HERE and AFRICA are two different things. HERE, anyone has the opportunity to go out, get a job, and live on their own (for the most part... obviously not, in the current economy) (but that's beside the point). In Africa, people have NO CHOICE. They live in camps, waiting for the day they die - hunger, dehydration, being slaughtered by their own government or someone else's, and as far as I'm concerned, THAT is much worse than the whole capitalist idea of "needy". Our own country could use a LOT of work, sure, but obviously we're a lot better off than you'd like to think we are. You probably don't even know what it's like to be homeless, or starving. Imagine living that for your entire life.

how is possession of a substance a crime?

I think the point of the poster's argument is to bring to light the MASSIVE gap between the rich and the poor in this country. Despite the fact that the United States is the richest country in the world, it still faces issues that some of the poorest countries face, even though there is plenty of money within the economy to fix it. Instead of that money circulating fairly throughout the nation, it is concentrated in the upper echelons, leaving some in dire conditions that are nearly impossible to get out of. A "shut up and be happy" attitude is exactly why these problems aren't being fixed. It really comes down to whether you want to be realistic and put food and people's bellies, or cling to the American dream.

I am very aware of the realisticness of the gap of classes here. I've lived in both the middle and lower classes. It's not fun being poor. But I can also tell you there are a lot of ways to put food on the table, whether you earned it on your own or not. There's food drives, soup kitchens, and lots and lots of churches that give away food for free. Me and my mom hit up all of them on the weekend. But I can also agree with you here when you say the economy and the government has a BIG part to play in these things. I hope to jeebus that Obama fixes the gaps and holes in the currenty economy before it gets worse and we hit another great depression... sucks that we're already on the road to such a thing.

i agree with TC. there is a gap in classes but there is a difference between
this


and this


in other words, it might suck t be poor in the states but i highly doubt that there is anyone in the states that suffers a lifetime of malnutrition like they do in africa

my point of that was to say that I could not be afraid of jail, plenty of folks have been to jail before me, and plenty of folks will be to jail after me. This was not to justify the putting anyone in jail, but regardless of the morality of it, jail is jail and even the apostle paul was in it once or twice, and who am I compared to the apostle paul?

a) I don't imagine africans, I am a part of their communities. Some of my good friends here were once starving in those refugee camps you speak of, so don't think I don't understand the situations in Africa.

b) you seriously do not understand hunger in america. It almost sounds like you are blaming the hungry by saying shit like," anyone has the opportunity to go out, get a job, and live on their own"

are you implying that all the people who get food stamps, get free lunches at school, or get food assistance from shelters and food banks are just lazy? Sounds like reaganomics to me! watch out with that mentality, it is bullshit!

People that get food assistance in America are as desperate as many in Africa. Did you know that millions of people in Africa who receive food aid are not scrambling in refugee camps and dying in the bush, but are living in cities and go to work, just like many of the americans who receive similar aid?

The reality of food assistance is that is is provided for people who by circumstance can not afford to feed themselves. You should not judge the morality of the circumstance, just the fucked up situation that for whatever reason, people are forced to beg and receive hand outs for food.

If it is because there is no food in war or famine, that is one thing. But often whether in Africa or America, it is simply a question of rent or food, and most people have to pay the rent.