Poverty

The United Nations describes America as a nation near the bottom of the developed world in safety net support and economic mobility, with its citizens living "shorter and sicker lives compared to those living in all other rich democracies," with the highest infant mortality rate in the developed world, the world’s highest incarceration rate, and the highest obesity levels. Low-income Americans are often surrounded by food deserts, with insufficient access to clean water and sanitation, and with the pollution levels of third-world countries. The poorest among us are even susceptible -- unbelievably -- to rare tropical diseases and once-eradicated scourges like hookworm.