36 million Americans live in poverty - earning less than $20,650 for a family of four

[jeffrey]

In the United States, the wealthiest country in the world, 36 million Americans live in poverty - earning less than $20,650 for a family of four in 2007. Another one in six Americans struggle to make ends meet on incomes between 100% and 200% of poverty ( $20,650 to about $40,000 for a family of four). More than 12 million American children grow up in impoverished homes. When compared with 20 other wealthy nation on measures of health, safety and relative poverty, America's children fare amongst the worst.

We can do better, and we should do better.

It is in our national interest, as well as a moral imperative, to fulfill the American promise that each of us will have an opportunity to pursue our dreams. Children who grow up poor too often become adults who cannot contribute effectively to our economic productivity, put a burden on the public health system or enter the criminal justice system...

Why Spotlight Poverty?

[cptacek]

From the Memoirs of Ben Franklin:

For my own part I am not so well satisfied of the goodness of this thing I am for doing good to the poor but I differ in opinion about the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor is not making them easy in poverty but leading or driving them out of it In my youth I travelled much and I observed in different countries that the more public provisions were made for the poor the less they provided for themselves and of course became poorer. And on the contrary the less was done for them the more they did for themselves and became richer

<a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=45EEAAAAYAAJ&lpg=PA85&ots=r5-uDZ8fpD&dq=%22i+think+the+best+way+of+doing+good+t o+the+poor+is+not+making+them+easy+in+poverty+but+ leading+or+driving+them+out+of+it%22&pg=PA85&ci=63 ,456,845,713&source=bookclip">Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin By Benjamin Franklin</a>

Yes, poverty needs to be addressed. But not by giving those in poverty a hand out. They need to have the means to work themselves out of it.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Actually that Franklin quote and your message, cptacek, inclines me more to comment than does the spotlightonpoverty.org link.

I think the USA does a lot to stomp out both the inclination and the possibility to pull oneself up by one's bootstraps. It says, "No! Thou shalt not!" to many of the enterprising things people with little money would like to do to begin to get themselves on their own feet. It makes it illegal to do many of the things that people would like to do. Oh, a certain amount of it goes on as underground economy, but governments, especially local governments stomp it out in the name of such things as public health and enforcement of zoning ordinances.

For example, maybe a Mom with one kid has always been complemented on the special muffins she makes. People tell her , "You should sell these things! You'd make a fortune!" Well she'd like to. So maybe she sells a few to people on her block. Then she goes to the grocery store and talks to the manager about selling them. The manager finds out the muffins are not made in a health department inspected kitchen, so he must day no.

Not giving up, she gets an idea, when she sees the snow cone dealers at a ball game. Next week, she comes to the ball game and gives out free cups of water to attract attent6ion to her muffins for sale. The city police ask her if she has a street vendor's license. Nope. "Ma'am you're going to have to close up and move along. Licenses are available at city hall for just $65."

So she goes to city hall the next day. They sell her a vendor's license and refer her to the health department for the classes one must take to get a license for the kitchen. She pay $129 for those classes and finds out that there is no way for her kitchen to be certified. She does not have a double sink with pasteurization capable temps. Nor does she have a separate mop sink. Those items are beyond of her ability to pay for, and, besides, she is only a renter. She would have to get her own home to put in the kind of kitchen she wants. Or she'd have to find the money to rent or buy an existing commercial.

She talks with some people at the church about the problem. Someone tells her that they tried almost the same plan once before. They had to also pay for a license to "manufacture," (make food products) at their home address and that such an undertaking was out of the zoning provisions- --She would have to persuade the counsel for a zoning variation. She might have to pay for an ad in the local papers to declare her intentions to ask for a variance so that any interested citizens could come to the counsel meeting and support, question, or oppose the variance.

So this single mother who lives on the edge gives up on her idea to sell her superb muffins and just hopes that sometime in the future she will be wealthy enough to pull herself up by her bootstraps!

See, in Ben Franklin's time, there were not so many legal obstacles in front of people.

This is pointed out to me over and over by people who move to the US from other free-er (yes, free-er) countries where poor people are free to sell muffins, or tortillas, or naan, or casaba on the busy sidewalks.

Then, when so few people see little businesses being started day in and day out by people of little means, they never get the example that such things are even possible. Blinders are put over their eyes. Enterprise is a space ship only. Live long and prosper!

We USAers are born into a society where it is not necessarily a good idea to have good ideas. It doesn't often doesn't get you anywhere unless you already have some extra money. Very soon, you don't even know how to have ideas anymore. They get squashed out of you from infancy onward.

[cptacek]

I actually agree with you. There needs to be LESS government interference, not MORE handouts.

Note, in my post, I did say "they need to have the means to work themselves out of it." We need government policies that promote enterprising people to be able to better their position instead of putting so many asinine regulations and fees on their efforts that they won't be able to help themselves.

[simpleyme]

Joan of arch I enjoyed your post

on a note that is is similar,I am guilty of squashing dream,about once a month i kick a enterprising business person from in front of my business !I feel bad for them but I think its pretty crappy to park a wheelborrow at my font door and sell food and drink on my property targeting my customers with no overhead!

so by passing out free water she squishes snowcone sales and that person likley started from nowhere at some point and has to discourage the loss of sales


in the case you described the church should allow her to use their kitchen,I have a certified kitchen and I could rent it out if I chose to,for a fee or in the case you describe a percentage
people who build successful business have the ability to push through obsticals, tweak things till they work that is why some people succeed at their dreams even when success seems unlikley

[catlover15]

I actually agree with you. There needs to be LESS government interference, not MORE handouts.

Note, in my post, I did say "they need to have the means to work themselves out of it." We need government policies that promote enterprising people to be able to better their position instead of putting so many asinine regulations and fees on their efforts that they won't be able to help themselves.

Yes, I agree. There are too many government regulations.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Since we are talking about people living in poverty, part of my assumption is that this person does not have the money to rent out a kitchen and keep getting licenses and so forth. When your resources are small, you probably have to start small. And yes, it would be a good story if the church had a kitchen to rent out. Only some of the large denomination churches in my city look large enough to have kitchens. Many have only the worship room--sanctuary, is it called?

Simplyme, do you think there are many commercial kitchens which might rent out their facilities? The idea to make money by selling foods is a common one among the poor, I find. If I could actually steer someone to ask a caterer or someone for kitchen rental, that might make the difference in a real person's scheme.

[jc3900]

For my own part I am not so well satisfied of the goodness of this thing I am for doing good to the poor but I differ in opinion about the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor is not making them easy in poverty but leading or driving them out of it In my youth I travelled much and I observed in different countries that the more public provisions were made for the poor the less they provided for themselves and of course became poorer. And on the contrary the less was done for them the more they did for themselves and became richer

Oh, I wish I could show this quote to all of our retarded politicians. When you subsidize something you get more of it. I just heard a story reacently about Madison Wisconsin. Lately they have adobted a friendly policy to beggars on the street. Because of the policy, more beggars have been coming to the capital area and lately they have been getting more aggressive for money and food. What actually brought up the story was that a street beggar/drugie killed a girl on the UWM was killed.