In a parking lot on the side of a California highway, where the winter sun had not yet emerged and the east was just beginning to turn white, Maria woke up from the car. She has been living in the car for some time, but luckily the parking lot has drinking water and a simple toil

The real poor and homeless people in America

Maria’s story

In a parking lot on the side of a highway in California , the winter sun has not yet appeared, and the east has just turned white, Maria Woke up in the car. She has been living in the car for some time, but luckily the parking lot has drinking water and a simple toilet. Like Maria, there are probably dozens of men and women living in this parking lot. Some of them are online ride-hailing drivers, some are security guards, and some are computer technicians.

The parking lot is provided free of charge by an organization. It is recommended that the house has hot water, coffee machine, microwave, etc. Maria had coffee and breakfast in the parking lot, and was about to drive to work.

Maria is 40 years old and works as a cleaner in a building in the city. Her monthly salary is 1,500 yuan and she works nine hours a day. The income was not enough to pay the rent and she was living in her car. She is worried about being fired because of her age, which means it will be difficult to find a stable job. She didn't believe what the commander said about the American dream. It was far away to her, and filling her stomach was the first priority.

Maria once had a happy family. The two parted ways five years ago. Maria drove away from the home that made her sad and drove around until she found her current job.

At 7:30 in the evening, Maria returned to the parking lot after get off work. She looked a little exhausted after a hard day's work, but she still tried to keep the car clean. At 9:30 pm, the parking lot was closed, vehicles could no longer enter, and there were no security measures. Before Maria can rest, she must close the doors and windows and turn on the alarm to ensure that she wakes up in time if someone intrudes. She kept pepper in the car just in case.

Maria

Computer Technician Eric

Eric is 53 years old and used to be a computer technician with a monthly salary of US$7,000. A year and a half ago, he was unable to work due to burns and heart problems. To pay for the expensive medical bills, Eric lost everything and lost his job. Eric is unwilling to sink into an addict, which means there is no hope for life anymore. He found a job as a security guard and was trying to make some money, hoping to be able to afford the rent and change his situation of living in a car. In order to save money on food, Eric made an appointment with a nearby pizza shop to leave the pizzas for display to him when they closed in the evening. Eric, who got the pizza, will share it with the truck driver next to him.

Richmond, Virginia

Richmond, the capital of Virginia , was once an industrial city. As the industry moved to cheaper , Mexico, , Asia and other places, it declined. There is no industry, Richmond is completely disintegrated, and it is full of unemployed people . Richmond is one of the ten cities with the highest eviction rates in the country, with more than 3,000 families evicted each year, which means close to 10 families are evicted every day. Evicting tenants is one of Public Security Officer Jack's daily jobs. Although he doesn't like to see himself posting that scary yellow notice everywhere, it is his job.

In Virginia , if a tenant is in arrears with rent for more than 5 days, the landlord has the right to evict the tenant. Jack cannot have sympathy for them, otherwise he will not be able to continue his job. Jenny was evicted today, she is a single mother. Jenny was saddened by the eviction, and tears welled up in Jenny's eyes as she faced the Sheriff.. She suppressed herself from crying, life had to go on. If they don't move out soon, Jenny will also have to pay a fee to take the items to the dump.

38-year-old gardener and single father David has been living in a motel with his son after being evicted two years ago.. This is a one-bedroom house with a monthly rent of 2,600 yuan. Six months ago, David found his new partner, a girl who had a stable job in the insurance industry. They could rent a larger apartment, but their eviction two years ago made landlords reluctant to rent to them. has an open credit system in the United States. Any bad records will be recorded, and any unpaid bills may be charged for life. Documentation is accessible to anyone.

David's family living in a motel

The Appalachian Mountains are the poorest areas in the United States.

This used to be a coal mine base, but now most of the coal mines have been closed. A couple who live in a mountainous area have three children. Both parties are unemployed. They can receive 2,500 yuan in unemployment benefits every month. Food shortage is the biggest problem faced by this couple. As a father, Mark usually doesn't eat breakfast or lunch.

Rusty mining equipment

html Salinya, 258, lives in a mobile home in the Alabazia mountains. She was once a member of the Marine Corps . Due to a long-term illness, she can no longer work. She receives a monthly pension of 1,500 yuan. Since taking in her niece, Salinya's financial situation has worsened. To make up for the shortfall, Salinya cleaned a neighbor's house. That was a miner working nearby and a staunch supporter of and Trump . In the eyes of miners, Trump always puts America first. Although Trump did not bring any changes to his life.

Salinya needs to go to a party in town, but it's not a concert or anything like that, it's a free medical clinic. When she arrived at the venue in the evening, the queue had already formed. The organizer suggested that she come back at three or four in the morning after receiving her number plate. The free clinic would start at six in the morning the next day. Because there were too many people in front, and there was a steady stream of people coming from behind. There are 28 million people in the United States without medical insurance. The high medical expenses have prevented Salinya from treating her teeth for many years. Waiting in line all night was worth it for Salinya, even though the free clinics were all intern medical students.

Jennifer is an unemployed single mother with three children to support. She can receive 600 yuan in monthly unemployment benefits, as well as food stamps from the federal government. In the supermarket where Jennifer often goes, more than half of the customers need to use food stamps. This is Trump’s aid measure to the 40 million poor people in the United States.

In the most prosperous Los Angeles, the homeless population has increased to 60,000.

In a neighborhood where homeless people gather, homeless tents line the sidewalk as far as the eye can see. Kami lives in a tent under an overpass that she shares with another female companion. She has lived here for more than five years. Pregnant Christina and her male companion lived on the sidewalk with a wheeled cart as all they owned. The owner next door kept asking them to move out.

Los Angeles sunset

Los Angeles sunset

How many poor and homeless people are there in the United States

According to statistics from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, there were approximately 580,000 homeless people in the United States in 2020; among them, the largest number was 162,000 in California. , New York 91,000, Florida 27,500. For the fourth consecutive year, the number of homeless people in the United States has increased.

From the perspective of gender structure, women account for 224,000, accounting for 38%; men account for 350,000, accounting for 60%; in addition, there are a small number of transgender people and people whose gender is difficult to determine.

From the age structure, there are 104,000 people under the age of 18, accounting for 18%; those over 24 years old account for 74%.

From the perspective of racial structure distribution, there are 280,000 whites, accounting for 48%; 230,000 blacks and African Americans, accounting for 39%; others are indigenous Americans, Asians, multiracials, American Islanders, etc.

Among the 580,000 homeless people, about 61% live in shelters and 39% live on the streets, becoming veritable homeless people. Among them, 70% live alone and 30% are family members with children.

According to the 2020 poverty standards in the United States, a single person with an income of less than US$12,700 and a family of four with an income of less than US$26,200 are classified as poor; while those whose income is less than 50% of this standard are classified as "extremely poor".

The United States not only has a huge number of homeless people, but also a very large number of poor people. According to statistics, in 2020, approximately 40 million people in the United States are poor, and 18 million are extremely poor. By this standard, poverty in the United States accounts for approximately 11% of the total population.

The shadow of America under the torch of liberal democracy

The Hunts Point community in the Bronx, New York, is a community where African Americans and Latinos live together. Here, no one could imagine that such a neighborhood still exists in the United States, where the law and order is determined by the community's gangster. It's a place full of crisis, violence, drug addicts and women standing on the street soliciting customers. The streets are covered with graffiti and trash that has not been cleared away in time.

Similar neighborhoods are found in Chicago , Portsmouth, Indiana Gary ------

New York's Brown District

This is a strong and prosperous America, but there is also a huge Vulnerable Groups. Capital controls everything here. Rich bankers and capitalists only care about profits and efficiency; doctors only prescribe addictive drugs to the poor; lawyers only defend the rich; neon lights only flash in the Los Angeles metropolitan area - —

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