what should be done to combat poverty that hasn't been done before?

Answer 1

i designed a plan that i call the excelsior plan which would repair world economy including 3 primary steps over the course of several hundred years. sadly im just a stupid ignorant thoughtless 14 year old my opinion doenst matter and im wrong about anything that matters so hell i guess well all just stay poor..

Answer 2

This is a good question, but as another person wrote, in a Capitalist society, it's almost impossible to do.
We are a country who has experinced more people go into the class of "poverty" during the last four years than in any other time in history.

More people who have jobs and go to work everyday are among the "working poor", and can't get ahead. Wages have not kept up with inflation, yet at the same time, the Cost of Living has increased almost 70% across the board.

I think some of the ways are to raise the minimum wage to at least $15.00 an hour. This is an approximate wage that it should be, given inflation and the cost of living.
CEO's of companies will have to give up some of their greed and take more reasonable retirement and severance packages.
After all, could THEY live on even $15.00 an hour, probably not.

Also, utility companies need to stop being allowed to monopolize. The Bell companies were broken up in order to offer more choices and less expensive phone service to people. But what do we see? Utility companies still monopolize and they raise the rates for worse service. (and less choices).

We need definitely to cut pork barrel spending and have socialized medicine in this country. Doctors don't need to whine and cry about malpractice insurance anymore. Bush fixed that last year by signing a bill that puts a cap on lawsuits and awards filed for malpractice. They chose to be a Physician. Live with it.

What they don't tell you is how much money doctors make for asking stupid questions of their patients such as how bad their pain levels are, and they make $135.00 per patient for asking the stupid question. Congress actually passed a bill that funds stupid questions doctors can ask and get paid for.
And Onclologists make more money (usually six figures), for doing similar stuff as well as hospitals that get money for giving aspirin to heart attack patients in the ER. So there is a lot of wasteful spending going on.

I also believe every American should be entitled to a free education and/or tuition rates should be drastically lowered because there is a lot of waste going on there.

The government is what holds people down. People don't hold themselves down. (not always).

Answer 3

Adoption of poor families by every family or inidividuals that are categorized as financially capable by international standards. It would require a great deal of social/political willpower and courage which we seem not to have an abundance of.

But first the world must come up with the definition and criteria of 'poor' that cuts across all cultures and economic standing (you may post that as your next question). Because what is poor in this nation may be well-off in another. Also, keeping in mind that economic status constantly change overtime so quick transition is essential to be efficient.

This does not mean tolerating inactivity or unproductivity among the disadvantaged individuals/families. Education, employment opportunities, technological advancement, resources are not equitably shared across the earth nor do they come in one big package for some nation to invest in. Because most of these must be part of the equation to jack-up individual/nations economic standing thus combat or reduce poverty but sad to say it is not the case.

Life should be a lot easier if we have a 'teletransporter' we can utilize to share extra fries, burritos or pennies to a starving kid in a neighboring island.

Answer 4

I don't think it can be done. Some people will choose poverty if it means not doing work.

I think the important thing is always provide opportunity to the impoverished. Those that want to work hard and raise their standing should have the opportunity. Giving handouts is not the answer. Lowering standards(no child left behind) is not the answer. Face it, in life there are children for whatever reason are not going to be successful. That is not a failing of government, that is life.

Answer 5

I'll tell you what hasn't been done before. No one has done a real study to find out the true causes of povertyand the true ramifications of living in a country with any given amount of poverty. Until this is done, people will make up stuff and try to feed it to a sleepwalking public.

Answer 6

Education

Answer 7

The no child left behind act is not bad, but I think we should be screaming at universities. Higher Education is not suppose to be a country club for rich kids. They would be better off using the money to educate kids who cannot afford college instead of building rock climbing facilities. If people can get a good education poverty would begin to disappear because people would have more earning power.

Answer 8

Limit the benefits and give people incentive to work. Why work when you don't have to. There are those that truly need help and we should help them, not carry them. That is what I feel is wrong with the programs. We are turning this nation into a race of slaves that expect entitlements and that needs to be stopped. To bad it won't though, because these same slaves will vote for anyone to ensure they keep their entitlements. They know how to play the "poor us" game to get more money. They've learned how to play their part well.

Answer 9

there is no real way to totally wipe out poverty given a capitalist society. there have to be winners and losers in order for the market to survive and adjust.
but they way to really change the world is to change the world. to eliminate poverty you need jobs or land reform. for jobs you need infrastructure like roads and sewers and power which is what most of the most poverty stricken peoples dont have. and with land reform you have to take it away from someone else and redistribute it. all very very complex if you look at the fine details. doable but if you put all that in who pays for it and what is the return.

Answer 10

extreme welfare restrictions such as no job,no food or help with bills,if no job at time of application,immediate job training/resume help/job counseling,anything to get people jobs before money is just thrown at you.i also believe that birth control should be mandatory for all welfare recipients,we do not need to make a bad situation worse,that sounds harsh,i know, and I'm not picking on anyone,Ive lived on both sides of the fence,and when you have nothing to do,that's exactly what your life becomes

Answer 11

Education. If everyone was educated, they wouldn't vote for these assholes only taking the money and wasting it on useless programs.

We have been fighting the "war" on poverty for 60 yrs, like the "war" on drugs. Gee, I hope the "war" on terror doesn't take as long.