“The US, for historical reasons, mistrusts the concept of a welfare state, and this mistrust shows itself nakedly under present US government, which commits uncounted billions of the national wealth to what it calls defence, and is close-fisted in giving money to plans which would ameliorate the grinding poverty of a great part of its people. Quite simply, in Canada you could not get away with that.” PeopleGivingStatesReasonShowsGovernmentWealthPovertyPlansConceptsHistoricalBillionsCommitWelfareCanadaGet AwayDefenceMistrustWelfare StateGiving Money Book:The Merry Heart: Reflections on Reading, Writing, and the World of Books Source: The Merry Heart: Reflections on Reading, Writing, and the World of Books
“Like sex, poverty and power, suicide may always be with us. But like them again, the actual form is takes is essentially time-specific and culture-bound, not only in the past but in the present too. The people who took their lives, the paths which led them to that end, and the experience of dying in this way were deeply influenced by specific historical circumstances. Only by making a greater effort at historical understanding can this most secret house of death be made to yield up more of its confidences.” PeopleWayMayMadeEndsPastFormCultureHouseSexUnderstandingEffortSecretPovertyPathGreaterDyingCircumstancesSuicideHistoricalBoundsYieldBritish History Author:David Cannadine
“A peculiarity of the American historical sensibility allows us to be proud of great-grandfathers (or even grandfathers) who lived in crushing poverty, while the poverty of a father is too close for comfort.” FatherPovertyProudComfortHistoricalCrushGrandfatherSensibilityBe ProudGreat Grandfather Book:Spillville: A Collaboration Source: Spillville: A Collaboration
“For a hundred years we have been one of the largest oil-producing countries in the world but with a 60 percent poverty rate and now we are canceling the historical debt.” WorldYearsHas BeensCountryPovertyPercentHundredHistoricalRateDebtOil Author:Hugo Chavez
“The Mexican people are increasingly middle class, and Mexico has substantially become a middle-class society. This is true despite the significant poverty, and the class and geographic inequality that have deep historical roots.” PeopleClassPovertyMiddleRootsHistoricalSignificantDespiteInequalityMiddle ClassMexicoMexican Author:Alan Bersin