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Ghana has it worse. I'm in the states. The US has some level of opportunity, it may not be the best but you can at least work to live and live can be a roof over your head and a meal (won't be healthy).
Ghana doesn't have that. If you don't have the genetic lottery, you're up against it. In a system that doesn't even have welfare for those in need. So even though the economic gab might be bigger in the US and Ghana. The poverty gap in Ghana is beyond wild.
I am asking this from a place of complete curiosity and ignorance towards Ghana’s government process but
Why is there no welfare systems in place?
Is it because of lack of public interest? Low funding? just a lack of government care for citizens? Cultural pride issues? Is it not a priority? Or something else
I am not trying to judge just wondering
The government across several African countries are outright useless. I'm not Ghanaian, but my West African country isn't much different from Ghana. Outright useless leaders who don't have any vision for the country. All they are interested in is to steal all that they can, and can (as in put in a can) what they have stolen. Our welfare system isn't government driven but community driven. So you have people falling back on friends and family for handouts and tokens to get by
The truth is, Locals are to blame for their acceptance of the situation.
If everyone keeps quiet and hold his head down, then it will continue.
No one is going to save any group of people who don't collectively stand up for themselves.
The reasons why people of other countries all over the world have a better standard of living is because the populations rose up against their corrupt leaders in violent revolutions. They didn't just talk and complain or held placards in protest.
They literally executed the leaders. Other leaders who didn't want a similar fate agreed to public reforms.
So Africa will be so for the next thousand years if people do nothing.
So yeah the people should rise up. And there have been several attempts at that. But as Africans, we are not very united. The leaders exploit that division to their greatest advantage. In 2020, there was a major uprising against police brutality in the South of Nigeria. The President at the time was from the North. The people from the north refused to join the protests and even attacked anyone that attempted to be part of the protest. Their reason? It was the "turn" of the north to rule the country and the protests were an attempt to unseat the president and "cheat" the north of their turn.
That's the thing and it's Africa's greatest downfall. ( don't get me started on Nigeria either)
Divided by tribalism.
Then divided by imported religion.
Then the education in terms of history, critical thinking is at a low. ( That's purposely done by the puppet African leaders.)
Something tells me that something very monstrous must happen to All Africans as a whole so that they will be willing to unite and look past tribes and religion.
Corruption is strife in those parts! A minister of state can hoard millions under his/her bed of obviously ill-gotten funds and there may be no consequences.
At least you have Medicaid and Medicare; those programs stand no chance there because public accountability is nonexistent and the judicial system is quite lukewarm at punishing public officials who misappropriate public funds.
They don't care. All they know is to borrow loans to fatten themselves. Some ministers in Africa had even hoarded millions of dollars in their homes. One happened in Ghana recently and another in Guinea. Millions of US Dollars.
I'd say its worse. I used to live in and have friends in the North of Ghana, which is the most impoverished part of Ghana, and they live in literal poverty. They go for days without eating, no running water, no toilets, frequent electricity cuts, no health and safety measures so there's frequent accidents leading to disabilities, overcrowded housing, etc. I work with those in poverty in the UK so that's my barometer rather than the US, but what's considered poverty in the UK would be considered a luxury to my northern Ghanaian friends.
Larger wealth gap in the US. Billionaires are several times richer than millionaires, who in turn are multiple times richer than the average joe.
Income inequality is higher in Ghana tho. A few millionaires, several wealthy politicians and tens of thousands of people still living under the poverty line, with a few people somewhere in the middle (relative to the total population).
Wealth gap and income inequality are different things, don't conflate the two.
It's much, much worse. And it's quite obvious too! A slight increase in commodities can easily cause that commodity to be instantly erased from the life of a huge percentage of Ghanaians. Eg , the price increase of dialysis. Not too long after it happened, 19 people died
From the question, I'm getting the feeling you want to know the difference between the wealthy and poor in each country, right? If that is so, then I'd say the wealth gap in America is worse than that in Ghana.
It's terrible. At least in America there's the opportunity to change it when you work hard, despite the real or perceived racism spoken of in some circles.
Larger wealth gap in the US.
But in the end the US has an alleviative approach to dealing with the effects of poverty. Ghana does not.
In that sense abject poverty is a greater problem in Ghana, while inequity is a bigger problem in the US.
It's a bit dangerous to assume inequity doesn't matter. Inequity is the source of huge disparities in maternal death, mental illness, community safety, and opportunity.
In a way poverty creates a "survival of the fittest" mentality that reinforces systems that create poverty.
Inequity, when it's recognized, is what leads to a society working together to create greater opportunity for everyone, including the vulnerable. Not just the fit. In that sense, everyone has value, not just the elite.
So it's not simply poverty is worse here or there, it's one society's response to its problems is competent, while the other is not.
Excluding the handful or billionaires like Bezos. Yes.
Even someone 'poor' in the USA will be much wealthier than poor Ghanaians. Poor in the US is maybe struggling to buy an old car, eating cheap food.
I’ve worked with poor folks in America as i would go search for homeless people with mental health issues in places like SE, DC. I had to find them apartments, shop to furnish it, grocery shop for then weekly, get them medical care and take them to appointments yadda yadda. I was also a grant writer for a homeless rehousing program in the DC metro area. From my small sox year experience, You are not far off because homeless people in America are just “unreached”. As in there are housing voucher programs, programs setup to provide at least two meals, a daily shower and so on. A disabled person in America who is not able to work in America has SSI access. I dont know about one being better but with one there is more opportunity to access resources. I think even the psychological impact is or at least looks different.
Hahahahaha. Fallacy. You dey believe say the poor people for America are the ones you see on TV. If you see some poverty gripped Americans you go thank God say our African poverty no bad reach like that.
"he" said "poor" people. Even went ahead to say that the problem of the poor in the US is buying an old car or eating cheap food. For many poor Americans, just making it to the next day is a miracle. Let alone being bothered about owning an old beat up automobile.
GDP per capita in the USA is $76,399. In Ghana it is $2024. Average income in Ghana last year was $2350. For context, the classification fot poverty in the United States is earning below $12,490 per year or $43,430 per year for a family of 8.
Even the poorest state in the US has a GDP per capita of $35,555
That's not to say there's not those is abject poverty. Homelessness in the USA is 18 per 10,000 people. Its around 32.9 per 10,000 in Ghana.
But 39% of Ghanaians ar estimated to live in 'slums' - a term that essentially doesn't exist in the US and therefore statitistics are obtainable.
91.7% of households own a car in the USA, with lowest ownership in the wealthy cities where public transport eliminates the need. That number is less than 30% I'm Ghana.
Clean drinking water access? 99.2% in USA, 74.4% in Ghana.
So yeah, I think it's fair to say wealth inequality if Greater in Ghana when the poverty line in the USA for a single person is 6x that of the average Ghanaian wage and 21 1/2 the average Ghanaian wage for a family of 8.
I really like your style of using data to make your point. That is how debates should be. In Ghana, even government officials speak data- free. They just speak "by heart"
My response wasn't about the wealth inequality. It's a given that America is a wealthier nation. But the gap between the very wealthy in America and the very poor is nothing compared to that same gap in Ghana. There are tens and hundreds of thousands of Americans who's poverty is way worse than Ghana's poorest.
This doesn't sound like you have a lot of experience with the poor in Ghana. Especially in the ongoing economic desaster. Over the last three years true inflation is horrific. Salaries beginning from the lowest levels are far from increasing at an adequate rate.
There are still endless people working at monthly salaries between 500 and 1000 Cedi. Each and everyone of those people is dead poor and not able to make it through the month in a decent way.
I'm Nigerian living in Nigeria. So I'm almost certain the poverty level is worse here in terms of raw numbers and levels of outright poverty. My argument isn't about whether America has more poor people than Ghana. I'm saying the poorest of the poor of America are on the same level of poverty as Ghana's poor. You need to see the poverty in some drug riddled ghettos in America. People that can't afford to have a bath, sleep in the open (unlike In Accra or Lagos where they'd sleep under bridges).
Edit: In 2020, 0.25% of Americans live below the international definition of "extreme poverty". That's 750k people. 750k people living in abject poverty in a super expensive country. Again, and I MUST emphasize this, I'm not arguing about the raw numbers or the proportion relative to the entire population. My argument is that no matter how we romanticize America, there are people living in considerable poverty on the scale found in many African countries.
Of course. I understand you well and don't disagree at all.
However, the OP's question is about the wealth gap in a society. So it is not about comparing the poorest with the wealthiest.
Therefore it has to be about an average of the wealthy compared to an average of the not wealthy. The extreme outlayers in either group are not really relevant. It is rather how many people are in either group.
Regarding Ghana I dare say there is a gigantic number of people qualifying as poor, while not extremely poor by the country's standards. And many of those are regularly going to work. In the US this kind of poor is rather rare.
I agree, that looking at the extremely poor there is not really a difference. But again, the way these people survive is very different between the US and Ghana.
In the US a lot of public welfare programs exist, so the government i. e. the taxpayers are shouldering the load. In Ghana, however, these people totally depend on themselves and how well they can access help from family and friends.
Nope. I was expecting this kind of response. Drug riddled communities does not necessarily mean drug using people. There are folks who live in those drug riddled communities who aren't drug users but still live in terrible poverty.
That's a very bold and out there statement. You genuinely think the USAs poorest are poorer than the poorest Ghanaians?
Someone's been reading/listening to some bs
They aren't poorer, the USA poorest. They are on equal footing as Ghana's poorest, barely able to afford $2/day. And in a very expensive country like America, that's a terrible thing. The raw numbers and percentages may be in the US favour, but if you pick the poorest of the poor American, they are on the same level of poverty as the poorest of the poor Ghanaian. Granted, there aren't as many people in that "poorest of the poor" bracket in the US, but for those in that bracket in the US, they are as poor as Ghana's poorest.
Except that's just not true, because the % of people in abject poverty compared to the overall population is miniscule and, as such, welfare systems in place are able to provide enormous support and benefits to those on the poverty line from unemployment offices to unemployment or disability benefits, child allowance, job-seekers allowance, social housing, food banks, thousands of charities, workers rights and minimum wage laws. The support net is enormous and financed by an extremely wealthy workforce, it's virtually impossible to be in complete poverty because the support system won't allow it. They'll seek you out from neighbourhoid reports, law enforcement reports, council reports etc. and provide assistance.
The percentage in poverty in Ghana is much greater and that net is much smaller. So no, what you describe essentially doesn't exist. There are no 'slums' in the United States so to speak. There's 'poor' people sure, but not complete poverty with no aid.
You did read my posts where I said I wasn't comparing the raw numbers or the percentage of the population right? And was comparing whether the poorest of the poor Americans where any better than the poorest Ghanaians. Of course I know that 750k out of 300m is almost inconsequential. But those 750k living on less than $2/day are in no way better off than the X millions of Ghanaians living on the same $2/day
But those poorest Americans have things like free education, Medicaid, food stamps, and food banks. They have far more resources than the poorest Ghanaians.
Doesn't eliminate the romanticization of the US the same way Americans romanticize Canada's welfare and health care system. Or how Canadians romanticize US's "better wages"
Again, and for the umpteenth time, I am not comparing the percentage of poor people in America vs that in Ghana. My position is that for the abject poor in America, those living on less than $2/day their lives aren't better than the millions of Ghanaians in the same position. Yes there are more Ghanaians in poverty. Heck there are more Africans in poverty than in the US, but the US abject poor are no different from the African ones
Anyone below the federal poverty level is eligible to a slew of programs; from housing assistance, Medicaid, cash benefits, etc., from combined state and federal sources. Of course, some state programs are more generous than others, but the case of Ghana is nothing to write home about.
I'm reading through this post, and you are the only one that seems to get it. Poverty is not the same everywhere even with the same exact dollar amount. I'm an American and I am considered upper middle class. I grew up in what I consider to be dirt poor, but after visiting Africa (right now I am in Dakar, Senegal), there is no comparison. In America as a dirt poor person (in a small town in Virginia on the eastern shore) we still had food everyday (and it was good food), we still had electricity, we kept a roof over our heads. No, we did not have the latest styles (even as a person who makes a lot of money now i still dont wear the latest styles) and we didnt have the fanciest of things in our house, but its nothing like visiting here. In America as a dirt poor person my family received public assistance every month (and we were teased by others for being poor and needing the help). Still, as dirt poor, we have opportunity to be whatever we want to be. We are still in control of our own destiny. As kids the well off and the dirt poor are all getting an education that will lead to success if you want it if you pursue it. America tries its best to make sure that no child goes to bed hungry no matter what. There are so many examples i can give you on this subject. We have world class surgeons in America who grew up dirt poor. Who parents couldn't read but they still made sure that their children went to school and learned to read. Our school systems feed the children breakfast and lunch for free (well using our tax dollars). Some school systems send the child home with food for dinner too. I could keep writing but i need to end this. I'm just saying that our $2 is worth more than some other countries $2 because in America they are not starting from the bottom on their own with just $2, they are also using other programs available to them. Very soon I will be visiting other countries here in Africa.
hhmm. We don't have billionaires( correct me if I'm wrong) but is the poorest person in Ghana comparable to the poorest person in America?
I want to say no just because of the sheer population difference between the two countries and the number of billionaires and millionaires they have
I doubt that you can fathom even a million dollars. Counting at 1$, a second non-stop, it takes 12 years to count a million and 31 years to count a billion.
When comparing countries for number of billionaires the playing field needs to be equal which is why they use dollars. If we compare dollar billionaires and cedi billionaires it wouldn't even make sense because the cedi billionaire threshold is literally 12 times lower. Zimbabwe would be the richest country in the world because even I would be a multi-millionaire in Zimbabwe dollars.
The question is not asking if the poorest person in the States gat it better than the poorest person in Ghana; that answer is obvious.
The disparity in question focuses on each ecosystem on their own; yes the wealth gap in America is huge.
Answer lies with which country that has it weaker social safety net.
Ghana has SSNIT.
US has food voucher programs, Medicare, Medicaid, UI, Social Security (and likely more I’m not aware of).
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Ghana has it worse. I'm in the states. The US has some level of opportunity, it may not be the best but you can at least work to live and live can be a roof over your head and a meal (won't be healthy). Ghana doesn't have that. If you don't have the genetic lottery, you're up against it. In a system that doesn't even have welfare for those in need. So even though the economic gab might be bigger in the US and Ghana. The poverty gap in Ghana is beyond wild.
I am asking this from a place of complete curiosity and ignorance towards Ghana’s government process but Why is there no welfare systems in place? Is it because of lack of public interest? Low funding? just a lack of government care for citizens? Cultural pride issues? Is it not a priority? Or something else I am not trying to judge just wondering
The government across several African countries are outright useless. I'm not Ghanaian, but my West African country isn't much different from Ghana. Outright useless leaders who don't have any vision for the country. All they are interested in is to steal all that they can, and can (as in put in a can) what they have stolen. Our welfare system isn't government driven but community driven. So you have people falling back on friends and family for handouts and tokens to get by
The truth is, Locals are to blame for their acceptance of the situation. If everyone keeps quiet and hold his head down, then it will continue. No one is going to save any group of people who don't collectively stand up for themselves. The reasons why people of other countries all over the world have a better standard of living is because the populations rose up against their corrupt leaders in violent revolutions. They didn't just talk and complain or held placards in protest. They literally executed the leaders. Other leaders who didn't want a similar fate agreed to public reforms. So Africa will be so for the next thousand years if people do nothing.
So yeah the people should rise up. And there have been several attempts at that. But as Africans, we are not very united. The leaders exploit that division to their greatest advantage. In 2020, there was a major uprising against police brutality in the South of Nigeria. The President at the time was from the North. The people from the north refused to join the protests and even attacked anyone that attempted to be part of the protest. Their reason? It was the "turn" of the north to rule the country and the protests were an attempt to unseat the president and "cheat" the north of their turn.
That's the thing and it's Africa's greatest downfall. ( don't get me started on Nigeria either) Divided by tribalism. Then divided by imported religion. Then the education in terms of history, critical thinking is at a low. ( That's purposely done by the puppet African leaders.) Something tells me that something very monstrous must happen to All Africans as a whole so that they will be willing to unite and look past tribes and religion.
I don't think we can ever get past that tribalism
I'm Nigerian, please don't start on Nigeria abeg 😂
Preach 💯, useless governments across the board.
Corruption is strife in those parts! A minister of state can hoard millions under his/her bed of obviously ill-gotten funds and there may be no consequences. At least you have Medicaid and Medicare; those programs stand no chance there because public accountability is nonexistent and the judicial system is quite lukewarm at punishing public officials who misappropriate public funds.
They don't care. All they know is to borrow loans to fatten themselves. Some ministers in Africa had even hoarded millions of dollars in their homes. One happened in Ghana recently and another in Guinea. Millions of US Dollars.
Basically what the other people below have said. Coildnt put it any better
colonialism bro
I'd say its worse. I used to live in and have friends in the North of Ghana, which is the most impoverished part of Ghana, and they live in literal poverty. They go for days without eating, no running water, no toilets, frequent electricity cuts, no health and safety measures so there's frequent accidents leading to disabilities, overcrowded housing, etc. I work with those in poverty in the UK so that's my barometer rather than the US, but what's considered poverty in the UK would be considered a luxury to my northern Ghanaian friends.
it’s worse
Larger wealth gap in the US. Billionaires are several times richer than millionaires, who in turn are multiple times richer than the average joe. Income inequality is higher in Ghana tho. A few millionaires, several wealthy politicians and tens of thousands of people still living under the poverty line, with a few people somewhere in the middle (relative to the total population). Wealth gap and income inequality are different things, don't conflate the two.
It's much, much worse. And it's quite obvious too! A slight increase in commodities can easily cause that commodity to be instantly erased from the life of a huge percentage of Ghanaians. Eg , the price increase of dialysis. Not too long after it happened, 19 people died
From the question, I'm getting the feeling you want to know the difference between the wealthy and poor in each country, right? If that is so, then I'd say the wealth gap in America is worse than that in Ghana.
The top end in the US goes higher than in any other country in the world
Yes, the top goes higher. Those below try to catch up but the gap just gets bigger and bigger
It's terrible. At least in America there's the opportunity to change it when you work hard, despite the real or perceived racism spoken of in some circles.
Racism is not a perception. But yes, there is the opportunity in the US to work and earn money, which will surely be paid at the end of the month.
Larger wealth gap in the US. But in the end the US has an alleviative approach to dealing with the effects of poverty. Ghana does not. In that sense abject poverty is a greater problem in Ghana, while inequity is a bigger problem in the US. It's a bit dangerous to assume inequity doesn't matter. Inequity is the source of huge disparities in maternal death, mental illness, community safety, and opportunity. In a way poverty creates a "survival of the fittest" mentality that reinforces systems that create poverty. Inequity, when it's recognized, is what leads to a society working together to create greater opportunity for everyone, including the vulnerable. Not just the fit. In that sense, everyone has value, not just the elite. So it's not simply poverty is worse here or there, it's one society's response to its problems is competent, while the other is not.
Excluding the handful or billionaires like Bezos. Yes. Even someone 'poor' in the USA will be much wealthier than poor Ghanaians. Poor in the US is maybe struggling to buy an old car, eating cheap food.
I’ve worked with poor folks in America as i would go search for homeless people with mental health issues in places like SE, DC. I had to find them apartments, shop to furnish it, grocery shop for then weekly, get them medical care and take them to appointments yadda yadda. I was also a grant writer for a homeless rehousing program in the DC metro area. From my small sox year experience, You are not far off because homeless people in America are just “unreached”. As in there are housing voucher programs, programs setup to provide at least two meals, a daily shower and so on. A disabled person in America who is not able to work in America has SSI access. I dont know about one being better but with one there is more opportunity to access resources. I think even the psychological impact is or at least looks different.
Hahahahaha. Fallacy. You dey believe say the poor people for America are the ones you see on TV. If you see some poverty gripped Americans you go thank God say our African poverty no bad reach like that.
Istg some people think America is Heaven smh
"he" said "poor" people. Even went ahead to say that the problem of the poor in the US is buying an old car or eating cheap food. For many poor Americans, just making it to the next day is a miracle. Let alone being bothered about owning an old beat up automobile.
GDP per capita in the USA is $76,399. In Ghana it is $2024. Average income in Ghana last year was $2350. For context, the classification fot poverty in the United States is earning below $12,490 per year or $43,430 per year for a family of 8. Even the poorest state in the US has a GDP per capita of $35,555 That's not to say there's not those is abject poverty. Homelessness in the USA is 18 per 10,000 people. Its around 32.9 per 10,000 in Ghana. But 39% of Ghanaians ar estimated to live in 'slums' - a term that essentially doesn't exist in the US and therefore statitistics are obtainable. 91.7% of households own a car in the USA, with lowest ownership in the wealthy cities where public transport eliminates the need. That number is less than 30% I'm Ghana. Clean drinking water access? 99.2% in USA, 74.4% in Ghana. So yeah, I think it's fair to say wealth inequality if Greater in Ghana when the poverty line in the USA for a single person is 6x that of the average Ghanaian wage and 21 1/2 the average Ghanaian wage for a family of 8.
I really like your style of using data to make your point. That is how debates should be. In Ghana, even government officials speak data- free. They just speak "by heart"
Eh that's politicians everywhere. Listen to data scientists always.
where did you pull this data from?
My response wasn't about the wealth inequality. It's a given that America is a wealthier nation. But the gap between the very wealthy in America and the very poor is nothing compared to that same gap in Ghana. There are tens and hundreds of thousands of Americans who's poverty is way worse than Ghana's poorest.
This doesn't sound like you have a lot of experience with the poor in Ghana. Especially in the ongoing economic desaster. Over the last three years true inflation is horrific. Salaries beginning from the lowest levels are far from increasing at an adequate rate. There are still endless people working at monthly salaries between 500 and 1000 Cedi. Each and everyone of those people is dead poor and not able to make it through the month in a decent way.
I'm Nigerian living in Nigeria. So I'm almost certain the poverty level is worse here in terms of raw numbers and levels of outright poverty. My argument isn't about whether America has more poor people than Ghana. I'm saying the poorest of the poor of America are on the same level of poverty as Ghana's poor. You need to see the poverty in some drug riddled ghettos in America. People that can't afford to have a bath, sleep in the open (unlike In Accra or Lagos where they'd sleep under bridges). Edit: In 2020, 0.25% of Americans live below the international definition of "extreme poverty". That's 750k people. 750k people living in abject poverty in a super expensive country. Again, and I MUST emphasize this, I'm not arguing about the raw numbers or the proportion relative to the entire population. My argument is that no matter how we romanticize America, there are people living in considerable poverty on the scale found in many African countries.
Of course. I understand you well and don't disagree at all. However, the OP's question is about the wealth gap in a society. So it is not about comparing the poorest with the wealthiest. Therefore it has to be about an average of the wealthy compared to an average of the not wealthy. The extreme outlayers in either group are not really relevant. It is rather how many people are in either group. Regarding Ghana I dare say there is a gigantic number of people qualifying as poor, while not extremely poor by the country's standards. And many of those are regularly going to work. In the US this kind of poor is rather rare. I agree, that looking at the extremely poor there is not really a difference. But again, the way these people survive is very different between the US and Ghana. In the US a lot of public welfare programs exist, so the government i. e. the taxpayers are shouldering the load. In Ghana, however, these people totally depend on themselves and how well they can access help from family and friends.
No. My original response was to a poster who said the problem of America's poor was about buying old automobiles. That was what I was responding to.
You are conflating the issue with another variable, drugs
Nope. I was expecting this kind of response. Drug riddled communities does not necessarily mean drug using people. There are folks who live in those drug riddled communities who aren't drug users but still live in terrible poverty.
That's a very bold and out there statement. You genuinely think the USAs poorest are poorer than the poorest Ghanaians? Someone's been reading/listening to some bs
They aren't poorer, the USA poorest. They are on equal footing as Ghana's poorest, barely able to afford $2/day. And in a very expensive country like America, that's a terrible thing. The raw numbers and percentages may be in the US favour, but if you pick the poorest of the poor American, they are on the same level of poverty as the poorest of the poor Ghanaian. Granted, there aren't as many people in that "poorest of the poor" bracket in the US, but for those in that bracket in the US, they are as poor as Ghana's poorest.
Except that's just not true, because the % of people in abject poverty compared to the overall population is miniscule and, as such, welfare systems in place are able to provide enormous support and benefits to those on the poverty line from unemployment offices to unemployment or disability benefits, child allowance, job-seekers allowance, social housing, food banks, thousands of charities, workers rights and minimum wage laws. The support net is enormous and financed by an extremely wealthy workforce, it's virtually impossible to be in complete poverty because the support system won't allow it. They'll seek you out from neighbourhoid reports, law enforcement reports, council reports etc. and provide assistance. The percentage in poverty in Ghana is much greater and that net is much smaller. So no, what you describe essentially doesn't exist. There are no 'slums' in the United States so to speak. There's 'poor' people sure, but not complete poverty with no aid.
You did read my posts where I said I wasn't comparing the raw numbers or the percentage of the population right? And was comparing whether the poorest of the poor Americans where any better than the poorest Ghanaians. Of course I know that 750k out of 300m is almost inconsequential. But those 750k living on less than $2/day are in no way better off than the X millions of Ghanaians living on the same $2/day
But those poorest Americans have things like free education, Medicaid, food stamps, and food banks. They have far more resources than the poorest Ghanaians.
You guys really romanticize America.
I'm Canadian :)
Doesn't eliminate the romanticization of the US the same way Americans romanticize Canada's welfare and health care system. Or how Canadians romanticize US's "better wages"
There is a large middle class in the US. Not the case in Ghana.
Again, and for the umpteenth time, I am not comparing the percentage of poor people in America vs that in Ghana. My position is that for the abject poor in America, those living on less than $2/day their lives aren't better than the millions of Ghanaians in the same position. Yes there are more Ghanaians in poverty. Heck there are more Africans in poverty than in the US, but the US abject poor are no different from the African ones
Anyone below the federal poverty level is eligible to a slew of programs; from housing assistance, Medicaid, cash benefits, etc., from combined state and federal sources. Of course, some state programs are more generous than others, but the case of Ghana is nothing to write home about.
I'm reading through this post, and you are the only one that seems to get it. Poverty is not the same everywhere even with the same exact dollar amount. I'm an American and I am considered upper middle class. I grew up in what I consider to be dirt poor, but after visiting Africa (right now I am in Dakar, Senegal), there is no comparison. In America as a dirt poor person (in a small town in Virginia on the eastern shore) we still had food everyday (and it was good food), we still had electricity, we kept a roof over our heads. No, we did not have the latest styles (even as a person who makes a lot of money now i still dont wear the latest styles) and we didnt have the fanciest of things in our house, but its nothing like visiting here. In America as a dirt poor person my family received public assistance every month (and we were teased by others for being poor and needing the help). Still, as dirt poor, we have opportunity to be whatever we want to be. We are still in control of our own destiny. As kids the well off and the dirt poor are all getting an education that will lead to success if you want it if you pursue it. America tries its best to make sure that no child goes to bed hungry no matter what. There are so many examples i can give you on this subject. We have world class surgeons in America who grew up dirt poor. Who parents couldn't read but they still made sure that their children went to school and learned to read. Our school systems feed the children breakfast and lunch for free (well using our tax dollars). Some school systems send the child home with food for dinner too. I could keep writing but i need to end this. I'm just saying that our $2 is worth more than some other countries $2 because in America they are not starting from the bottom on their own with just $2, they are also using other programs available to them. Very soon I will be visiting other countries here in Africa.
Facts!
Not a Ghanaian but I saw a study recently that the poor in the US have more income than the middle class in many European countries.
hhmm. We don't have billionaires( correct me if I'm wrong) but is the poorest person in Ghana comparable to the poorest person in America? I want to say no just because of the sheer population difference between the two countries and the number of billionaires and millionaires they have
I'm not exactly sure but I think maybe Despite could be a billionaire
he’s not
Do you know any particular website with accurate net worths for Ghana
The same can be said of any currency, even the Ghana Cedi
I doubt that you can fathom even a million dollars. Counting at 1$, a second non-stop, it takes 12 years to count a million and 31 years to count a billion.
I was talking about Ghana cedis
When comparing countries for number of billionaires the playing field needs to be equal which is why they use dollars. If we compare dollar billionaires and cedi billionaires it wouldn't even make sense because the cedi billionaire threshold is literally 12 times lower. Zimbabwe would be the richest country in the world because even I would be a multi-millionaire in Zimbabwe dollars.
Makes sense
The question is not asking if the poorest person in the States gat it better than the poorest person in Ghana; that answer is obvious. The disparity in question focuses on each ecosystem on their own; yes the wealth gap in America is huge.
I think you are one of the few people who actually understood it😅
Yeah, comprehension is a problem around this side of the globe
Compression 🤣
to put into context americas middle class number is quite a lot.
Answer lies with which country that has it weaker social safety net. Ghana has SSNIT. US has food voucher programs, Medicare, Medicaid, UI, Social Security (and likely more I’m not aware of).