The War on Poverty Revisited

The War on Poverty was launched over a half-century ago and what have we to show for it?  Trillions of dollars have been spent, but the gap between the rich and poor seems to be growing.  The question is therefore what went wrong?  Why didn’t so many well-intentioned programs work?

When I teach about social class at Kennesaw State University, I explain that the conventional strategies for elevating the lower classes were misconceived.  To put this in a nutshell, neither showering the poor with money, nor seeking to educate them, nor empowering them have done the job.

Thus, liberals believe in a Robin Hood strategy.  They want to take from the wealthy to give to the destitute.  If welfare benefits are increased, medical allowances made more generous, food stamps stipends enlarged and the minimum wage hiked, the underprivileged will presumably catch up.

The flaws in this approach are multiple.  For one thing, simply giving people stuff makes they dependent.  They stop doing for themselves and hence fail to engage in self-improvement.  For another, they seldom spend extra funds wisely.  They are, for instance, more likely to buy junk food than vegetables.

It is also assumed that educating the poor for more remunerative employment will vault them into the middle class.  This tactic, however, neglects the fact that many poor people hate school.  They consider it a waste of time and consequently do not take advantage of opportunities to learn.

To wit, the poor do not read.  They watch television.  Nor are they glued to PBS.  Their goal is escapism, not erudition.  As far as they are concerned, education is phony.  It deals in useless information, such as history.  So why bother?

With respect to empowerment, this has always been little more than a slogan.  Despite the propaganda, there has never been a coherent strategy for teaching the poor how to become socially stronger.  Accordingly, encouraging them to demand more benefits from the government merely increases their dependency.

Real power entails winning in competition with others.  In our society, this means being able to do complicated jobs better than one’s rivals.  Affirmative action counts for nothing if a person is unable to hold his or her own when pitted against folks who also want to win.

So what can be done?  First, people require an opportunity to develop their strengths.  Yes, education must be available, but more importantly so must jobs.  A growing economy provides venues in which talents can be honed and victories achieved.

Second, poor families must be reinforced.  This is where children develop the personal confidence to compete for success.  It is where they learn self-control and discover how to make independent decisions.  Without this, they would be at a disadvantage when dealing with middle class children.

But strong families are contingent upon strong relationships between two consenting adults.  If husbands and wives cannot collaborate effectively, and reliably, they cannot provide their young with what they need.

Nonetheless, nowadays, poor families are exceedingly fragile.  Divorce has become epidemic, while unwed parenthood is rife.  Instead of stability, we find chaos.  Instead of a secure foundation for children, we encounter stress, neglect, and unpredictability.

Part of the problem is that poverty produces anxieties that undermine personal relationships.  Another difficulty is that misguided compassion has provided the financial resources for people to have children without cooperating with a spouse.

Indeed, marriage itself is less valued.  Our unprecedented prosperity has enabled more of us to pursue our desires independently.  We do not have to marry, or stay married.  Although this attitude started with the middle class, it has filtered down to the lower class.

In addition, we do not teach the young how to stay married.  Society is awash with romanticized claptrap about soul mates and feminine liberation, as opposed to durable heterosexual collaboration.  As a result, people—especially the poor—do not know how to cultivate committed relationships.

But how do we instill this?  This question, unfortunately, must await another column.  In the meantime, it must be understood that poverty cannot be reduced unless we begin by fortifying the family.

Melvyn L. Fein, Ph.D.

Professor of Sociology

Kennesaw State University