Poverty or Conveniently Hidden Statistics

The crumbling communist era grocery store is still standing. Photo credit: Ileana Johnson 2012 The crumbling communist era grocery store is still standing.
Photo credit: Ileana Johnson 2012
Americans in general are confused about poverty – people and economists define it differently. People who think themselves “poor” desire socialism and are perennially voting for their favorite Marxist Democrat while complaining endlessly how unjust and rigged the system is, how the Man keeps them down and how there is no equality and social justice. Nobody admits that personal responsibility and a failed work ethic might be the culprit of their own poverty. Continue reading

Poverty Induced by Socialism Is Hard to Shake

Octavian Paul Draja Food line Photo: Octavian Paul Draja
To say that poverty induced by socialist dictatorships is hard to shake would be an understatement. Ask Cubans and now Venezuelans what is like to live in the workers’ paradise that Fidel forced upon his people while he stashed away billions he has stolen with his cronies. Continue reading

Interview Across Cyber Space with Mircea Brenciu – Part III Standard of Living

Life in general has improved for Romanians. They can now travel freely in the country and move across international borders with ease. They have freedom of political and artistic expression, freedom of assembly, unlimited Internet access, plenty of trashy television but also good educational programming, public information, easier access to medical care and better quality care, the right to own private property, professional opportunities, the right to go to college, even private ones, and many other freedoms the West had taken for granted. The failed European style multiculturalism, sexual freedoms/perversions, and drug use have arrived as well.
Food is probably the most beneficial improvement in the lives of Romanians – it is available everywhere and there is no need to stand in endless lines to leave empty-handed as was the case during the communist regime. People are no longer faced with having to repair their shoes from year to year because they could not buy new ones. Grocery stores display an abundance of food, not just one solitaire salami in the window. Pharmacy shelves are no longer empty and drugs are available. Fast communication and modern transportation are now a breeze even in the most isolated corners of the country. Continue reading

U.N. Agenda 21 Has Now Morphed into Agenda 2030

UN Sustainable Development Summit september 25-27-2015
After forty years of socialist indoctrination in schools and LGBT activism, the progressive agenda is finally bearing fruit. Gloating that the Women of the Left and GLAAD were victorious over our country, a recent Rush Limbaugh caller said that our country is in such a mess right now, that Christians won’t even help their own when religious rights are trampled. The warping and destruction of our children’s minds in schools is so complete, they now think the way feminist and LGBT militants want them to think, the caller concluded. Continue reading

Pope Francis’ Encyclical on Climate Change

MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA Assisi Fountain
(Photo: Ileana Johnson 2008)
Extremely curious at the media allegation that the “scientific Pantheist who advises Pope Francis” and has swayed “Laudato Si” (named so after St. Francis of Assisi’s canticle), “seems to believe in Gaia, but not in God,” I set out to read for myself the climate change encyclical in Italian. Continue reading

Promotion of Marxism Disguised as Income Inequality

Lately, as the social justice, income disparity, income inequality, economic justice rhetoric intensifies, more global and Hollywood elites crawl out of the woodwork to confuse, agitate, and inflame the low information voters.

When almost 50 percent of the American public does not work and relies on some form of government welfare paid for by the other 50 percent of the working population, it is perplexing when former White House economic adviser Lawrence Summers states that “The U.S. may well be on the way to becoming a ‘Downton Abbey’ economy.”
Continue reading

Lauren’s Success and the Failure of Common Core

Lauren was really proud of her accomplishments. She belonged to the baby boom generation who had experienced hardship. She valued land and working with her hands. Every extra dime she saved, she invested in agricultural and forested land. When she won a coveted $25,000 award in the early 1990s, she bought more pasture land.
Continue reading

Bad Economy, Bad Policy, More Poverty and Welfare Dependency

Poverty is a relative term. Some people understand poverty as cash poor, not having the latest electronic gadget, a huge house, or not taking an expensive vacation. Others think of themselves as poor because they fall behind a certain standard of living that they deem desirable. A third group of Americans may think they are poor because they fall behind the average income in the country. People confuse and interchange wealth, income, and cash constantly.
Continue reading