"... Horatio Alger stories are rare and stories of people trapped by their parent's poverty are all too common. According to one recent estimate, American children born to parents in the bottom fourth of the income distribution have almost a 50% chance of staying there - and almost a two-thirds chance of remaining stuck if they are black."

Right on, yanceducat! I agree with every word you wrote. There are those in this country, and unfortunately on here on clipmarks, who are so ignorant of poverty that it boggles the mind. "Pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps' " is all very good and well unless ya ain't got no boots.

The average poor person in America:
- owns their own house
- has more than 1 vehicle
- lives with central heat and air conditioning
- is likely to be overweight

And you get these wonderful facts from?

NStuff,

You have obviously never experienced poverty. You obviously don't know anyone who grew up in or continues to live in poverty. Spend a week in one of Chicago's 'hoods, or among the Katrina survivors in tainted trailers, or among the hills of West Virginia. Read a book or two or three. Then feel free to comment about poverty again.

The average poor person in America:
- owns their own house

As far as I can tell this is not true. According to the conservative think tank Heritage Foundation, the percent of poor people who own their home is 46%, less than half. I wouldn't take Heritage's number at face value, because they have an ideological incentive to make the poor look as well off as they can. But in any case, NStuff is probably wrong on this point.