Poverty in America
Wednesday, October 15th, 2008
One of the biggest ironies of life in America is the prevalence and persistence of poverty. To me, this is the most important and difficult problem facing the country, one that has only gotten worse in my lifetime. The irony stems from the fact that America is the richest, most powerful nation on Earth, providing billions in international aid to developing nations to battle poverty and disease, yet millions of our own citizens live in destitute poverty, lacking the basics: food, housing, healthcare, jobs, education.
The question I have to start with is Why is Poverty a Persistent and Growing Problem? I don’t think there is any one direct cause of poverty in America, it is a confluence of many things. But I think that there is a distinct lack of action on the issues of poverty because of the Ideology of Individualism and our societal Fear of Socialism. There is a disconnect by our political leadership to recognize and address poverty manifested as outright denial. When we have politicians who claim “The State of our Economy is Strong,” they are referring to the economies of the middle and upper classes, not to our economy as a whole, completely ignoring the millions who are persistently poor in America.
To add insult to injury, we have been engaged in the war in Iraq, spending $10 billion a month there. Yet, these kinds of expenditures aimed directly at the problems of poverty: education, healthcare, job creation, even direct assistance are off limits to be considered for domestic spending programs. The Ideology of Individualism and the Fear of Socialism reinforce each other in a causal loop of inaction.
It will take real leadership to address the issues of poverty to make a change in America. It will have to come from the top, from our President and s/he will have to stand ready to debunk the rhetoric of the Ideology of Individualism and the Fear of Socialism that will immediately be called into action against the effort. What can we do about it? We need to talk about it: with each other and with our politicians. We must construct the arguments that the elimination of poverty is making America a better place, for everyone. And that we owe it to ourselves to make war on poverty as forcefully as we would the wars we have fought in the last generation.
Wouldn’t that be the proudest moment of our history, to end poverty in America?