"We have more of it. We have double the child-poverty rate of Germany and South Korea. We have a lot less to go around with, in terms of fighting poverty. We collect a much smaller share of our GDP in taxes every year. It’s different because it’s so unnecessary. We have so many resources. Our tolerance for poverty is very high, much higher than it is in other parts of the developed world. I don’t know if it’s a belief, a cliché, or a myth. You see a homeless person in Los Angeles; an American says, What did that person do? You see a homeless person in France; a French person says, What did the state do? How did the state fail them? Government programs obviously work. I’ve been with people when they receive a housing voucher. They praise Jesus. They fall on their knees. They pray and weep and cry. We have massive amounts of evidence about the benefits of government spending on anti-poverty programs. But poverty is also about exploitation. We have all these anti-poverty programs that accommodate poverty without disrupting it. They’re not eliminating poverty at the root."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
, "The War on Poverty Is Over. Rich People Won." (May 14, 2023) '
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Poverty_in_the_United_States
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Poverty in the United States
42 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Poverty in the United States →
Related Quotes
"This is not the time for trickle-down solutions. We know that when you lift from the bottom, everybody rises. There a…"
"The United States is a land of stark contrasts. It is one of the world’s wealthiest societies, a global leader in man…"
"The United States has the of the richest nations. It has the by far. It has among the highest child mortality rates. …"
"It was [senator] Bernie Sanders who said to me at one stage, look how many colleagues have rallies in very poor areas…"
"In Bentham's vision, the poor should be treated like criminals, forced to labor in prison for the private profit of c…"
"The overwhelming majority of Republicans think that poor people, who maybe are getting food stamps or some kind of pu…"
"With its broad sweep, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced us into an unprecedented national emergency. This emergency, h…"
"The United States is the wealthiest nation in the history of the world, yet millions of American families have had to…"
"This moral crisis is coming to a head as the coronavirus pandemic lays bare America’s deep injustices. While the viru…"
"The frontlines of this pandemic will be the poor and dispossessed - those who do not have access to healthcare, housi…"