Sixty Questions From the Class Warfare Front

Taking the long view, just when was that golden age when the rich were far less so and the poor were better off than today?

When did the poor in America have more to eat? Did poverty and obesity go hand in hand back then as it does now? When was life expectancy longer for a poor person than it is today?

When was infant mortality lower among the poor than it is now? When did the poor have more reproductive freedom? Was there a time and place where unwed mothers and their children were more openly accepted by society than here and now? When and where did poor women have more options to escape drunk and abusive husbands or have a better chance of obtaining legal protection or child support?

When did more poor people have a roof over their heads than today? In what country do those living below the poverty line live in larger houses or apartments than America? Who had indoor plumbing and who had to do their business out back, poor people in America today or nobles attending the court of Louis the XXIV? What would the poor from the 1800s think about the living conditions of the poor today? How about the poor from the 1930s? The 1960s?

When did the poor own more cars, TVs, washing machines, refrigerators, air conditioners, microwave ovens, or cellular phones? When did poor kids wear designer sneakers? Putting aside the lifestyles of the rich and famous as seen on TV, when did a family living at the official poverty line have a better absolute standard of living?

Back in the days radical egalitarians pine for did the poor have access to personal computers? Google? MRIs? Free eBooks? Unlimited long distance phone calls? Could they buy a wider variety of less expensive clothing than they can buy today at Wal-Mart? Could they purchase a $99 airplane ticket to visit grandma in Florida?

Exactly when was it that racism, sexism, and discrimination were less prevalent than they are today? When were the civil rights laws stronger? Which other land of opportunity was it that elected a member of a historically repressed minority president?

When was intermarriage between rich and poor, black and white, native and immigrant higher than it is today? In what year were mixed-race children more socially accepted?

When did more children from poor families go to college? When in American history have the children and grandchildren of the poor ever climbed higher up the economic ladder than they have and can today? When have there been more college professors that were born poor? CEOs? Doctors? Mayors? Congressmen? Supreme Court justices?

When in American history did the government take more money from the rich and give it to the poor than it does right now? When did the rich pay a higher percentage of the total income tax burden than they do today? When was it that poor people received more checks from the IRS than the other way around?

If you were a poor person in America today to which country would you flee seeking a better life? If you decided to stay, to what date in history would you return believing you would be better off than now?

Why do countries run by radical egalitarians put up walls to keep poor people in while the U.S. puts up walls trying to keep poor people out? Why do you think so many poor people break the law to come here? Do you think they are eager to be oppressed by the rich?

During which exemplary periods when income inequality was lower than it is today were the poor better off than they are now? The 1950s? 1960s? 1980s?

When in history were a smaller percentage of the rich born into wealth compared to earning it than today? When was it that a person born into a family in the top economic quintile had a lower chance of remaining there his entire life? At what period of time did immigrants arriving on our shores with nothing but the shirts on their backs have a better chance of earning a better life for their children?

In what era did the working poor work shorter hours under safer working conditions than today? When did they have greater legal protections if they ended up in a dispute with their boss or landlord? When and where were their voting rights better protected?

When exactly was it that the poor were victims of violent crime less often than they are now? When did they receive better police protection? When could they walk into any emergency room knowing that they could not legally be turned away?

How can poverty be eliminated if it is defined in relative rather than absolute terms? What is the real goal of the War on Poverty and how much do pandering politicians stand to gain by keeping it going forever?