Poverty and Self Interest

Does everybody in the world operate on their own self interest? And if so, is that is a positive or negative thing? Yes, no, maybe so.

If everybody operated on self interest and was successful at it, then maybe we wouldn't have to worry about extreme poverty. But the fact is that people can try to act in their self interest and be unsuccessful, and under the current paradigm, those who fail deserve to fail because they had a chance but obviously just didn't care enough to succeed .

When I told Eric that my parents had both worked full-time jobs while I grew up, but we had still lived an existence beneath the poverty line, he responded that it sucked, but I still managed to pull myself up by my boot straps and go to an ivy league college, because i had been given opportunities that I took advantage of, which definitely made me think. However, I was the exception, not the rule. So what was it that made me the exception?

Eric doesn't think that government should be responsible for helping people out of poverty, but it was government-funded programs that gave me the very opportunities that he referred to as helping me succeed. He acknowledges that even if he had he been basically the same person he is now of the same level of intelligence, but born in a different area of philadelphia and to different parents, his life could have turned out drastically different. he obviously believes in inequality, but doesn't seem to think anything can, or should, be done about it. On the contrary, I think that, while the cycle of poverty may seem depressing and without an answer, it seems that there are ways to slowly make a difference.

The unequal distribution of wealth in our country is the greatest issue. How can it be that a family can work so hard and still be behind? Clearly pulling yourself up by your bootstraps isn't enough when faced with low minimum wage and few job opportunities. Progressive reforms must address those structures of the economy that foster great inequality rather than pushing people into individual wealth-building schemes. A bold program would include wealth taxation, fairer income taxation, and the accumulation of public and community-owned assets.

Ultimately I think a great contribution to my successes were programs like Talent Search and Project Catalyst- government funded programs that showed me the great variety of options that the world is made of and gave me the tools to take advantage of them. So if it is proven that such programs can actually be of use (it worked for me, right?), maybe that is the key to poverty policy- not handouts, but giving more funding to programs that provide guidance to youth at a disadvantage in making the most of opportunities that are available if they work at it. Of course, this is a longer-term commitment, so public welfare is still a necessary evil.