I’m sure most people saw a headline along the lines of “One in seven Americans living in poverty” today— but did anybody else catch how that was defined? $22050 a year for a family of four. In the 98122 zip code in Seattle (“From Broadway to Lake Washington, Denny to Yesler”), the median rent for a two bedroom apartment is $1343 a month according to some random rent calculating website. That leaves $5934 a year— $494 a month— for, what, groceries, utilities, medical care— never mind insurance, education, etc etc. I find thinking about that a lot more useful than an abstracted “one in seven.”

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It’s also crushing to think about how many are just above the cut— there but for the grace of a statistic wonk’s technical definition go they. Crushing more so to think of all this happening during a time when some have so obscenely much.

I saw this on a car in the Southern County the other day:

Big ups for that one— easily my favorite since “ABOLISH CORPORATE PERSONHOOD.”