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Community Corner

Poverty

Poverty is a failed business model of the government. No matter how much money is thrown at it by the government there just isn’t success to be found. Where the left fails in their “war on poverty” is the basic understanding of why there is poverty.

What does the Government do to fight poverty? Food Stamps, AFDC/TANF, Medicaid, un-employment checks, and now the ACA. These are all "throw money and it will get better" programs. To continue, we have Affirmative Action programs like EEOC, quotas for minority education and Section 8 housing. There are probably more but you get my point.

 

We can see that all those programs are initiated by politicians and administered by bureaucrats, none of which give a rat's patootie about the individuals that are in poverty. Below these two groups are the functionaries and social workers. The functionaries are the ones you meet to file for handouts and could care less if anyone is helped. (picture a DMV employee for the poor) The social workers all start out in the field to make a difference in the lives of people and most eventually become jaded and quit caring as well. How can people in poverty get to a better place when dealing with these people? They don't. The results of these programs are a permanent class of impoverished people. In fact these programs harm the truly essential institutions that do afford relief. These truly essential institutions are the family and religious organizations.  All have been damaged and marginalized by the poverty programs listed above.

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Attacking the results of poverty does not fix the reasons for poverty. So what is the reason for poverty? For true conservatives, quasi conservatives and those that have an open mind the answer isn't hard or controversial. The answer is the lack of Capitalism. I can hear the Left going apoplectic as they read this. You see to the Lefties, Capitalism is the reason for poverty not the lack of Capitalism. Does the Left truly believe this or are they just so invested in perpetuating poverty? Some mind numb robot voters might believe it but the political Left need poverty.

 

So, if the reason for poverty is the lack of Capitalism then it stands to reason that the answer to reducing poverty is to promote Capitalism. Capitalism has raised more people out of poverty than any system in history. It is the only system that concentrates on the needs of others. It has offered women and minorities more opportunities than any other system in the world. It has brought about more technological advancements in the shortest periods of time than any other system in history. It has raised health standards not just for Capitalists but for the whole world as well. It allows all people to pursue their dreams no matter where they start out in life. It has given more people the freedom of movement than any other system in history. It has given the freedom of ideas and religion that has inspired more altruism than anything in world history. Lastly, Capitalism has been such a success that most if not all nations and people have benefited and has raised their standard of living through direct or partial participation or from stealing the ideas and technology that was developed under Capitalism.

 

One might say that we have reaped these benefits so why do I say that Capitalism is lacking? Because, we and the rest of the world that has participated in Capitalism has been on a slow march towards Socialism for quite some time now. We have instituted Socialist policies of control over business and personal freedoms to combat the evils that are generated by Capitalism or so goes the theory. There is an ideology that thinks that central control over people and business will result in a better way. (For those that do not know this is called Fascism.)Has Socializing more and more helped? No, it has made things worse. Every time there is a new regulation that increases cost we see less people hired or hours cut back. We see increase cost of goods and services. We see business flee off shore or businesses go bankrupt. Nothing could demonstrate this point more than the ACA. While many of the past regulations and price controls has only affected small segments of the business community at a time the ACA has affected the whole of the business community and every person in society at once. The ACA has damaged small business and big business alike. It has attacked the middle class and diminished their purchasing power to remain in the middle class. It has attacked the religious institutions that actually help real people were they live. It has lowered health care coverage for 99% of people and has not made a dent in the supposed intended beneficiaries.

 

Much of what the Left lay claim as success has been at the expense of future generations. We have borrowed on the promises of future successes that would have come from Capitalism but will not because the Left had cobbled the feet of Capitalists. We are witness to many of the European Socialist leaning countries begin to wane in prosperity and on the verge of bankruptcy because of their borrowing on the future and the future has arrived. We witnessed the great housing market collapse due to government interference. We saw the stock market reel due to government interference and are watching current interference in the market which will eventually have drastic results. We see the unprecedented loss of jobs in this country and the failure to rebound because of government interference. We are witness to the Left redefining middle class jobs as hamburger flippers.

 

I know there are those out there that think I am being naive in giving the benefit of the doubt to the Left of good intentions. I do know that it is a deliberate attack on freedom and liberty but there are those that fall into the category of "useful idiots". These are the ones that I hope will come to realize that only Capitalism can offer the creation of prosperity that we yearn for ourselves and the rest of society. It is the only thing that has a chance to reverse the downward spiral that Socialist policies has embarked us on. It is the only thing that has a chance to reverse the racist's policies that has beset the African American community. It is the only thing that can reverse the bigotry of people of faith that engage in the charities and outreach programs that work for the truly needy. Capitalism can defeat poverty if we let it.




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