Project Gutenberg 2019-09-29 Public domain in the USA. 99 Lorayne, Harry Orban, Paul 1896 1974 The Poors Produced from Worlds of If Science Fiction, October 1957 Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net "The Poors" by Harry Lorayne is a science fiction story written in the late 1950s. The book revolves around the visit of Marryl Kramvit, an ambassador from Planet Six, to Earth as part of a goodwill tour. Through Kramvit's observations and interactions, it explores a stark economic divide on Earth, where a significant portion of the population lives in poverty, referred to as the "Poors," compared to the wealthy elite. Throughout the narrative, Kramvit and Vice President Vincent J. Carrowick engage in conversations highlighting the peculiarities of Earth's social structure. Kramvit is baffled by the absence of a middle class and the way the poor are generally dismissed by society, living in squalor and subjected to a life dictated by their lack of success on quiz shows that determine societal status. As Kramvit visits the homes of the Poors, he learns of their struggles and aspirations, leading to a poignant realization of the implications of a system that values wealth predominantly based on success in entertainment-based competitions. Ultimately, the story critiques societal indifference toward the impoverished and the ways in which meritocracy can perpetuate inequality. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 83.9 (6th grade). Easy to read. en Science fiction Short stories Human-alien encounters -- Fiction Poor -- Fiction United States -- Fiction Television game shows -- Fiction PS Text Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy Category: Novels 51591 2025-06-24T06:25:47.259336 text/html 27619 2024-10-17T14:01:17 text/html 206925 2025-06-24T06:25:49.190330 application/epub+zip 205769 2025-06-24T06:25:47.676322 application/epub+zip 78260 2025-06-24T06:25:47.436341 application/epub+zip 240597 2025-06-24T06:25:50.578331 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 233735 2025-06-24T06:25:48.971309 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 106494 2022-09-27T09:21:35.706152 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 44809 2023-09-26T05:08:59.337258 text/plain 24998 2024-10-17T14:01:17 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 16883 2025-06-24T06:25:50.758315 application/rdf+xml 28326 2025-06-24T06:25:47.530350 image/jpeg 4773 2025-06-24T06:25:47.481316 image/jpeg 381587 2025-06-24T06:25:47.272360 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog