Summary of the Article - Government and Poverty - Research Paper Example

Government and Poverty- A Refutation In the article Government and Poverty written by ………, the writer aspires to look into the reasoning for validating the government programs aimed at alleviating poverty, elaborates on the dynamics of such programs, and engages in a half hearted catechism to somehow sort out an excuse for justifying the state sponsored poverty alleviation programs. To begin with the writer tries to classify the varied forms of poverty in the United States of America, matches the relative possibility of those suffering from the varied types of poverty, to be able to get out of the vicious cycle of poverty, and accesses the ability of the government backed poverty alleviation programs to aid in this context. In that scenario, the author also makes a mention of the more recent American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The author defines poverty as the dearth of the necessary resources that unable the people to meet their basic needs and extends the commensurate statistics regarding the urban, suburban and rural incidence of poverty. The author does support the extension of government aid to the deserving, while taciturnly mentioning that many people suffer from poverty because they are lazy. The writer also blames the indulgence in substance abuse like tobacco and alcohol as the reason as to why the poor remain poor. Yet, the writer again contradicts one’s assertion by saying that a great number of the poor receiving the government aid do tend to be employed. In the end the writer conclusively asserts that the government should spend money on imparting skills and education to the poor, rather than wasting the tax payers’ money on extending nutrition, health and housing. Overall the approach of the writer seems to be discernibly against the government funding of the poverty alleviation programs. First of all it will be imperative to tackle the indirect assertion made by the writer, as he claims that to be a belief held by other people that government should not invest in poverty alleviation programs. Perhaps the writer seems to be oblivious of the fact that besides performing varied other roles, the government is also supposed to be a great equalizer. The poor tend to remain poor because the simply do not have a place in the national financial chain and many a times, as said by the author, they lack the skills, education and connections to be able to fit into the national financial dynamics. Hence the government spending in the poverty alleviation programs is the most efficient way to make way for the allocation of the national wealth in favor of the impoverished segments of the society. The government has a self interest in doing so in the sense that allowing the poverty to rise beyond a certain limit could lead to an unstable society marred by political unrest and crime (Lal & Myint 8). It is rightly said that the hungry minds are angry minds. Hence, state expenditure in poverty alleviation programs allows the government to channelize the skills, abilities and energy of poor sections of the society towards self development and nation building. State sponsoring of the poverty alleviation programs is not a choice but an important necessity and requisite. Hence, there is no scope or possibility for casting doubts on the relevance or necessity of the government spending on the poor or poverty alleviation programs. The writer himself conveyed that a majority of the poor people receiving government help does have jobs and they tend to work. Hence, the tongue in cheek assertion that the poor people are poor because they happen to be lazy is utterly nonsensical and biased. Poor people in fact happen to be poor because they do not have a say in the national and international policy making procedures and frameworks, where they could chalk out the apt policies that would help them have a share in the process of wealth generation and allocation (Global Issues 1). In today’s globalized world, most of the national and international policies and decisions do take into consideration the opinion and will of the rich and the powerful. The rich have their will done by the help of varied tools at their disposal like multinational corporations, international and national policy making institutions and political and influential people (Global Issues 1). For instance this statistics may seem irrelevant in the given context that less than one percent of the money the international community spends on arms is required to put every poor child in school (Global Issues 1). Now one may wonder who benefits from the global arms sales, the rich and their affiliate institutions like multinational corporations or the poor. So it is wrong to even think that the poor are poor because a majority of them are lazy. The reality is that the poor are poor because they simply do not have a role or say in the decision making bodies or processes. Besides, the assertion that the government should exclusively spend on imparting skills and education to the poor, rather than wasting it on food stamps or health and sanitation seems to lack both insight and foresight. There is no denying the fact that people are more amiable to education and skill enhancement if they have full bellies and are healthy. It would be totally useless to expect a poor child to attend school, when one has been going hungry for the last few days. Education is not the alpha and omega of poverty alleviation, but just one aspect of this endeavor (Jreisat 119). Truly speaking, government needs to widely spread the funds targeted at poverty alleviation, spending it on meeting a wide range of the needs of the poor like nutrition, health, housing, sanitation and of course education (Jreisat 119). Spending money alone on education will be like placing the cart before the horse. Hence, the government funding of the poverty alleviation programs is not a choice but a necessity. The poor are poor not because they are lazy, but, because they lack a say. And no wonder, education is one aspect of poverty alleviation. Education spending should not obfuscate the need for government spending on nutrition health and sanitation associated programs. Works Cited “Causes of Poverty”. Global Issues. 2012. 14 July 2012 . Online. Jreisat, Jamil E. Governance and Developing Countries. Boston: Brill, 2002. Lal, Deepak & Myint, H. The Political Economy of Poverty, Equity and Growth. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998. Print. Read More