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Intro: "Panorama's Hilary Andersson travelled to Whitney Elementary School in Las Vegas to meet some of America's youngest poor. Children told of going to bed hungry and worrying about their families, while school officials said some children were resorting to eating 'ketchup soup.'"

Leslie, 6, appears in Panorama's report on poverty in America titled 'We Don't Have Dinner at Home'. (image: BBC Panorama)
Leslie, 6, appears in Panorama's report on poverty in America titled 'We Don't Have Dinner at Home'. (image: BBC Panorama)

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This excerpt comes from 'Poor America,' the latest installment from the BBC's flagship news documentary program Panorama. Since it is currently airing in the UK the entire episode is not yet available to view online. -- JPS/RSN

 

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0 # Glen 2012-02-15 05:51
Well, there ya go. The U.S. has officially arrived, even though it could have been deemed so years ago, at the poverty line at which we recognize that the country's treatment of its children is the symbol of a degraded society.

There is no excuse. Of course, the wider issue is the government, corporations, et al., abandoning citizens.
 
 
0 # humanmancalvin 2012-02-15 08:15
After all, it was the poor of this country that caused its financial meltdown and not the unregulated rich. Yea right, and Sarah Palin is presidential material.
 
 
0 # Joan Manning 2012-02-15 09:33
It's amazing to see how many Americans don't realize the depth of poverty in the US. The "Go get a job crowd" is making so much noise that rational discussion cannot be heard. If you can blame poverty on the poor, you're excused from having to do anything about it.

When the American citizen was transformed into a consumer and the government turned over its power to the profit-makers, it no longer had the power to do what it was supposed to do: "promote the general welfare" of the people. Now, instead of taxing the rich as we once did, we just blame the poor for their situation.
This is not the country I grew up in.
 
 
0 # marjb 2012-02-15 12:53
Knowing that a program like this is on the air in Great Britain makes me ashamed to be an American. Are we really so selfish that we can't extend the safety net to protect children?
Or is it far more important to keep packing cash into the pockets of the very rich?
 
 
+1 # Glen 2012-02-15 14:44
"A characteristic of a society in decline is its treatment of its children."

This has been developing quite some time. The U.S. is in decline.

We are now the country that other countries send anthropologists to for a study of the natives.
 

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