Is poverty a natural part of society?

As we all know, a significant portion of society in the USA, Canada, and Australia live in poverty. This has always been so, more or less. Now of course, the definition of poverty is somewhat subjective, but what is generally meant by this is people who live in basic low-end apartments and struggle to pay rent and save money. Between 10 to 25 percent of the adults in these countries effectively are considered to be living in relative "poverty".

Do you think poverty is a natural part of society?
That there will always be poor people that are less motivated or less capable?
Do you think these people should be living with such low incomes, or should society or the government be doing something about it?

 

Poverty is a natural part of society. It has been a problem for thousands of years and will continue forever.

The sources of poverty vary. Sometimes it is because of people who are less motivated or less capable. Sometimes it is because the situation is set up to make it difficult for people to prosper. Sometimes it is a simple lack of available resources.

The government's only responsibility is to ensure that everyone is in a relatively even playing field when it comes to generating wealth, then to get out of the way and let the chips fall where they may.

 

Why does the government have any responsibility to ensure "equality of opportunity"? Obviously there are plenty of factors that are beyond an individual's control. Even if everyone was educated and hard working, there would still be winners and losers.

 

I never said anything about equality of opportunity, just a relatively level playing field. All that matters is that all rules apply equally to everyone and no one is allowed to cheat. No picking favorites or rewarding certain people over others.

 

I agree -- but you left one source out -- sometimes it's a choice.

House by the Side of the Road, Sam Walter Foss

There are hermit souls that live withdrawn
In the place of their self-content;
There are souls like stars, that dwell apart,
In a fellowless firmament;
There are pioneer souls that blaze the paths
Where highways never ran-
But let me live by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.

... I see from my house by the side of the road
By the side of the highway of life,
The men who press with the ardor of hope,
The men who are faint with the strife,
But I turn not away from their smiles and tears,
Both parts of an infinite plan-
Let me live in a house by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.

Pitying the poor is strictly a liberal pasttime. What poor people deserve is respect... and a hand-up if they ask for it. Other than that, quit whining about how awful it is to be poor. Poverty doesn't come in one-size-fits-all situations and neither do solutions.

Why do libs always gotta 'fix' people? If it's not poor people, it's fat kids. Nag, nag, nag.

 

Not so much of a problem in australia. Our poor receive all the basics they would need. Housing, food/water/utilities, education and medical care as they need it.

 

well how very patronizing of you to know exactly what others 'need' and to shower them with your largess so generously..

and yet....

they're STILL poor..I suppose they should be happy to be kept in such relative splendor and toil their little lives away singing praises of their overlords and benefactors..

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I have a problem with the poll, as with most, because the choices given are slanted so that no matter which you choose, you are validating the premise of the OP.

"Poor" is a relative term. I would bet there are plenty of people that would rather be 'poor' in Australia than 'poor' in Cambodia for example. No matter what, there will always be those that have more than others.

 

Do they? Which Australia is this? The fantasy or the real one?

 

There will always be poverty. While it's true that some people are born into situations where it's very difficult to escape poverty, ultimately it's up to the individual to make the right choices, and avoid actions which will only lead to more poverty. IMO, people more often keep themselves down, as opposed to 'the system' or whatever you want to call it. The government will never be able to eradicate poverty, unless it finds some way to magically control everyone's behavior. We can spend until our hearts are content, but that doesn't mean that we're always addressing the root causes of poverty.

I agree.

 

I would rather be poor in Australia than America.

 

Government involvement takes away the incentive for society to develop individual and community values that would help poverty better than government ever could. People seem to forget that government officials running those amazing "charities" are just as human as any selfish rich or poor person.

Poverty will always be present and there is nothing anyone can do to completely end it. But helping it to diminish begins with taking advantage of individual freedoms and responsibilities.

 

Until the core of human nature changes/evolves/devolves, poverty will always exist and some people will always have more than others no matter what system you design to run your society. And human nature has not changed that much in thousands of years. Perhaps longer.

Ironically, the lower reptilian brain would have to evolve out of darwinian natural selection in order to remove poverty.

 

The bible says there will always be poverty. The liberals solution to combating the bible's infallible truth is by insuring instead of some living in poverty, we ALL do, which of course this too, the bible predicts.

 

The bible is fiction. Harry potter also told me that poverty was caused by greed and abuse.

I think a wizard would know a bit more than some 2000 year old arab dude..

 

It doesn't matter what you say, this book is proven more true with each passing day.

 

Lol.......

 

Indisputable, but there are families living in tents in this country because they simply cant get housing.

 

I also would rather you be poor in Australia than here...

 

Yep, that's unanimous. Somebody should ask the Aborg's about quality of life down under. Seems to be a little difference of opinion between the privileged white and their native people.

 

Yes, without poorer people there would be too much demand for the more exotic goods.

We need poor people to do the cleaning for a pittance. The more of them the better. Otherwise the price if such work goes up, leaving less leisure time for the rest of us.

Really we should be thanking the poor and working towards finding more ways to create more of them, thankfully the process is well under way.

 

Amazing. Aren't you backwards Aussues aware that "all the basics they would need" or that you think they need is grossly inadequate. They get that even in the U.S. They're supposed to get all the benefits and luxuries of working people and anything less is brutal mistreatment. This is especially true for people who arrived two days ago and still, it's hard to believe, don't have a house.

As long as the "poor" are defined as a certain percentage, of course they'l always exists. Some countries have amazingly rich poor people and the whining doesn't decrease one decibel or one minute.

 

Archie, is that you?

 

Reducing the poverty is not a one day process and every one must have the responsibility

 

No, Ian, it's PatrickT and that's actually my name. What's your real name? Josef?

Poverty will have to not only exist but grow because the liberals deperately need poor people. Getting them jobs is a terrifying concept.

 

You do remind me of Archie Bunker sometimes.

Actually its the capitalist system which requires a pool of easily disposable casual cheap labour. Which is why most of the more advanced western countries have found social democracies the best political system. The US is way behind in this regard.