art, music, dance and so forth all take money. Good lunches (and breakfasts) for kids who need them take money.

We may win or lose the wars in the East, but we certainly are not winning the war on ignorance and poor educational attainment, or physical and cultural well-being.