Washington DC, USA – The rumors were right, there is a lot to see and do in DC! On top of that I landed myself with a fantastic group of people that kept me well entertained in the evenings – even when we had our beers pulled from our hands as lockdown started.

DC seemed to be all about magnitude, and so the capital city of a global leader should be. I saw exquisite architecture, great galleries, soaked in loads of history, and amongst all of this I came across the most explicit poverty I’ve experienced during this trip. I found it ironic to find this at the epicenter of such a country. Surprised as well, I didn’t expect to see this here and yet its more blatant than Capitol Hill. How is this kept so quiet? I suppose it’s obvious – as a power grows  it casts a greater shadow to hide its flaws. Think it’s time to cast some light on matters…

Some interesting facts:

*39.1 million people in the USA are poor. Greater in number but not percentage than Indonesia.

*A recent NPR report stated that 30% of Americans struggle to make ends meet, and that poverty is far higher than calculated by the poverty threshold.

Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_the_United_States

http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/poverty.html