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| Depression era "Hooverville" upper right; modern homeless camps |
Americans celebrate historic plenty this Thanksgiving weekend. The holiday has its earliest beginnings in 1621 when English religious separatists celebrated their survival of the first difficult year in the New World with a three day harvest feast. In modern times plenty is not universal and this sad fact also applies to the United States. The Department of Agriculture released a report saying hunger reached the highest level since the department began keeping statistics 15 years ago. About 15% of US households had difficulty feeding one or more household member at some point last year due to insufficient income. That figure represents about 45 million people who are officially "food insecure". About 12.2 million adults and 5.4 million children live in homes with drastic food shortages that force them to go without or eat much less. Despite the persistent problem of hunger in America, conservative politicians and pundits dismiss the problem with callousness worthy of Scrooge before his conversion. Extension of unemployment benefits failed in the House of Representatives this month by 17 votes. The Senate cut the Food Stamp program by $2 billion in 2013. It also failed to pass an emergency fund, part of the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program, used to create subsidized jobs for low income workers through grants to the states. The emergency fund for jobs has support from governors on both sides of the political divide.
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| National Guard units train in Alaska to quell civilian unrest |
