SPENT

The Urban Ministries of Durham  has this game out called SPENT I have played through it several times, and I highly recommend you do the same. The game profiles what it could be like if you lost your job and had to revert to something a bit less than what you may be used to. You get to pick between three jobs with the highest pay of $9 a hour, and a savings of $1000, and you have to last a month. After you pick your job, you go through each day or two and have to make choices on how you're going to spend your money. Then it gives you little bits of information on your choice. It's a sad and heart breaking game, but it gives you an idea of how it is for people who live way below the poverty line and on the verge of homelessness. Now, I've been in situations similar to this in the past, and it was fucking hard to make it from week to week. But, luckily I had the benefit of friends and family to work for to earn some extra cash during those times, so I wasn't anywhere near homeless, nor did I ever have the fear of losing my home. And, yes there were times I didn't have a job, but I always worked. You gotta do what you have to to keep some money coming in, especially when you have a family. Although, I can sympathize with people that are in this situation, I can't in good conscious say that I know how it feels. And, playing this game brought back some memories for me, and made me think of how lucky I was. It also makes me think of how hard it has to be for people that don't have the opportunities that I did, and how they must live in fear every day of losing their homes, or their child getting sick, or if they're going to eat next week. No wonder why our country is wrought with sickness, high obesity rates, minions of smokers, and a high average debt. Although this game gives you extreme circumstances, they are possibilities, and could happen during this time. According to the US Census Bureau, the median household income in '09 was just shy of $50k, that's before the government gets it's share (read before taxes). Then you add in expenses of rent or mortgage, utilities, fuel, (if both parents work which is very common today) child care, food, lawn care, and maintenance. That $50k goes away quickly, and most people have in addition to the basic bills necessary to live, they also have a vehicle loan, cell phone, Internet, cable/satellite, land line, both vehicle and home insurance, health and life insurance, then you have separate vision, and dental insurance, and that doesn't even consider incidentals like tires, tickets, unexpected repairs, emergency room visits, co-pays, things not covered by insurance, and taking off work to take care of things as they should happen. Then God forbid you want a piece of peace and happiness, and buy a pet or try to take a vacation.



2009 Poverty Thresholds, Selected Family Types
Single Individual	Under 65 years	$ 11,161
	65 years & older	$ 10,289
Single Parent	One child	$ 14,787
	Two children	$ 17,285
Two Adults	No children	$ 14,366
	One child	$ 17,268
	Two children	$ 21,756
	Three children	$ 25,603

The poverty thresholds above show what 14.3 percent of the U.S. population lived with in the year 2009. In the game mentioned above, with the highest paying job, you make about $18k a year.

Now let us look at some more stats.



Children Under 18 Living in Poverty, 2008
Category	Number (in thousands)	Percent
All children under 18	15, 451	20.7
White only, non-Hispanic	4, 850	11.9
Black	4,480	35.4
Hispanic	5,610	33.1
Asian	531	13.3

As you read the chart above, think about all the info-mercials you see on television today. People and groups asking you to send money to help feed the children in Cambodia, Nigeria, Chile, or where ever they can think of. Yet, how many do you see to help feed the hungry children in the good 'ole U.S. of A.? I personally don't recall any ads on television for them. I know we have our soup kitchens, and charities. And, personally I'd rather give to them, either my time or money, than to send it overseas. I say if we can feed some foreigner kid for less than a dollar a day, then we need to import some of that damn food, give 'um a buck and a half or two bucks for it, let the buy their damn own, and feed our own kids for two or three bucks a day. Shit, if I could get away with five a day for each of my kids, I'd be living high on the hog.

Well, I don't really have much more to say on this subject, so I'll just leave you with this. Think about the less fortunate next time you're at McDonald's or the grocery store. Or next time you see one of those television commercials asking you to send them money and you think about picking up the phone with credit card in hand. That $20 would be better spent down at your local homeless shelter. And, I can almost guarantee that 100 percent of the proceeds go to helping the homeless in your city.

The above charts and stats came from the University of Michigan's National Poverty Center. It was a lot easier to navigate and find the information I wanted than the U.S. Census website.