My Answer to the Poverty Problem

The answer to poverty heard so frequently from liberals and other Democrats is that poverty must be solved by more government give-away programs, usually in the form of more unemployment insurance, Medicaid, food stamps, earned income tax credit, etc., etc. Anyone who opposes this idea is considered heartless and downright cruel. The War On Poverty has, indeed brought a lot of material goods such as TVs, microwave ovens, and automobiles into the homes of the poor; but it has not given them dignity and a feeling of pride in having produced a living for themselves. Liberals with these solutions to poverty are not seeing the long view—they are only looking at the short-term answers. Dependency  on government may solve a financial problem in the short term, but it doesn’t give people an opportunity to work through and create a meaningful life for themselves.

The following is a true story.

In the early 1990’s, Nancy and I were living in Detroit. We attended a church in the warehouse district populated by the poor of the city—homeless, alcoholics, drug addicted, general vagabonds. In those days, Michigan had had a series of Democrat governors; and the poverty problem in Detroit was being answered by a government program called General Assistance. The program had awarded money to thousands of healthy, young adults without requiring anything of them.

One particular man came to our church and continually requested prayer so he might get a job. We prayed for him week after week. Finally, I suggested to Nancy, “Let’s quit praying for him and go get him a job.” We went to the county employment office with him to help him through the government red tape and get him a job. He found a job and was about to take it until he realized General Assistance would pay him more.

Finally, a Republican was elected to the state house. The General Assistance program was discontinued over a period of four months, during which time, the income of the money recipients was gradually tapered. Many healthy young men were turned off welfare payments and had to look for work.

One month after the money had quit, the man in the church came to us on a Sunday morning with a smile on his lips. He wanted to show Nancy and me something—his first pay check! He had found a job and was proud of himself. Dignity had been returned to him; and he was no longer dependent on government hand-outs.

Any government program that does not encourage the making of one’s own living, and discourages an economy that supplies those jobs is damaging. More money for handouts is NOT the answer. Government give-away money in the form of health care, food, unemployment payments only increases and prolongs dependency and robs poor people of their dignity and a sense that they can take care of themselves.