How to End Poverty in America
What can we do to eliminate poverty? I think the solution is fairly simple. We do nothing. We don't donate a dime to the poor.
When people get sick of living in poverty, they can work hard and make more money. The resources need to be available for them to do this. It is up to our government to make sure that those resources are available. In rare cases, athletes climb out of poverty. In other instances, those who work hard in school can continue their education which will allow them higher paying jobs. What about the rest of poor people? Give them access to information to educate themselves and apply for grants.
Disagree? Let me hear it.
posted by The 502 @ 4:20 PM
6 comments
6 Comments:
I think I see where you are going with this, but I would reverse it. The problem is that it has all been placed on the government and the sense of community has been dissolved. All anti-poverty programs have failed because instead of dealing with the true issues of poverty it just deals with the symptoms. Most impoverished communities are full of broken homes and single parents with a high birthrate from multiple partners beginning at a young age. One sign of an impoverished area is high teenage pregnancy.
I agree with the work concept and providing a means of earning a living. The issue of the welfare system is many of those that are on it spend more time working the system than they do trying to get out of it. The welfare system was originally meant to be a support to help someone get on his/her feet so they don't need it. What happens is quite different for some, they find that the more the work the more aid they lose and they don't want to lose aid they want to have the aid and extra money for other things, so the choice should be unless you are disabled - drug addiction, back pain, leg pain, bad knees, etc. I don't consider disabled - or are a child you must work.
Now the question is how to find jobs, we are entering a level of such unemployment lows overall that in the 90s was thought unreachable. Most states are under 6% unemployment which was at one time considered full employment. The Hurricanes, though horrible, are going to feed into that more because as the areas that were affected begin to rebuild there is no excuse for any able bodied person not to be working.
The reality is there are companies that are looking for dependable people that want to work, but they are finding people that don't wish to work but just want a paycheck. Training programs abound that unemployed people can take advantage of to be retrained if they've been laid off or need help to enter into the work force.
I would say cut many welfare programs and reinvest the monies into effective training programs.
"Give a man to fish, he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime."
I'm not quite sure what you mean by 'reversing' where I was going. It sounds like you agree with what I was saying. The training programs would be part of the resources that I was referring to.
You're absolutely correct about how people work the system instead of getting out of it. I have a friend who is getting aid. She is actually working her way out of it, but she feels alone among everyone else she has met who is receiveing it. They work the system, lease expensive cars and do what they can no to lose the income they are getting.
I remember a few years back when Wisconsin reduced the number of years that people could receive welfare. I haven't researched how effective it was, but it sure did sound like a good idea.
Excellent point, both of you. If you pay attention to certain areas of economics theory, you will quickly learn that equal currency is not nearly as important as equal utility, where utility is defined as access to resources. This would obviously include education and job training.
All the equal utility in the world can't make someone work hard though. I hate seeing the folks out there milking the system. They give the hard working poor people a bad name. My parents were dirt poor for a good 15 years, but they never once took aid from the government. After years of hard work and struggle, they only have to work one job instead of three, and can eat normal food instead of ketchup soup. There are thousands of stories out there like this, and the few who are using aid to live their lives give these people a bad name.
Alas, the culture of mediocrity and freedom of failure have grown to a ridiculously large population in this country. It will be very difficult and take a lot of hard work to eradicate this nonsense. The good news is, there are still enough hard working people out there to accomplish it.
--AR
By the way, thanks for the link to my site, 502. I'll have to remember to add yours to my links next time I update.
AR,
The 'freedom of failure' is one example of the freedoms that shouldn't be taken advantage of. There are times when I just want to slap some sense into those people. It difficult to relate to them just what they are missing by working hard and being self-sufficient since they have no personal point of reference to begin with.
I enjoy your blog and was happy to link you.
Good thought-provoking post. I think it's all about equality of opportunity--what folks do with it from there is up to them.
I have (finally) linked to you on my site--I'm looking forward to another post soon!
-- d.a.
Thanks David. It surprises me that immigrants actually understand the how America is the 'land of opportunity', but so many natives don't.
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