There is no “desperate poverty” in American cities.
Sure!
They are in poverty and “desperate” to get the latest plasma TV instead of the old color 38” they watch now, “desperate” for the latest fashions and $200 shoes, “desperate” for gold chains and other outward symbols of affluence, and mostly “desperate” to lose weight - as obesity is the #1 nutrition related problem of these ‘desperately poor’ and they are in fact MORE likely to be obese if they are poor.
No, there isn’t. Anyone that thinks so is free to walk the slums of Rio, or Lagos.