The root of all evil: Poverty

[KillerMuffin]

Poverty is the root of most of our social problems, from crime all the way up to mental health issues and beyond.

Every nation has poverty, some more than others. In the 60s the government launched the "War on Poverty" and pretty much got mixed results. Some things were good--government cheese is better than nothing to eat--and some were bad--projects!

But we still have poverty, not just in the third world, but in the inudstrial and powerful nations.

Most crime has been traced to poverty. There are those who will commit crime just because they want to, but a lot of crime has it's roots in poverty. Racial tensions have roots in poverty as well. Educational issues have roots in poverty--poor people have worse education than well-off. Medical care alone for the poor is a horrific situation that's only getting worse as more and more hospitals and clinics become for profit institutions. And that's just a few issues.

There really cannot be a civilized society until the poor are taken care of. There are tons of solutions out there, some have more success than others. Some things, such as publicly owned health care, have been proposed, but does that really help? Can you apply, say the Swedish public health care system, to an American social context? The cultures are very different.

What do you think about the poor? Why do you think they're poor? What can they do to get out of poverty? What can the community do to get rid of its poverty? What can the government do? Whose responsibility is it anyway?

 

[horny_giraffe]

First of all, we have to distinguish absolute poverty from relative poverty.

 

[70/30]

The state creates the poor, cut them off yesterday. No exceptions. Home school and vouchers, the best schools will welcome Portia and Dante with open arms.

 

[curious2c]

No, the root of all evil is not poverty. The root of evil in that manner is the government trying to 'fix' poverty for the masses.

I have seen and lived poverty. I know that poor people and impoverished people are not 'bad' or causers of violence or robbery, or other bad things. They are have-nots in a have to have world. Only when a government agency steps in to 'fix' the problem does real evil result.

The government in their act of trying to fix the problem causes even more problems through regulations, laws, acts, and then of course, their way of distribution of 'wealth' to the poor. That causes envy, greed, anger, hatred, and other evil to arise due to the impacts created by those 'gifts' to certain people and not to others. It also assists the envy and anger of those who feel that they pay for all of what they see going out and then being stolen or wrongfullly used by others.

Quite a few 'poverty' classed citizens are trying their best to improve their condition. Others are looking for the proverbial 'hand-out' and still a few others are just happy, or at least could care less about their condition.

One other argument could be made is that education or lack thereof causes evil too. A strong argument for a more equal educational system shows up in this light too. Perhaps instead of welfare and foodstamps, we need to look to educational advancement to help the poor become more able to 'fish' for themselves instead of waiting to be 'fed'.

 

[Spinaroonie]

Right.

Enron was caused by poor people too.

 

[Minkey Boodle]

Poverty's roots are money, so doesn't that make money the root of all evil by association?

 

[crysede]

Poverty's roots are money, so doesn't that make money the root of all evil by association?

It makes lack of money the root of all evil.

 

[Minkey Boodle]

But money is the root of the root.

 

[Ishmael]

Poverty is the root of most of our social problems, from crime all the way up to mental health issues and beyond.

Every nation has poverty, some more than others. In the 60s the government launched the "War on Poverty" and pretty much got mixed results. Some things were good--government cheese is better than nothing to eat--and some were bad--projects!

But we still have poverty, not just in the third world, but in the inudstrial and powerful nations.

Most crime has been traced to poverty. There are those who will commit crime just because they want to, but a lot of crime has it's roots in poverty. Racial tensions have roots in poverty as well. Educational issues have roots in poverty--poor people have worse education than well-off. Medical care alone for the poor is a horrific situation that's only getting worse as more and more hospitals and clinics become for profit institutions. And that's just a few issues.

There really cannot be a civilized society until the poor are taken care of. There are tons of solutions out there, some have more success than others. Some things, such as publicly owned health care, have been proposed, but does that really help? Can you apply, say the Swedish public health care system, to an American social context? The cultures are very different.

What do you think about the poor? Why do you think they're poor? What can they do to get out of poverty? What can the community do to get rid of its poverty? What can the government do? Whose responsibility is it anyway?

Ever hear of the two sigma curve KM?

There's your answer.

Ishmael