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Upshot: anyone can get by with decent meals by recycling 60 soda cans per day ($0.05 each) or working 25 minutes at minimum wage. Few indeed cannot earn $3/day in this country.

I like your thinking here. Absolutely agree, people willing to work will have no hunger problem in this nation. What's sad is that our system also allows people unwilling to work to eat. Once in a while a debate comes along FR about why people on welfare / WIC / etc... are fat. It's always a good read. It is possible to eat well for very little. Not bashing McDonald's either.

[ctdonath2]

people willing to work will have no hunger problem

What I find striking in this issue is that "work" refers to "barely", not "hard". Sweep floors or spread pine straw for a half-hour and you'll eat for a day. Collect & recycle soda cans - 60 isn't a lot in light of a day's food.

Lost in many of these "social safety net" discussions is the subjects of "haves vs. have-nots" is not a binary dichotomy, but a spectrum where those being addressed are nearly non-existent (ex.: almost nobody is incapable of earning at least $3/day).