The Drunken Poor: A Conservative Lie

by Charlotte Hill · 2010-03-17 06:10:00 UTC
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It's amazing how statistics can fly in the face of conventional -- and often conservative -- wisdom. Fellow blogger Megan Greenwell wrote this week of how poverty and obesity are integrally related; even though the concept seems "slightly strange," it's a fact that poor people have limited access to healthy food, therefore struggling disproportionately with obesity.

The latest statistical shocker? Rich Americans drink substantially more alcohol than their poor counterparts.

According to a recent survey by the National Center for Health Statistics, over 72 percent of adults whose family incomes are at least four times the federal poverty level drink alcohol. The figure for adults whose families make less than the poverty threshold? 45.2 percent.

Similarly, about 74 percent of adults with graduate degrees drink. The rate for high school "dropouts" -- adults without high school diplomas -- is just 45 percent.

These surprising figures counter the prevalent misconception that poor people drink too much, forfeiting well-paying jobs in exchange for lazy afternoons in front of the TV, beer bottle in hand. Rush Limbaugh's suggestion that Americans on food stamps "buy Twinkies, Milk Duds, potato chips, six-packs of Bud, then head home to watch the NFL on one of two color TVs" is more than factually incorrect (food stamps can't be used to purchase alcohol anywhere in the country); it's another disturbing example of conservative propaganda that blames poverty on the poor. The sole function of this dangerous rhetoric is to dissuade middle- and upper-class Americans from examining the flawed social structures and policies that both cause and perpetuate poverty across the nation.

At Change.org, we like to take a more nuanced approach in our blogs than Limbaugh does on his radio show. For starters, we don't promote racist songs like "Barack the Magic Negro" on our posts or sell albums with incendiary titles like We Hate the USA. Then again, perhaps because of our more subtle use of language, we don't attract such a wide audience through which to promote our ideas. As the results of the National Center for Health Statistics survey suggest, however, we progressive advocates do have something powerful on our side that Limbaugh and other conservative personalities lack: facts.

Photo credit: brosner

Charlotte Hill currently serves as the social media fellow for EARN, a California nonprofit that helps low-income workers save money to create long-term prosperity.
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