There has never been a time in history where there were not “poor” people. As a child, we lived in an old home in bad need of repair. Many today would probably call it little more than unfit. According today’s standards of poverty, my family would have been classified as such. However, we had clothes that were given or bought at second hand places and food on our table. We had chickens, raised a calf for meat, and grew a garden. We learned to can and preserve many types of food. My sister’s and I did not consider ourselves “poor” although we knew others had more than us. We felt rich because we were happy and loved. We were thankful for what we had. Our world today is not the same as it was then. Many are dissatisfied and unhappy while having everything money can buy. Yes, being “poor” brings hardships, but many times there are ways to make our world better with a little hard work.
So how can we (government) fix the poor that lack in money and are unable to provide the basic necessities of life? Totally change the way we look at the poor. Stop enabling. Now, by this I mean… more taxes from those who have worked hard to earn their money is not going to answer the problem. Taking from one to give to another is our tax system at this time. Yes, I agree we need to help someone get back on their feet, but we also need to give them the tools to do so. We need jobs and more jobs. Jobs that pay more than minimum wages and training or education to enable unskilled or workers needed reskilled into our current job market.
The greatest area of concern is government imposed restrictions. It seems to me that the more the government imposes restrictions on economy/businesses, the more we hear of the poor population’s growth. Perhaps the government needs to reduce restrictions and accept more of a laissez-faire or free-market economy. The Springfield News-Leader reports in an article titled “Study of local poverty will mean tax increase,” The only cases in recorded history where the masses have escaped from the grinding poverty is where they have had capitalism and largely free trade” (Lilly).
The 2014 Index of Economic Freedom reports on the United States and how our economy has deteriorated.
“The United States, with an economic freedom score of 75.5, is the 12th freest economy in the 2014 Index. Its score is half a point lower than last year, primarily due to deteriorations in property rights, fiscal freedom, and business freedom. The U.S. is ranked 2nd out of three countries in the North America region, and although its score remains well above the world and regional averages, it is no longer one of the top 10 freest economies.
Over the 20-year