Poverty
“It is beneath human dignity to lose one’s individuality and become a mere cog in the machine.” Gandhi
Current programs for dealing with poverty
At least $1,761,674,823,838.12 (#11A)(51,139.53 per person) a year is spent on avoidable costs arising from poverty and unemployment yet slightly more than half of the U.S. population experiences poverty at some time before age 65 (#12R). Think about it, chances are half the people you have ever met, known and loved will experience the hardships of poverty. Our current programs (See figure 2-1) have proved themselves failures and beyond repair with the one fact that half of our brothers and sisters will be subjected to the poverty they are meant to avert. But in an attempt to avoid past mistakes and create a more comprehensive program to replace these we must dig deeper.
These are but a small sample of the programs we now have, many have been left out because they overlap our other issues and have already been mentioned in the chapter on hunger or will be mentioned in the next chapter which will cover homelessness. Most of what these programs practice is giving money and services in return for nothing at a time when people are all but defeated. It’s as if these programs were setup with the intention of failing. As if it wasn’t bad enough, “the regulations as they stand actually force men to compete with the state for women; as a woman in new Orleans once told me. ‘Welfare changes even love. If a man can‘t make more at a job than I get from welfare, I ain’t even gonna look at him. I can’t afford it.’ Everywhere in America poor men have been forced to become ghost-lovers and ghost-fathers, one step ahead of welfare workers ready to disqualify families for having a man around” (#16R). This process destroys families, isolates women and humiliates men.
Poverty is so much more awful than the fact of simply lacking money. Compared to some of the effects of living in poverty, being without money is the least of ones problems. Poverty carries with it an increased risk of being mentally ill, lead poisoned, a criminal, a school dropout, divorced, physically or mentally disabled, poisoned, hospitalized, in poor health, a smoker, overweight, malnourished, left back a grade, short (stunted growth), expelled, hungry, afraid to go outside in the neighborhood, a prostitute, homeless and dead. See figure 2-2 and 2-3 to see exactly how much suffering some of these effects are causing.
Figure 2-2
Almost $2Trillion is spent on poverty every year, over $50,000 per person and the cost as well as the people needing help continues to grow every year. 2009 saw the largest single year increase in the U.S. poverty rate since the U.S. government began calculating poverty figures back in 1959 and the U.S. poverty rate is now the 3rd worst among developed nations tracked by the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD)(#18R). 20% - 1 in 5 Americans are now dependent on the government for their needs, this doesn’t take into account those who suffer without help or get assistance from family and friends(#13A).
For a 2 adult, 2 child family the poverty line is earning less than $21,834 yet this family would need to earn $35,000 a year to meet its basic-needs budget (#19R). This goes to show that not only are our programs pathetic but so is our system for measuring who needs help. Calling a family above the poverty line when they are still $13,166 (60% of their yearly income) shy of being able to provide all of their basic needs is a lie and it hides the true scope of just how bad poverty is(#14A). Even if both adults were lucky enough to be employed but earned minimum wage they would have a combined income of $30,160 and still be $4,840 (16% of their yearly income) shy of being able to provide all of their basic needs, this goes to prove that the minimum wage and/or the jobs that are linked to it are also inadequate(#15A).
The definition of a housing cost burden is paying more than 30% of income on housing and those who do have difficulty affording necessities such as food, clothing, transportation and medical care. Currently 12 million households now pay more than 50% of their income on housing, this is a result of a federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour and a national housing wage (hourly wage needed to afford rental housing) of $18.44 an hour (#14R). The federal minimum wage would need to be increased by over 2 ½ times (254%)(#16A) for those earning it to be able to afford rental housing or people earning minimum wage would need to work 14.5 hours a day 7 days a week (#17A). The fact that these people struggle and hang on with so little to cling to should be enough to show anyone it’s not their fault and if given the opportunity for a better life they will do what it takes.
To also support this claim, the unemployment rate is a measure of how many people are ready, willing and able to work but cannot find employment. They are striving to be hardworking, productive members of our society but we have in our current system reduced them to beggars. We live in a society where population growth and technology are eliminating available jobs faster than economic development can create them. Without enough jobs to support everyone our economy is a disastrous game of musical chairs that threatens and takes the lives and happiness of those without chairs, which pushes many to crime and addiction for nothing more than a lack of options.
To add insult to injury to people facing this evil, our society has started a trend of creating laws that punish people for begging or panhandling. Of 224 cities surveyed: 43% prohibit begging in particular public places; 45% prohibit aggressive panhandling and 21% have city-wide prohibitions on begging (#11R). When the Federal Minimum Wage is all that an employer needs to pay an employee and at the same time not enough for one to supply their own needs, how is one to survive without begging, borrowing or stealing? Granted some people are criminals by choice but the numbers and facts prove that some break the law because working an honest full-time job does not always supply all of ones needs.
This discussion has been about programs that at best can be called catastrophes and we haven’t even discussed the worst part yet. I don’t know what to say to prepare you for the facts that are to follow. Please know I love you and wish you no distress, sadness or negativity whatsoever. But keeping to the truth and reducing these numbers to 0 requires the following topic to be discussed. Poverty kills 3,440 children, 3,625 infants and in total 24,746 people a year(#18A). These unnecessary deaths are all a result of poverty. This fact has gone unnoticed for far too long and now that we’re aware of it, it’s time to stop programs that have watched the problems get worse. The time is here and now to attack and destroy poverty like we would anything or anyone else who comes into our homes to do us such harm.
Unfortunately, with all the horror we have discussed and all the money thrown at these problems there still remains more terrible facts and we owe it to those suffering to bear witness to them. Those facts include:
With tens of millions of people enduring all that we have discussed and not living up to their potential our society is less productive in every respect. A massive amount of potential labor is paid to remain still, while others work to provide their needs. To make matters worse, despite all that is provided it comes nowhere near enough to provide for those in need.
Upon closer inspection of our current programs for dealing with poverty it becomes clear that far too little is done far too late and it’s being done by the wrong people. Most, if not all programs require a person or family to be in poverty or close to it in order to receive assistance. By waiting until people are down and almost out to give them just enough to exist and survive we are all but condemning them to stay in poverty and all the misery that comes with it. How is one to escape poverty when their life circumstances and choices brought them there and most of what we offer them keeps them there? The sad answer is a lot of people never escape poverty and half of those who get out of poverty will become poor again within five years (#12R). Another major problem with the way our government addresses poverty is it takes money form those who work and gives it to those who don’t. This problem becomes worse when some people choose to live in poverty and refuse work for the reason that they can collect a check for nothing and this only helps to build resentment of the poor by the working class. The working class should not have to work harder to support people who are idle regardless of why they are. It is up to us to help our less fortunate brethren but handing them money has proven a miserable failure in every respect, it is time we helped them help themselves out of poverty - it’s time for a new plan.
For a 2 adult, 2 child family the poverty line is earning less than $21,834 yet this family would need to earn $35,000 a year to meet its basic-needs budget (#19R). This goes to show that not only are our programs pathetic but so is our system for measuring who needs help. Calling a family above the poverty line when they are still $13,166 (60% of their yearly income) shy of being able to provide all of their basic needs is a lie and it hides the true scope of just how bad poverty is(#14A). Even if both adults were lucky enough to be employed but earned minimum wage they would have a combined income of $30,160 and still be $4,840 (16% of their yearly income) shy of being able to provide all of their basic needs, this goes to prove that the minimum wage and/or the jobs that are linked to it are also inadequate(#15A).
The definition of a housing cost burden is paying more than 30% of income on housing and those who do have difficulty affording necessities such as food, clothing, transportation and medical care. Currently 12 million households now pay more than 50% of their income on housing, this is a result of a federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour and a national housing wage (hourly wage needed to afford rental housing) of $18.44 an hour (#14R). The federal minimum wage would need to be increased by over 2 ½ times (254%)(#16A) for those earning it to be able to afford rental housing or people earning minimum wage would need to work 14.5 hours a day 7 days a week (#17A). The fact that these people struggle and hang on with so little to cling to should be enough to show anyone it’s not their fault and if given the opportunity for a better life they will do what it takes.
To also support this claim, the unemployment rate is a measure of how many people are ready, willing and able to work but cannot find employment. They are striving to be hardworking, productive members of our society but we have in our current system reduced them to beggars. We live in a society where population growth and technology are eliminating available jobs faster than economic development can create them. Without enough jobs to support everyone our economy is a disastrous game of musical chairs that threatens and takes the lives and happiness of those without chairs, which pushes many to crime and addiction for nothing more than a lack of options.
To add insult to injury to people facing this evil, our society has started a trend of creating laws that punish people for begging or panhandling. Of 224 cities surveyed: 43% prohibit begging in particular public places; 45% prohibit aggressive panhandling and 21% have city-wide prohibitions on begging (#11R). When the Federal Minimum Wage is all that an employer needs to pay an employee and at the same time not enough for one to supply their own needs, how is one to survive without begging, borrowing or stealing? Granted some people are criminals by choice but the numbers and facts prove that some break the law because working an honest full-time job does not always supply all of ones needs.
This discussion has been about programs that at best can be called catastrophes and we haven’t even discussed the worst part yet. I don’t know what to say to prepare you for the facts that are to follow. Please know I love you and wish you no distress, sadness or negativity whatsoever. But keeping to the truth and reducing these numbers to 0 requires the following topic to be discussed. Poverty kills 3,440 children, 3,625 infants and in total 24,746 people a year(#18A). These unnecessary deaths are all a result of poverty. This fact has gone unnoticed for far too long and now that we’re aware of it, it’s time to stop programs that have watched the problems get worse. The time is here and now to attack and destroy poverty like we would anything or anyone else who comes into our homes to do us such harm.
Unfortunately, with all the horror we have discussed and all the money thrown at these problems there still remains more terrible facts and we owe it to those suffering to bear witness to them. Those facts include:
- 467,877 veterans were severely rent burdened (#14R)
- Childhood poverty costs $500 Billion a year ($38,759.68 per child) (#19A).
- It costs society $1,340,616 for every person who spends a lifetime in poverty between welfare and low-income healthcare and each American will spend $203,766.64 in their lifetime on these costs to support the poor(#20A).
- American children are 2X more likely to be poor as Canadian children
- American children are 3X more likely to be poor as British children
- American children are 4X more likely to be poor as French children
- American children are 7-13X more likely to be poor as German, Dutch and Swedish children (#21R).
- The proportion of Americans with full-time jobs whose incomes were too low to bring a family above the poverty level rose by 50% between 1979 and 1992, from 12% to 18% of all workers (#21R).
- In 2008, 43,600,000 lived in poverty (#19R).
- Low-income children are 2X more likely to die from birth defects
- Low-income children are 3X more likely to die from all causes combined
- Low-income children are 4X more likely to die from fires
- Low-income children are 5X more likely to die from infectious diseases and parasites
- Low-income children are 6X more likely to die from other diseases than are non-poor children (#21R).
- Poor children are about 2X as likely to suffer from physical or mental disabilities
- Poor children are about 5X as likely to be hospitalized for poisoning
- Poor children are about 3X as likely to receive hospitalization for injuries in general than non-poor children (#21R).
- 32% of the poor experience poor health compared to 12% of the general population (#21R).
- 12.9 million children live in poverty (#19R).
- One out of every 5 children in the U.S. is now living in poverty (#18R).
- Thirty million Americans - nearly one worker in four - work full-time for less than a poverty-level wage (#22R).
- Low-income adults turn out to experience illnesses in their thirties and forties that are not commonly seen in others before sixty-five or seventy-five (#22R).
With tens of millions of people enduring all that we have discussed and not living up to their potential our society is less productive in every respect. A massive amount of potential labor is paid to remain still, while others work to provide their needs. To make matters worse, despite all that is provided it comes nowhere near enough to provide for those in need.
Upon closer inspection of our current programs for dealing with poverty it becomes clear that far too little is done far too late and it’s being done by the wrong people. Most, if not all programs require a person or family to be in poverty or close to it in order to receive assistance. By waiting until people are down and almost out to give them just enough to exist and survive we are all but condemning them to stay in poverty and all the misery that comes with it. How is one to escape poverty when their life circumstances and choices brought them there and most of what we offer them keeps them there? The sad answer is a lot of people never escape poverty and half of those who get out of poverty will become poor again within five years (#12R). Another major problem with the way our government addresses poverty is it takes money form those who work and gives it to those who don’t. This problem becomes worse when some people choose to live in poverty and refuse work for the reason that they can collect a check for nothing and this only helps to build resentment of the poor by the working class. The working class should not have to work harder to support people who are idle regardless of why they are. It is up to us to help our less fortunate brethren but handing them money has proven a miserable failure in every respect, it is time we helped them help themselves out of poverty - it’s time for a new plan.
“Whenever there are in any country uncultivated land and unemployed poor, it is clear that the laws of property have been so far extended as to violate the natural right. The earth is given as common stock for men to labor and live on…” Thomas Jefferson, writings, V.XIX.
Eden - A Plan to End Poverty and While We’re at it the National Debt
It is a great strain on our society that there are people who want nothing more than a job and the ability to care for themselves and we have yet to give them the opportunity.
Eden will take facts that should never exist together and use them to erase each other. Hunger, poverty and homelessness should not be possible so long as there is workable land available. With hard work and dedication land can be turned into money, farmers prove this everyday. With a system very similar to what we discussed in the last chapter, people living in poverty can learn to farm with costs as low as $5,050.35 per person, per year (#21A). These costs include office clerks for processing clients, farmers to help and teach their trade, seeds to plant 4 acres, tools to work the land and the water needed for the crops. Average potential earnings for an organic farmer is $26,000 a year for maintaining 4 acres (#22A). The cost to society of this program could quickly be brought to 0 by deducting the yearly costs from the earning of those who participate and they would still be left with a salary of $20,949.65 and still be well above poverty.
Crops can be turned into income through many different processes, be it sold at fruit stands, to supermarkets or pick your own fields. Imagine the demand at the market for food that represents an end to suffering each time it is bought. Community Supported Agriculture is another way to turn crops to money. It involves people in a community buying shares of a farm or a farmers product before the season begins. Usually one day a week is set aside for the shareholders to receive their produce through either pickup or delivery. Each share is not necessarily ownership of the land or farm but ownership of the food that is to be produced and usually costs between a few hundred and a few thousand dollars a year (#23R).
Farming isn’t the only way to make money. Depending on the desires of those involved, their money could be saved or donated to Eden for the purpose of collectively saving money to start up other businesses. This would allow people to get away from the work in the fields and do other jobs. People could also rotate between the fields and the new enterprises - depending on where labor is needed and what each person desires to do. (See pages - for more ideas on generating income).
To make things better still, after a period of documenting and analyzing Eden’s poverty program, we can come up with a system of paid time off. This could include general time off, sick days, vacations, holidays and even a retirement plan. This can be done by saving excess money earned and paying it out upon a persons request to cash in on their free time earned. (See p. 103x for other ways to generate free time).
With Eden’s poverty program the same family of 4 we discussed in the last section will be in a much different situation. If just one of the 2 adults were enrolled in Eden they would still be in poverty, although not by much. The hourly income is $10.07 an hour (#24A) and falls short of the national housing wage of $18.44 an hour (#14R). Even though it is short of the national housing wage, it still leaves up to $523.74 (#24A) a month to be spent on housing before they are considered housing cost burdened. However money should be plentiful so long as both are enrolled - their joint income would be $45,826.74 (after paying back all costs) which is $20,065.30 above poverty and $6,899.30 above their basic needs budget(#25A) . Even if they had to pay the national average of $6000 a year for childcare they would still earn well above both poverty and their needs(#25A) . Childcare costs should be greatly reduced from the national average as we should provide it onsite as a matter of convenience and to save money for all involved. The cost of doing this could be evenly distributed amongst those using the childcare service.
If Eden’s poverty program were to do what it has the ability to accomplish we could return the $14.3 Trillion national debt(#25R) to $0 in 8 years (#26A). By eliminating poverty and the $1.8 Trillion a year spent on it, this is possible. Although not very likely this still goes to prove just how much poverty costs us all and how it’s in all our best interests to try anything and everything in an attempt to end it (See figure 2-4).
*As all figures in this chapter (except fig 2-4) assume people will work enough to offset their costs at Eden, it is entirely possible to reduce all of Eden’s costs to zero and make savings as much as 100%.
The facts speak for themselves. Massive amounts of wasted pain, suffering and money could be ended simply by giving those in poverty the ability to take themselves out of it. Imagine everything mentioned in the last section to be ended by the very hands of those we used to pay to endure all those things. Instead of the degrading and poorly thought out programs of the past, we will have dignified work that gives anyone willing to work the ability to provide all of their needs. It must be a fundamental objective of any just society to provide enough work for the needs of those who are willing to do it. Eden will accomplish this, it will put an end to more evil and generate more good than words can describe.
The facts speak for themselves. Massive amounts of wasted pain, suffering and money could be ended simply by giving those in poverty the ability to take themselves out of it. Imagine everything mentioned in the last section to be ended by the very hands of those we used to pay to endure all those things. Instead of the degrading and poorly thought out programs of the past, we will have dignified work that gives anyone willing to work the ability to provide all of their needs. It must be a fundamental objective of any just society to provide enough work for the needs of those who are willing to do it. Eden will accomplish this, it will put an end to more evil and generate more good than words can describe.
