Poverty Amidst Abundance

My 40 year-old tattered diary with memories of my first visit to USA reminds me of the two weeks I had spent in Los Angeles during 13 - 26 June 1982, staying at the Wilshire Dunes Motor Hotel, 4300 Wilshire Boulevard.

Today, Google Maps shows me that this hotel is now called Dunes Inn Wilshire. It opened its doors in 1959 and was remodeled in 2004. But it has preserved more or less the same looks from outside, with the spacious lobby and the lovely blue pool courtyard bringing nostalgic memories!

Image Credit: Dunes Inn Wilshire

On a Saturday afternoon, on 19 July 1982, I had walked along the Wilshire Blvd towards downtown LA to explore the city on foot. It was a long walk and when I returned to the hotel by 8 pm the friendly front office executive told me that it was not a safe place to go after sunset.

I recalled walking rapidly along the dirty and poverty-stricken streets in the downtown area, glancing at the old people begging on the sidewalks as well as the youths rudely shouting. This sight of impoverished people, mostly African Americans, was a rude shock to me as it had completely shattered my image of USA, the wealthiest nation in the world!

The next day I had walked along Wilshire Blvd in the opposite direction towards Beverly Hills, the home to Hollywood stars and many wealthy people, to see the other image of USA. I also recall walking along the Sunset Blvd as well as the star-studded Walk of Fame.

What triggered off these thoughts is the video I happened to watch recently:
Inside Skid Row: America's Homelessness Capital.

Skid Row is a sprawling area of Downtown LA, that is home to many homeless people, alcoholics, and others on the margins of society. Today you'll find thousands of people there sleeping on the streets, with diseases, no toilets, no food, or water. In this video, Dena Takruri goes to ground zero of LA's homelessness crisis to show the shocking conditions residents live under.

Though you see abundance everywhere, poverty in USA is still thriving, bringing in to sharp focus the significantly worsening income inequality!

India is in the same boat as per the 2018 World Inequality Report, with the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer! Over the last four decades, India’s 1% top earners’ share in the country’s income rose from roughly 7% to 22% as of 2014. Meanwhile, the income share of the 50% bottom earners declined from roughly 23% in the early 1980s to 15% in 2014!