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What are the major causes poverty in the US?

What is responsible for perpetuating poverty in the US/

  • discrimination

    Votes: 2 13.3%

  • laziness

    Votes: 2 13.3%

  • welfare trap

    Votes: 6 40.0%

  • lack of opportunity

    Votes: 2 13.3%

  • broken justice system

    Votes: 2 13.3%

  • lack of good role models

    Votes: 5 33.3%

  • broken education

    Votes: 3 20.0%

  • other

    Votes: 9 60.0%

  • not sure

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    15
It is not a crime to be poor it is a state of existence...

“Why, look at me. I've worked my way up from nothing to a state of extreme poverty.” Groucho
 
Masterhawk said:
Poverty in the US remains a major problem in the US. Despite a pledge by LBJ to eliminate it, it hasn't bulged since the late 60s. What has prevented people from getting out of poverty?

One possibility is systemic racism. Poor people in the US are disproportionately black, native american, and hispanic.

Another possibility is that poor people are just too lazy to put the work into making more money.

Related to the previous point is that welfare is disincentivizing recipients from making more money, knowing that benefits will taper out if they do.

Another one is that the lack of opportunity has kept people in poverty. A possible solution may be for government to subsidize tertiary education or deregulate to increase social mobility.

High incarceration rates are also a problem. When people are in prison, they tend to not make very much money. Another problem is the fact that prisoners once released often end up in prison again within a few years of release.

The lack of role models could also be playing a role. With the rise of single parenting, poor kids are less likely to grow up with two parents.

A broken education system could prevent people from stepping out of poverty
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There will always be the poverty stricken in human society until such time that society can effectively compensate for the functional needs of those in the bottom tier of individual human capability.

While there are any number contributory issues to creating/perpetuating poverty individual capability should be the first delimiter in any study of causation or formulation of solution.

not the best example, but for instance:

You can't teach a functional moron how to correctly make change sufficiently quickly and accurately to be a clerk, no matter how good an educational system you build.
 
danielpalos said:
Industrial automation can make a difference in recycling and repurposing our waste. It can pay for itself.
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When I used to do remodeling I would take the parts I took apart and reassembled them on my place I hate to see good materials go to waste.
 
Unemployment. For working families in poverty, it's poor wages and lack of social support. Crap pension rights mean 9% of the elderly in the USA live in poverty.

A wider cause is that the 1% have almost all of the money.

In Britain, the income of the has increased 185% in the last 10 years, while 4 million children are in poverty.
 
Last edited:
1. Don't have children before marriage
2. Graduate High School
3. Get a Job

If you follow those 3 simple steps then you will escape poverty. Even if you mess up and only follow step 3 then it is still possible to escape poverty only more work will be required of you.

I was born to a single teenage mother and she later married someone that dropped out of school at 13. I grew up in a trailer dirt poor with a father who was too proud to accept welfare and we struggled through it. Now my father runs his own concrete business and is living a comfortable upper middle class life. Simply having the drive to work your way up from the bottom is still possible no matter what some people like to believe.
 
Nap said:
1. Don't have children before marriage
2. Graduate High School
3. Get a Job

If you follow those 3 simple steps then you will escape poverty. Even if you mess up and only follow step 3 then it is still possible to escape poverty only more work will be required of you.

I was born to a single teenage mother and she later married someone that dropped out of school at 13. I grew up in a trailer dirt poor with a father who was too proud to accept welfare and we struggled through it. Now my father runs his own concrete business and is living a comfortable upper middle class life. Simply having the drive to work your way up from the bottom is still possible no matter what some people like to believe.
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Like who?
 
Moonglow said:
When I used to do remodeling I would take the parts I took apart and reassembled them on my place I hate to see good materials go to waste.
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now, imagine if we could recycle or repurpose all of the material you cannot re-use, even if you wanted to.
 
"other" all the above, and more.
 
I think a few things
1. People not wanting to move even if they know they can find work somewhere else and find more affordable rent.
2. I think drugs, mental illness and criminality plays a big part.
3. The biggest reason for people who stay in poverty I believe to be the welfare system allowing them to stay there. Don't get me twisted I do believe in helping people to a point. But I believe that help should be to give them a boost so that they can take care of themselves. ( I don't know one person who would make there kids starve if they did not get food stamps. It just means they would have to get up accept that crappy job so they could eat. Right now I pay 45000.00 a year in taxes and when I go to the store I see people on food stamps eating way better that I do. Literally...

Sent from my G9 using Tapatalk
 
Fatherless households. Not graduating.
 
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