All Over The World, Disparities Between The Rich And Poor, Even In The

All over the world, disparities between the rich and poor, even in the wealthiest of nations is rising sharply. Fewer people are becoming increasingly "successful" and wealthy while a disproportionately larger population is also becoming even poorer. There are many issues involved when looking at poverty. It is not simply enough (or correct) to say that the poor are poor due to their own (or their government's) bad governance and management. In fact, you could quite easily conclude that the poor are poor because the rich are rich and have the power to enforce trade agreements, which favor their interests more than the proper nations. This is a very serious problem in our society today. Poverty is everywhere and it needs to reduced so that our economy will be more stabilized and balanced that it has been. What does it mean to be poor? What does it mean to describe a nation as "developing"? A lack of material wealth does not define one as deprived. A strong economy in a developed nation does not mean much when a significant percentage or a majority of the population is struggling to survive. Development usually implies an improvement in living standards such that a person has enough food, water, and clothing, a stable social environment, freedom, and basic rights to have a fair chance for a decent life. Is this actually progress? On the other hand, are we fooled into believing that it is? The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services placed the poverty level for a family of four at $16,450 in 1998, and the poverty rate in 1996, according to the HHS, was 13.7 percent, or 36.5 million Americans. (Egendorf: 1999, 12). Is there really a way to measure poverty, and to decide exactly what poverty is? Hunger, income level, housing and the economy's condition of the working poor are just a few example of what needs to be considered when measuring the poverty levels in our nation. Poverty expands and contracts and its definition changes in accordance with temporary exigencies, including the interests of those who propound the definitions do the counting, which means that there is no concrete definition of poverty, except for the numbers. (Valentine: 1968, 13). Poverty is not something that has just recently become an issue; it has been around for many years. The economy has been a major influence on the levels of poverty in our nation. In 1973, poverty increased because then the economy worsened. Real wages and productivity decreased, and the economy could not grow fast enough to absorb the large number of potential workers, which caused unemployment to increase (Katz: 1989, 154). Ever since then our government has tried to reduce the poverty in our nation, and so far has had a hard time. In 1996, Bill Clinton addressed the welfare bill, and that resulted in an estimated one million children being thrown into poverty (Egendorf: 1999, 19). However, assistance from the Government has also been helpful. Programs such as Social Security, Food stamps, housing assistance are safety nets that has helped lower the high risk of poverty. Without these added benefits, people would be a lot worse than they are now. The safety net programs reduced the child poverty rate from 24% before the benefits were counted down to 16% (Egendorf: 1999, 19). Supplemental Security income, local general assistance, and earned income tax credits have also been popular components of income in the United States (Lynn, McGeary: 1990, 235). Education levels are not as high in urban areas, which means that the people who are living in these areas are not qualified for the high paying jobs. High skilled jobs are beyond the reach of those who live in areas of concentrated poverty, and those who are going for the high skilled jobs, are finding their way out of these areas of concentrated poverty. Higher standard of living also attracts immigrants, which makes it hard for people living in urban areas to find good paying jobs, because the immigrants will work for lower wages. What about the myth that America is the land of opportunity? With such a high standard of living, many believe this is not true (Shein: 1998, 13). Those who work hard and have

Watt Surname Meaning and Origin

Watt Surname Meaning and Origin The Watt  surname derives from early forms of the personal name Walter. The popular Middle English given names Wat and Watt were pet forms of the name Walter, meaning powerful ruler or ruler of the army, from the elements wald, meaning rule, and heri, meaning army. Watt is the 80th most common surname in Scotland. Surname Origin:  Scottish,  English Alternate Surname Spellings: WATTS,  WATTE,  WATTIS, WATS  See also WATSON. Where Do People with the Watt Surname Live According to WorldNames PublicProfiler, the last name Watts is most common in Wales, especially Pembrokeshire, as well as Somerset, Gloucester, and Northampton counties in England. The Watt spelling (without the s) is much more common in Scotland, as well as County Tyrone in Northern Ireland. Both names are also popular in Australia and New Zealand. Interestingly, the Watt spelling is more common in the Canada, while Watts is found more frequently in the United States. Surname distribution data from Forebears also puts Watt as most frequently found in Scotland. In 1881 the name was most commonly found in Banffshire where it ranked 5th, as well as East Lothian (#11), Aberdeenshire (#20) and  Kincardineshire (#21). In contrast, the Watts surname is more common in Wales (#128), England (#139), Australia (#151), New Zealand (#252) and the United States (#323) than it is in Scotland, where it ranks 692nd most common. Famous People with the Watt Surname James Watt - Inventor of the modern steam engine- NFL football playerAndrà © Watts - German pianistCharlie Watts - English drummer, best known for being part of the  famed rock n roll group The Rolling StonesReggie Watts - German-born musical comedianIsaac Watts -  English Christian minister, hymn writer and theologian; author of the Christmas hymn Joy to the World Genealogy Resources for the Surname Watt 100 Most Common U.S. Surnames Their MeaningsSmith, Johnson, Williams, Jones, Brown... Are you one of the millions of Americans sporting one of these top 100 common last names from the 2000 census? Watt/Watts/Watson Family Reconstruction ProjectOver 150 group members belong to this Y-DNA surname project, working together to combine DNA testing with traditional genealogy research to sort out Watt, Watts and Watson ancestral lines. Watt Family Crest - Its Not What You ThinkContrary to what you may hear, there is no such thing as a Watt family crest or coat of arms for the Watson surname.  Coats of arms are granted to individuals, not families, and may rightfully be used only by the uninterrupted male line descendants of the person to whom the coat of arms was originally granted.   WATT Family Genealogy ForumSearch this popular genealogy forum for the Watt surname to find others who might be researching your ancestors, or post your own Watt query. FamilySearch - WATT GenealogyAccess over 8 million free historical records and lineage-linked family trees posted for the Watt surname and its variations on this free genealogy website hosted by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. WATT Surname Family Mailing ListsRootsWeb hosts several free mailing lists for researchers of the Watt surname. You can also browse or search the list archives to explore previous postings for the Watt surname. DistantCousin.com - WATT Genealogy Family HistoryFree databases and genealogy links for the last name Watt. The Watt Genealogy and Family Tree PageBrowse family trees and links to genealogical and historical records for individuals with the last name Watt from the website of Genealogy Today.- References: Surname Meanings Origins Cottle, Basil. Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1967. Menk, Lars. A Dictionary of German Jewish Surnames. Bergenfield, NJ: Avotaynu, 2005. Beider, Alexander. A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from Galicia.  Bergenfield, NJ:  Avotaynu, 2004. Hanks, Patrick and Flavia Hodges. A Dictionary of Surnames. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989. Hanks, Patrick. Dictionary of American Family Names. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. Hoffman, William F. Polish Surnames: Origins and Meanings.  Chicago:  Polish Genealogical Society, 1993. Rymut, Kazimierz. Nazwiska Polakow.  Wroclaw: Zaklad Narodowy im. Ossolinskich - Wydawnictwo, 1991. Smith, Elsdon C. American Surnames. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997.