Comment 39352

By Kiely (registered) | Posted March 31, 2010 at 15:55:43

"The problem lies that many in our community do not necesarily have all those basic needs fulfilled, and here lies the contraversy." - grassroots

Absolutely true grassroots. I would say a big part of that controversy is what is perceived to be the best method to get people out of poverty. Proponents of capitalism argue it is the best method to get people out of poverty. I would say it is an effective means of monetary wealth creation but that is not synonymous with lifting people out of poverty. After all, capitalism without morals does a pretty bang up job of forcing people in to poverty (or just plain keeping them there).

I have a crazy notion that poverty will not be solved until we examine what it truly means to be poor and if we just look at it through the lens of capitalism (i.e., poor = a lack of money) I think we're missing the bigger picture we need to see to solve the problem. Unfortunately the discussion of who is poor, how, why, etc... is one that is often sabotaged by both sides of the debate. For example, poverty advocates believe all poor people are well meaning people who simply have no opportunity, many on the polar opposite end of the spectrum believe the poor are simply no good loafers, or "welfare bums" who have no sense of personal responsibility. The reality is a bit of both.

Same goes for capitalism, when the one side only says it has to go and the other says it is the be all and end all, we fail to find ways that capitalism can help solve our problems. Like it or not capitalism is the way the system works and throughout history, if you want to change how the system works it is often a bloody affair with one set of elites getting swapped for another… the poor rarely if ever benefit from wholesale system change. So the revolutionists need to be careful what they wish for.

As long as we are in our entrenched opinions we'll never solve the problem. That's why I said capitalism and poverty are not issues of absolutes, they can't be or we'll never solve the problem.

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