When they say middle class Egyptians make $100 a month what does that mean lifestyle wise?

[dkf]

Obviously it can't mean a person making $22,000 a year in the US has it that much better than the average Egyptian can it?

How do we put these types of numbers into perspective?

[postulater]

1. CNN just said 40% of people make less than $2 per day

and many stand in line for hours for a loaf of bread.

[dkf]

2. Wow.

Makes one wonder if a large segment is provided housing. Also, is the dollars per day # skewed by some gender thing or is this how distribution of income exists for heads of household.

[TBF]

6. Housing in Cairo

[Fumesucker]

9. I see Egypt has the same state flower as West Virginia..

The satellite dish..

[LiberalLoner]

17. Those Egyptians are luckier than the ones who literally live on the street or in the

City of the Dead (big graveyard.)

[Fumesucker]

21. Good thing there aren't any Americans living in the street..

Oh, wait...

[LiberalLoner]

28. LOL, I know, I know. I keep wondering when our revolution will be...and wondering if the

outcome will be good, or bad. "Are you a good witch, or a bad witch?" For some reason that quote comes to mind when thinking of a revolution in America....or anywhere really....

[cali]

7. you mean provided housing by the gov't?

I'm pretty sure that is not the case.

[postulater]

8. Not sure. But the same report said

the rich are extremely rich and the poor are very poor.

[Fuzz]

31. Where have I heard that before? Hmmm, can't place it.

[snappyturtle]

3. I've read the same statistic a few days ago. I also read that tomatoes,

a favorite their, are running $2 a kilo. No wonder the people are protesting.

[NashVegas]

4. It Means They're Doing Better Than The Chinese or Vietnamese

[pampango]

24. That's fair. China has slightly higher income but worse inequality. Vietnam has much lower

income and slightly worse inequality.

Egypt - GDP per capita: $5,500; Gini: 34.4
China - GDP per capita: $6,778; Gini: 46.9
Vietnam - GDP per capita; $2,942; Gini: 37

[Warren Stupidity]

5. Ever been to a third world country?

The big cities have citadels of wealth where the elites live surrounded by vast third world metropolitan mud hut squalor where this alleged "middle class" gets by on 100-300/month amidst the "poor" who are surviving on much less.

The revolution is fueled by the fact that the egyptian people are not getting by, the system is broken.
Your 22,000 would not last long in Cairo, unless you were willing to enter the mud hut world that co-exists with ours.

[dkf]

12. Richard Engel said that neighborhoods are also experiencing stratification

Where one neighbor has a huge house, and the one next door doesn't.

[NashVegas]

15. Thank Goodness That Can't Happen Here

We keep all our big houses in gated communities.

[TBF]

10. You can surely do these google searches yourself, but that isn't your point is it?

http://palestinenote.com/blogs/news/archive/2010/06/23/surviving-on-a-crust-in-cairo-s-expanding-slums.aspx

[dkf]

19. Well we already know that people are poor.

What I don't understand is how that translates to daily life. Someone said above that tomatoes are $2 a kilo. That is helpful to understand what $2 a day or $100 a month means.

I appreciate collective input and understanding. It's the reason I come here.

[blondeatlast]

26. ...

:thumbsup:

[Starry Messenger]

11. Oh, those welfare queens.

:sarcasm:

edit: the OP is reacting to this thread: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=439

Evidently people living on $22,000 a year are "spoiled brats". I guess I was a "spoiled brat" when I lived on that in the Bay Area and was visiting community food pantries for my basic food needs.

[TBF]

13. +1 nt

[ProdigalJunkMail]

16. try to explain to someone living in one of these shanty towns

what a fucking food bank is and watch their fucking eyes pop out that there is such a thing where people can go and get food...

No one is claiming that $22K a year makes you a spoiled brat or that ANY poverty is good. But all the idiots here proposing that all poverty is the same are just that : idiots.

sP

[TBF]

20. Yes we should certainly make charts with levels of poverty

and decide which levels are acceptable and which are not.

:eyes:

[cali]

23. No, but one constitutes a level of misery and desperation

that is far beyond the other.

[Fumesucker]

30. Edited.. Going to post as an OP..

[Starry Messenger]

22. Wow, what a potty mouth.

You obviously care deeply. Thanks for telling me what being poor is like. You've straightened me right out.

edit: and oh, by the way, this is a "house" that exists in the good ol' US of A. It's on a Native reservation, where the real fucking tragedy is going on in this country.

[lonestarnot]

14. Rich have it; poor do not. Easy.

[TBF]

18. Recent article from Carnegie Endowment Think Tank -

"Egyptian society is suffering from inadequate living conditions, frightening gap between rich and poor, tensions between Muslims and Copts, and a grave crisis of legitimacy in the wake of the 2010 parliamentary elections. These crises make it imperative that Egypt distances itself from the specter of chaos and allow real reform to begin now."

http://carnegieendowment.org/publications/index.cfm?fa=view&id=42391

[dkf]

25. That is an excellent article in helping to understand the catalysts for what we are seeing

Thanks.

[TBF]

27. Not really - what we are seeing is apparently Mubarak

being replaced by the CIA (he is old and has cancer after all - orderly transition and all that - preliminary assessment but that is what I'm seeing right now)

But it never hurts to learn a little about the folks who live there.

No worries, gas prices will drop back down promptly. Back to American Idol ....

[elehhhhna]

32. "frightening gap between rich and poor..." Hmmm. Wonder who exactly is frightened by this gap?

Greedy people NEVER Learn.

[JCMach1]

29. It is crowded, hot, very dirty and often depressing... Other than that, great!

Once you get past the hunger pangs... :sarcasm: