My exchanges with a US based correspondent about very difficult life for the poor now in the USA

Last updated on 2nd Oct. 2018

Please note that this post is very disturbing. People who don't like to read about such matters may please skip reading this post.

Given below are some edited mail exchanges I had over the past month or so, with a USA based correspondent which paint a very harsh and sorrowful picture of life for the poor in the USA. I was hesitating to publicly share these views as I had concerns about me being viewed as an anti-USA person and the US based correspondent's (who BTW is a white USA citizen) remarks being viewed as unpatriotic.

I think the lady mass shooter matter which I had posted recently has pushed me to explore this topic even at the risk of me being attacked as an anti-USA social media writer. There surely are some Americans who would be outraged that an Indian (as India is definitely far poorer than USA) is writing about America's poor being in dire straits when India has so many people who are in far more desperate poverty, going by money measures, than in USA.

--- But, due to the lady mass shooter tragedy, I am ready to put up posts on this matter and face any harsh reactions I may get.

I refer to the USA based correspondent as USC. Note that the exchange is edited to remove any sensitive parts. Please note that I have a publicly neutral political stand in US and India politics. My only motive in putting up this post is to share the dire state of affairs which I hope will contribute in some small way to bring about positive change to the lives of the poor in the USA.

USC wrote: No one here can afford (health) insurance except the super rich.  Most of us have NO insurance.  It is disgusting.

Ravi wrote: [USC], I find that hard to believe. Sorry if my words sound inappropriate. Or maybe there is some jargon issue in the sense that you may be omitting Medicaid and Medicare coverage, which are included, it seems, in official statistics. Here's a 2016 map claiming that --- state has only 10% or less without health care coverage, https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/12/maps-show-obamacares-big-on-americans-health-insurance-coverage.html.

But you seem to speaking from experience. Can you clarify based on my above input? I would like to know about it and then share it, especially if we can get some published data to back it. Such sharing may, I repeat may, help in a tiny way to bring positive change. At least, that's how I view it and that's why I invest my time in such matters. It is my way of serving society as a social media writer highlighting such problems.

Having no access to reasonable healthcare in a wealthy country like USA is disgusting - I agree.
----

USC wrote: Ravi, Medicaid and Medicare are in name only.  They cover nothing essential and will cover non-essential only if you have a co-pay....that is an additional insurance which unless you work for a rich company you cannot get.....Companies don't pay insurance as they want to keep workers only at 26 hours per week.  This cuts out the companies from having to pay any benefits. ---  -- burned out trying to live in this crazy new USA....-- snip --
----

I (Ravi) wrote: My God, [USC]! This is really tough!

My earnest prayers to God to help the poor in these challenging times that they face.
----

[Initially when the above exchange happened in end Aug 2018 I had thought of sharing it but then decided against it. I (Ravi) wrote the following then, to explain to USC why I decided against sharing it:]
--snip--

Regarding "Medicaid and Medicare are in name only.  They cover nothing essential and will cover non-essential only if you have a co-pay.": Those are very strong statements, [USC]. I think you will agree with me that those are very strong statements. I will need to dig up on Medicaid and Medicare to back your statement. And even if I did that, if I put it up, even if I mention your name, I may be viewed as being an anti-USA guy. I want to avoid that.
----

[As explained earlier, the lady mass shooter incident in the USA led me to do a rethink and so I have shared the above publicly after some editing. Here's the wiki page of Medicaid which gives a much more positive view of Medicaid, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicaid.]
-----

I (Ravi) wrote that some people say that the poor and lower-middle-class people in the USA are having it very hard even though the US economy is doing well, stock market is booming etc.

USC responded: --- And you are right on the money when you speak about the poor and the middle class...no more upper middle class.  The jobs are all minimum wage no benefits jobs running around $7 per hour!  No one can live on that wage, let alone support a family.
----

I wrote: Noted your response [USC]. Lot of things to ponder over for me.

Life should NOT be so expensive to live, as it seems to have become in the USA. That's what really puts a horrible squeeze on the poor and even the middle class, some of whom may then become desperate out of survival anxiety and lose it and do stupid things including mass shootings. An alternative low cost lifestyle in self-reliant type townships should be possible in the huge land mass that USA is.
----

USC wrote: People have simply had enough of extreme poverty....financial, and moral.  They realize, perhaps for the first time, that our leaders are not leaders and have no power at all to rectify matters......We are basically an Oligarchy now and churches are empty while prisons are full beyond capacity and we hire out facilities for private prisons to the lowest bidders.
...

Essentially, the USA is bankrupt of money, as well as morals and compassion except in a thriving minority of citizens.  This inheritance of loss marks a new beginning for our country.....God bless, America.....as one of our patriotic songs begins.....still rings in my heart as I pray for my people and  "one nation under God...." part of our salute to the flag.
----

I (Ravi) wrote: Thank you very much for your detailed response.

I read it twice to let it sink in.

Your response reads like some story of suffering by Charles Dickens or George Orwell! Really! It is very hard-hitting and I am struggling to digest it. But thanks for telling me your valuable view. Eventually I will be able to digest the info. As a social media writer on such things, I guess I have to know about these harsh realities of some parts of USA life.

I am devastated to read your mail, [USC]! I mean, India, I think, has orders of magnitude more poverty than the USA. But the USA is one of the richest countries in the world and certainly the most militarily powerful country of the world. ...
----

USC wrote: In our small town we have at least one suicide a week!!!!!!  People choosing to die rather than live without any chance of getting out of their poverty.  These things are NOT reported by the media.  In India people may beg.  In USA you will be arrested for such an act.  Arrested and put in jail.  There you will be fed.  Many people commit crimes when the winter begins just so they will be put in jail to eat good food, have a bed, and heat.  This is true for men and for women.  Many of the poor turn to selling ---- so they can simply pay their rent.  Government assistance can only offer so much......many families break up and live separately just to get more assistance.  Truly, if you were to return, you would not recognize the country that you left.
----

[I (Ravi) last stayed in the USA in the early 1990s.]

I (Ravi) responded: My God, [USC]!

I will do my bit by sharing at least some of what you have written in this and in previous mails. If things are so bad, people ought to know.

I am so sorry to know about such a difficult life for the poor in the USA today.
----
=====================================================================
Another USA based correspondent wrote in a related mail exchange (and was OK with public sharing):
Hi Ravi - USA's Health and Human Services federal department runs a program called Medicaid in addition to Medicare. It is meant for those having relatively low income and relatively large dependent family size. I believe, this federal agency runs this program in partnership with corresponding state agencies with both  having to fund the program.

In short, Medicare is meant for older citizens, and Medicaid is meant for poor/underprivileged citizens.
----
====================================================================

Note that Medicare is NOT provided for all older citizens of the USA. Medicare is limited to those older citizens (and some younger citizens with disability) who paid into the system through payroll tax.

From the Medicare wiki page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicare_(United_States)

In the United States, Medicare is a national health insurance program, now administered by the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services of the U.S. federal government but begun in 1966 under the Social Security Administration. United States Medicare is funded by a combination of a payroll tax, premiums and surtaxes from beneficiaries, and general revenue. It provides health insurance for Americans aged 65 and older who have worked and paid into the system through the payroll tax. It also provides health insurance to younger people with some disability status as determined by the Social Security Administration, as well as people with end stage renal disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

--- end Medicare wiki page extract ---

There are some cases where American citizens who have lived outside America for a few decades and so not paid into Medicare through payroll tax, return to USA or consider returning to USA when they are elderly. I think that such persons, if they do return to the USA, will not get any Medicare benefit.

[I thank wikipedia and have presumed that they will not have any objections to me sharing the above extract from their website on this post which is freely viewable by all, and does not have any financial profit motive whatsoever.]