Reigniting the War on Poverty

The time has finally come to reignite the war on poverty. Since President Lyndon B. Johnson’s tenor, the true dedication of tackling poverty in America has long passed. Through the past 40 years of American capitalism there has been contentious debate on which is the best system to build a strong economy. During the 1980’s Reagan-nomics better known, as trickle down economics was a look at a top down structure of economics. Whereas FDR’s New Deal empowered the middle class creating middle out economics, however what has yet to be attempted is the idea of bottom to top economics. The most under appreciated form of economics to only be utilized by exceptional business models. At a time when America posses the largest amount of childhood poverty among modern industrialize nations, and where the middle class is crumbling along with our infrastructure, America is ready to make the lucrative investment in its poor citizens.

Yes, that’s right the lucrative investment in our poor. The reality is that poor Americans spend more per dollar than the rich or middleclass.

  “Those in the bottom 30% of the income scale make an average of $14,000 a year, including the value of many government benefits like food stamps or disability payments. But they spend more than $25,000, or 182%, of their annual income mostly on basic needs like housing, food and transportation, according to a CNNMoney analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data.”(CNN Money)

This significant influx in spending for basic needs, presents a great return on investment for government and small businesses, because their spending is the middle classes income. However when stating great return on investment I don’t mean literally taking advantage of the poor by making a one dimensional investment in jobs, I mean the 360 degree financial investment in their healthcare, education, and job opportunities. Be that as it may we must fight many battle to receive this investment into poor communities. Only then can we shift money from the bottom to the middle class more effectively and create a more productive economy.

 The War on Education

 In America’s inner cities and small, neglected towns there exist sub par educational systems based upon the 1970’s economic structure where high school graduation was a key to the middle class, prompting yet another hurdle for America’s poor to surpass. In these poor neighborhoods, usually populated heavily by black or Hispanic Americans, little if not any has been done to fix the subpar educational system. Forcing these students whom cannot compete in our service based economy to take on minimum wage work as a lifelong career. While minimum wage work as a career may be a good option for some it stifles the ability for home ownership and economic independence in many of its workers. The only way I see possible to fix this problem is a Science Technology Engineering Mathematics driven  K-12 curriculum and student debt forgiveness for young college graduates whom would like to teach subject they majored in, in underprivileged communities. 

STEM learning is becoming more and more relevant as many industries rely on new technologies to provide their services. Teaching America’s youth to write computer code, build circuits, and test chemical compounds will spark a greater interest in STEM related filed helping increase involvement in Americas workforce. Producing more technologies that impact job growth and wealth distribution benefiting the middle and bottom class.  

Encouraging student debt forgiveness for new teachers will impact the quality of teachers that teach in poor communities. Many young teachers face the harsh reality of having to teach in wealthier neighborhoods to pay off outstanding student loan debt. If law makers instead created a system where those whom pledge to teach in these communities for 10 or more years to incur complete student loan debt forgiveness the quality of education in poor community schools would increases. And with more education comes more opportunities for jobs and the spending of one’s wages.

The War on Inadequate Health Care

Along with educationing Americas poor community comes with keeping them in good health to maximize their productivity. Even if America were to socialize its health care system, poor communities such as Allamakee County, Iowa would still see no increase in quality of care. The way to fix this problem is to increase government spending in hospitals and health care facilities within these communities. Creating more jobs for doctors and nurse’s build up the poor and middle class with their spending.

The War on Outdated Infrastructure

The final battle to take place to alleviate poverty in America is the war on our outdated infrastructure. Many of our trade networks and systems of travel are well behind the times. To rebuild them would not only create more jobs but stimulate a slow growing economy.

The Fog of War

 While it is easy to see the problems that persist with poverty in our country it is even harder to find an adequate solution. The many wars I have laid out are just simply changes in policy and reallocation of local and federal funds to solve a complex problem. However the difficulty is not the policy suggestions it is the publics awareness of such an issue as neglected as poverty.  The only way we can truly start to see the reigniting of the war on poverty is for middle class Americans to take a hard look at the unsung citizens around them and commit to a war on an unacceptable standard of living for every man women and child and realize that their standard of living affects us all.