[Calliope]: 216.Essays.State Intervention in Poverty

 State Intervention in Poverty

 Poverty has been around for centuries. It has seen more throughout it's existance than anyone can conceive. It has caused revolutions, contributed to plagues and puzzled any number of people in any day and age. Marcus Aurelius (121-180 AD, Emperor of Rome, Author of 'Mediations') is quoted for saying "Poverty is the mother of crime." and this is true. It takes you back to the moral question, is a man a thief for stealing bread to feed his family, or a murderer for allowing them to starve? Poverty pushes people to commit acts they otherwise wouldn't all in order to survive. Poverty is not a intelligent body, it does not survey people and select the best candidates. Just because one person in your family is insensitive or illiterate doesn't mean you are so why discriminate against all of the impoverished simply because a handful are actually lazy? There is no pragmatic reasoning behind why funding should not be supplied to support poverty ridden people. It is a major fault line in our society that we refuse to fix in the most obvious way possible just because of our greed. Eventually this is going to lead to a downfall that will change what we know economically. Aid is needed, although I don't believe it should be in a degree in which people become completely reliant.

 The idea of poverty wasn't actually developed until people became truly obsessed with material objects. In the traditional economy, what you couldn't provide for yourself was provided by others. This helped keep the economy and the population stable and healthy. You would never find a clan member starving in the Inuit society for they very collectivised and what was one person's, was everyone elses as well. In England, things did not go so well. After the Norman's conquered, inequalities were created that also lead to the formation of classes and poverty. Peasants who now resided on land not owned by them, but instead by the crown, were paid enough to buy a loaf of bread a day, preventing any advancement in their social placement. This only further proves that "The poverty of our century is unlike that of any other. It is not, as poverty was before, the result of natural scarcity, but of a set of priorities imposed upon the rest of the world by the rich. Consequently, the modern poor are not pitied...but written off as trash. The twentieth-century consumer economy has produced the first culture for which a beggar is a reminder of nothing." (John Bergen)

 There have been attempts at reducing poverty, some more successful than others, some only achieving what they needed to before withdrawing. Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal is a good example of withdrawing much of goverment supplied aid after a level of weath was common to the majority of the population. After creating his renowned alphabet agencies which helped the economy out of the Great Depression, many programs were retracted. Granted, the US is still a very prominant country but that doesn't mean it has no poverty. It's not as bad off as a third or even second world nation, but it has hovels just like any populated place. There are ways to counteract this poverty as proven by Sweden.

 Sweden is unique in its approach to solving poverty and stabilizing the economy. It's methods are very extreme when compared to other nations most likely because they wouldn't work when applied alongside other nation's morals. While progressive taxation isn't completely unique to this country it seems to have worked much better, maybe due to the public's willingness, maybe due to some other factor. Corporations don't seem too upset to give up more in taxes compared to others, they realize the more income they make, the more taxes they should pay. One method that is more or less completely unique to Sweden is its indicative planning. It would be unheard of for unions to get together with companies to work out situations and come to common decisions. Although taxes in Sweden are insanely high, coming in at about 71%, the population hasn't seem to be effected overly much. The social programs provided make up for so much that it overcomes any taxation the people may have to endure. 80% reinbursment for most medical costs, payment all through school, prenatal care, the list is just about endless. Definetely a plus, even considering the rate of return is a bit lower that in most nations. These are all examples involving developed nations though, and their predicaments on how to lower unemployment rates and lower the poverty levels. There are much more dire circumstances in seperate nations that need immediate attention. This is where Make Poverty History enters the scene.

 Make Poverty History is an international association dedicated to helping third world countries such as Kuwaite and Sudan. Many different organizations have banded together to fund causes such as trade justice, better aid of the poverished and to lower political debt. We've all seen the commercials with famous actors, actresses, singers, etc. snapping their fingers every 3 seconds and telling us that each time a child is starving to death. This plight should not go unrecognized and Make Poverty History is determined to step up awareness. Live aid concerts have been organized among other charity events all in order to support these people in their distress and to imporve their lifestyle. It can't be said that they are all becoming reliant, lazy, no good bums who just mooch off of our kind, giving souls. 

I believe there is a happy medium when it comes to government intervention and the amount of aid provided. This is a fine line to find and an even finer line to walk when it comes to balancing your econmic system on it. Market, mixed, welfare capitalist, each system has a common goal, even if each approaches it differently. Eventually we may reach a state that provides adequate funding but until then we can only keep trying. Through organizations such as Make Poverty History we are advancing our world in more than just technology, we our advancing our views, something that has been needed for many decades now.

© Angie O'Connor