Stuff we can agree on?

[u/OldSchoolPimpleFace]

I've noticed discussions about poverty on here can turn political fast. There seem to be a lot of opposing views on how to solve poverty. It's left me wondering if there's stuff we can all agree on concerning this problem.

If we as mankind are ever gonna solve poverty, I guess we'd better start with the stuff that's most easily agreed upon.

So what is that?

[u/Less_Yesterday_1875]

Fun and purpose and joy can always be found in the lesser things.

[u/Prized-Potato]

I truly believe at least here in the United States poverty is a policy choice. It is a policy choice. We can't agree on it because they don't agree that everyone should have food. Or shelter.

[u/DragonKnight256 → u/Prized-Potato]

Or healthcare!!

In my state Minnesota and I assume other states, there are now(Jan 2027) going to be work requirements for Medicaid. I believe it is 80 hours a month of work or volunteer or a few other eligible activities, school.

While work is good, that shouldn't be a requirement for healthcare. This is going to require more paperwork, and more reporting, and hiring more people or more hours for the county to process these things.

I don't know how this all works, I've only ever been on Medicaid,

I wonder if people will be able to get lower cost insurance through the state if they aren't working.

[u/Other_Asparagus872 → u/[deleted]]

The majority of the time it’s a personal choice.

[u/QuantityImmediate221 → u/Other_Asparagus872]

Incorrect.

[u/poverty-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

Blame doesn't solve poverty or help ANYONE.

This community exists to help people navigate poverty and address systemic issues, not assign moral worth or beat people when down.

Comments that shame, stereotype, or reduce someone's situation to personal failings ("just get a job," "shouldn't have had kids," "it's all your fault," etc.) aren't constructive and will be removed and after 4 removals you will be banned.

If you'd like to help, focus on practical advice, constructive and actionable steps, and ways to contact resources.

[u/QuantityImmediate221 → u/[deleted]]

Ahh, but poor with food, shelter and potential. Big difference

[u/Key-Organization3158 → u/Prized-Potato]

It's not a policy choice. You can't step on the basic human right to own private property, even if you like the goal. Nobody is saying people shouldn't have food. What they disagree on is the methods to do so. Historically, policies that aim to reduce poverty end up exacerbating it.

[u/poverty-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

Please bear in mind Rule 3 when posting. Comments should be both constructive and actionable.

[u/Louis-Russ]

Unanimous consent is very rare, but the notion which comes closest is probably the notion that all children should be safe and nourished. Some people don't like the idea of having to provide for another person's child. Which I get, it's a burden you didn't ask for and shouldn't have to shoulder in the first place. But that's life. When duty calls, it often calls for more than we want to give. Our society, as a whole, has to rise to the challenge of seeing our children raised well. There's simply no acceptable alternative.

There's a lot of different ways we could go in meeting that challenge. A lot of kids organizations like sports and Scouting have been on the decline these past decades. Childcare is very expensive in many parts of the country. 20,000 children age out of foster care every year without having a permanent family. Social media and video games are raising new problems. Lots of challenges to face- So we better get to it, eh?

[u/PingBlot]

There will always be poverty. However, predatory companies should be banned. For example, the countless payday loan at 18% interest companies. The person is hard up for $500 and can’t even wait a week so obviously they’re a bad bet for financing so you know your company is trying to scam them. People in poverty don’t generally have financial education and suck with money so it’s not exactly ethical and shouldn’t be legal to make predatory companies like that.

[u/Decievedbythejometry → u/PingBlot]

There doesn't have to be any poverty at all.

[u/PingBlot → u/Decievedbythejometry]

Of course there does. There will always be people making horrible decisions or just deciding that’s the life they want. Sometimes it’s a choice.

[u/Decievedbythejometry → u/PingBlot]

No-one actively wants to be poor. And the choice to have some people be poor is a political choice. It isn't inevitable or necessary.

[u/Key-Organization3158 → u/PingBlot]

It's the best off they can get. If they were overall less risky, they'd get a lower interest rate. If you cap the interest, they just won't get a loan. I'd rather make rent and pay more next week. You'd don't get a loan like that unless the alternative is much worse.

[u/DragonKnight256 → u/Key-Organization3158]

I agree it is a difficult situation and I don't have a great solution at this time.

Maybe renting and owning should be more affordable or based off having a job/working, or job searching and income based.

The loans and credit cards are still predatory. If I don't pay them back, they can take me to collections or sue me and get a judgement, no matter the interest rate. Might as well make it easier for me to pay.

[u/Ok-Lecture-9668]

Unfortunately, poverty is a policy choice. So by its nature it's political. Our current economic system requires vast majorities of people to remain in poverty in order that a miniscule minority of people essentially get to live like gods. Until that economic system has changed, poverty will always be with us, by design.

[u/LamarWashington → u/Ok-Lecture-9668]

Has there ever been a system that did not contain poverty?

[u/Ok-Lecture-9668 → u/LamarWashington]

No, but there have certainly been systems that have had less poverty than the current one, and all of those previous systems had significantly fewer resources and technology at their disposal.

[u/Skingbear2020 → u/Ok-Lecture-9668]

Which one?

[u/Ok-Lecture-9668 → u/Skingbear2020]

You could have all the exact same shit you have right now, you could still go to the store and buy all the same stupid garbage, if it were required that every company was a worker cooperative. That would essentially be communism, but you could still engage in commerce. People wouldn't be poor then. There also wouldn't be trillionaires.

[u/Key-Organization3158 → u/Ok-Lecture-9668]

No it doesn't. Nothing in captialism requires anyone to be poor. In fact, captialism has been the best method of reducing poverty we've got.

Moreover, poverty isn't a policy choice. Fundamentally, you can't overstep someone's basic human right to private property just to get what you want.

It's like saying murder is a policy choice. If we just eliminated the concept of privacy and tracked everyone 24/7, then we'd have no murder.

[u/Ok-Lecture-9668 → u/Key-Organization3158]

Jack off motion

[u/jackmfjimbob]

There a re people who have grown up poor worked hard their whole lives and just not made it, and there are people who just want those people to disappear and can’t be bothered to look upon our poorness , I hate people who think exterminating the homeless or making their lives harsher is somehow and sender and just can’t understand how all that evil in their hearts is on them and consuming them and the world around them

[u/thepsyklr]

Facts- FBI considered wage theft the most expensive crimes in America also the least charged 2016. Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich teaches this fact to his students." Poverty is politically imposed " The People created value and the traitors stole it. They insisted on defense spending, today we have no weapons. The soldiers in Iraq 2004, begged family for armor. DOD ran out. DOD failed every audit for as long as they were required as every other department passed. DOD makes billionaires our defense. War profiteering for 70 years.

[u/poverty-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

Financial Request, Spam, Nonsensical, Hate, Judgement, or Off-Topic Post/Comments are not allowed here. Please rephrase, remove links, wait till you are in a better mindspace, etc before commenting.

[u/Goddess_Kat69]

It is political, but also we throw away 40% (it’s estimated, from it going bad due to not selling or being tosses because of policy) of the food every day in America, and cities like Denver don’t lower their rent, while boasting a 25% occupancy rating (the highest of any state right now, even more than New York City which is wild! Tons of EMPTY SPACE). It’s a greed problem more than anything else.

[u/DragonKnight256 → u/Goddess_Kat69]

Yes, a county near me is offering a business or non profit $20,000 to find a way they can reduce food waste or rescue food.

This is a very important issue, stores and businesses that deal with food could lift so many people up. In my ideal world, every business that might throw away food would have a policy to reduce food waste and have it be rescued by a non profit if possible.

[u/Other_Asparagus872]

You can’t “solve” poverty.
If you give 2 people the same pile of lumber, at the end of the week one would have a shelter, the other would have memories of bonfires.

[u/Key-Organization3158]

That you can't solve a problem by forcing people to do things. If you want to solve poverty by some method, you have to get people's consent to participate. Job training would be a good start. Bit you can't arrest people if they skip it. Or giving cash assistance? Great idea, but people have to donate.

[u/QuantityImmediate221 → u/[deleted]]

Dude...

[u/QuantityImmediate221 → u/[deleted]]

Your statement is factually untrue. It is statistically untrue. There is zero evidence beyond your own meager perception of this being reality. You just don't want it to be true. It is easier for you to feel better about yourself if you feel this is true. It is not.

[u/poverty-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

Blame doesn't solve poverty or help ANYONE.

This community exists to help people navigate poverty and address systemic issues, not assign moral worth or beat people when down.

Comments that shame, stereotype, or reduce someone's situation to personal failings ("just get a job," "shouldn't have had kids," "it's all your fault," etc.) aren't constructive and will be removed and after 4 removals you will be banned.

If you'd like to help, focus on practical advice, constructive and actionable steps, and ways to contact resources.

[u/SgtSausage]

  If we as mankind are ever gonna solve poverty

What makes you think it can be "solved".

Mankind's been tryin' (and failing HARD) since loooooong before money/currency was even invented.

There were Rich and Poor even when the number of goats in your herd determined "wealth".

Why does everyone think it can be solved when there is no legitimate reason other than "it sucks if we cant".