It is already starting, the liberals are screaming it is time to wipe out poverty in the USA. Sen. Obama from the state of Illinois, a man I generally like even though he is a Dem, is the latest to jump on the bandwagon. They already forgot that the last great "War on Poverty" actually got us about the same amount of poverty (except for the elderly, that went way down). Face it, as a democracy and a capitalist society, some element of "poverty" is inevitable. In any society there are people who either through lack of ambition or lack of ability will just get by. History is crowded with tales of failed Utopias that failed mostly due to some in the groups inability (or unwillingness) to assist for the common good. This leads to strife and the departure of part of the group. Communism was an effort towards this same type of utopia and you see where that got many countries of the world. Socialist Europe has tried it and some country's they're are on the brink of bankruptcy. Any attempt to make up lost earnings by welfare, etc. will inevitably cause the poverty level to rise up to meet the new minimum level of income as set by the welfare trigger point. It is an inevitable result of inflationary pressures caused by the infusion of cash into the economy. Any attempt to control wages will fail as Ricardo's law states that the wage for common, unskilled labor inevitably falls to the poverty level. Unions and temporary labor shortages can have a short term impact on this but inflationary pressures and immigration will eventually overwhelm their short term effects. Before you scream that to admit poverty is inevitable is to be heartless, lets look at poverty in the United States. In New Orleans, despite the fact that these people are mostly living in "poverty", I did not see any emaciated people being evacuated from NOLA. Many were morbidly obese which is, in fact, a condition more commonly observed by those closer or below the poverty line. Where else in the world can you point to a country and say that the poorer you are the more likely you are to be obese? Most people below the poverty line in this country own an automobile. Their children have access to an education and can even go to college mostly for free if they are willing to use the community college system and state school system (it was good enough for me and my children BTW). Go through any blighted urban area in the USA and you will see people with TV's, cars and brand name clothing. Better yet, in most states the poor are more likely to have health care than the lower middle class. That is because they qualify for Medicare and the lower middle class does not so the middle class opts out. Poverty in the USA isn't what poverty is elsewhere in the world. Does this mean we don't have problems in the USA? No, schools in blighted areas are often abysmal. Welfare in many states (yes, welfare is a function of the state) rewards some of the wrong behaviour and is often withdrawn too quickly. I am amazed at how quickly child care voucher's vanish in my state. One would think a posiitive work support like that would stick around a little longer. Nevermind the fact that an active child is one less likely to end up in jail later to cost the government even more money than child care would have cost it. Corporate tax breaks often reward the wrong behaviour (sorry, I do believe in corporate welfare, just the right kind). Can't change the fact that most of us work for corporations. The poor are often the victim of predatory and unscrupulous business practices and it often costs the poor more for the same services. Paying $5 to cash a social security check is immoral!! Food is often more costly as inner city stores prices are higher than their suburban counterparts. There are other problems but no room here to list all of them. Finally, we need to come up with some sort of national health system. Our current system is a drag on our economy and is in fact a huge drag on US industry. The biggest government support some country's have for their industry is their national health system and it is perfectly legal under the WTO. Also, the professionals in our country are getting rich far out of proportion to their input into society. Earnings for professionals in most countries are far lower than for those in ours and, in particular, our tort system is another huge drag on US industry. Our system isn't perfect, but let's focus on what is important instead of shedding crocodile tears for something that is virtually inevitable....
