Let's talk about poverty

So I see that John Edwards has finally hopped off the fence and picked a candidate. It seems like he was waiting for a winner to become apparent before making his endorsement. As I laid in bed, suffering through Edward's speech, my ears perked up when he mentioned poverty. The main reason he is supporting Barack Obama is because Obama plans to cut poverty in half within ten years. Those words seemed to echo of Lyndon Johnson's 'Great Society'. Those words sent shudders through my body; not because I favor poverty, but rather I fear the means used to eliminate that poverty. If there is one thing the state can never do, it is eliminate poverty.

Lyndon Johnson had good intentions when he proposed his war on poverty in the 1960s. America saw a great bloating in social programs, aimed at eliminating poverty. Welfare and Medicare are both prime examples of this farcical mission. Until the mid 1990s, Welfare payments were enough for a single mother to subsist. If someone is able to subsist at the teat of the government, then why work? Instead of lifting up someone's lot, the state guaranteed a permanent underclass by paying people simply for being poor.

Whenever I hear of a politician speak about eliminating poverty, I just shake my head. The state replacing a free market in allocating capital is bound for failure. It's what we saw with Welfare, and it most certainly is what we will see with Social Security. These are all bloated programs that are aimed at eliminating poverty. The only way for poverty to truly be reduced is through growth in private business.

The state has tried to hire people for make-work projects (Tennessee Valley Authority) and they've tried paying them for doing nothing (Welfare). Programs that aim to eliminate poverty only end up perpetuating poverty. It's no wonder that the times where we see poverty decrease is through real income rises, due to higher demand for labor. If business is growing, they need more hands to help them grow. The more they grow, the higher wages that business will pay for labor. Business growth will always do more in alleviating poverty than either John Edwards or Barack Obama can ever imagine. I'll just keep my fingers crossed, and hope the next president doesn't repeat the mistakes of FDR or Lyndon Johnson.