Why Have We Failed to Eradicate Poverty?

After a rare and fleeting appearance center stage, poverty has once again slipped away behind the curtains. Why does it take a category-four hurricane to draw attention to problems of poverty and inequality? Why are these not matters of more urgent public discussion and more effective government policy? Why have we not heeded Martin Luther King’s appeal to rid our society of poverty once and for all? One reason is this: for many Americans, and most policy makers, the real problem is not poverty at all; the real problem is the poor.’ They have bad genes, poor work habits, and inadequate skills. Poverty is just a symptom, a regrettable by-product of individual failings. The hardships experienced by the poor stem from their own shortcomings, not from any dysfunctions of the system, thus grand schemes to alleviate poverty are inherently misguided. It might be appropriate, according to this view, for government to lend a modest helping hand, aiding the poor in overcoming their defects, but in the end, self-improvement, not social reform, is the only credible remedy.

–Edward Royce,The Problem of Structural Inequality