Us vs Them

"Poverty is no longer an issue of 'them', it's an issue of 'us'," says Mark Rank, a professor at Washington University in St. Louis who calculated the numbers. "Only when poverty is thought of as a mainstream event, rather than a fringe experience that just affects blacks and Hispanics, can we really begin to build broader support for programs that lift people in need."

One of the things that has always bothered me about the conversation of "poverty" was that the people in power tried to weasel their way out of addressing it by claiming its a "race" issue, well I have always stated it is a "greed" issue. For the past 25 years I have fought and argued that point, now finally someone has some real numbers ones that cannot hide the fact that exploitation is the cause and charity is the cure.

Currently, four out of 5 U.S. adults struggle with joblessness, near poverty or reliance on welfare for at least parts of their lives, a sign of deteriorating economic security and an elusive American dream.

Economic hardship is particularly on the rise among whites, based on several measures. Pessimism among that racial group about their families' economic futures has climbed to the highest point since at least 1987. In the most recent AP-GfK poll, 63 percent of whites called the economy "poor."

While racial and ethnic minorities are more likely to live in poverty, race disparities in the poverty rate have narrowed substantially since the 1970s, census data show. Economic insecurity among whites also is more pervasive than is shown in government data, engulfing more than 76 percent of white adults by the time they turn 60, according to a new economic gauge being published next year by the Oxford University Press.

The risks of poverty also have been increasing in recent decades, particularly among people ages 35-55, coinciding with widening income inequality. For instance, people ages 35-45 had a 17 percent risk of encountering poverty during the 1969-1989 time period; that risk increased to 23 percent during the 1989-2009 period. For those ages 45-55, the risk of poverty jumped from 11.8 percent to 17.7 percent.

Welfare reform and welfare to work programs have proven to be administrative nightmares and micromanage applicants in ways that debase, belittle, and shame them to the point many would rather face the pain of hunger and live in a vehicle then face the bureaucratic beast that is the current system.

In a system that generates enough income to provide $190,000 for every family of four in the United States why do we have rising poverty levels?

One reason and the only reason, lack of political will to change, the fear of loss, loss of the influx of cash into the coffers of politicians through back room deals made by lobbyist and super rich constituents. We have the ability to fix poverty, it would only take one bill. One bill that would eliminate poverty, eliminate excess bureaucracy, build self esteem and responsibility and rebuild our stagnant economy.

BIG we have to think BIG, the basic income guarantee simple in structure, easy to implement and very efficient. We also have the model in place within our current tax system.

Similar to the earned income / child credit, the basic income guarantee would available to all adults over the age of 18 and would provide all of the benefits without any downsides.

Each adult would fill out a basic tax return and select how and when they would like to receive their BIG yearly, quarterly, monthly.
The BIG would be calculated by using a reversed tax system, with poverty guidelines ($12000 per year) as the zero point.

Anyone earning less then the zero point would "topped up" to that zero point, anyone above that would be taxed at the basic rates.
Additional income earned while still eligible for the BIG would be taxed at the basic rate and the BIG counted as "nontaxable"

This would eliminate and replace welfare, earned income / child credits, food stamps, section 8, low income energy assistance, wic and other "poverty" programs.

In addition a new program of education and self employment programs to be rolled out. The "one stop shop" model to be used in each community to provide a local commons that will provide education, guidance and worker owned / coop environment to promote self sufficiency and self help.

SBA to provide training, promoting and legal assistance for starting and running businesses such as worker owned, coop, and other generative ownership models.

 By providing economic security, supportive training and education along with promoting self sufficient cooperative business models the current death spiral of economic inequality can be reversed and WE can all share in the abundance of the planet.