Poverty rates grew substantially in eight states in 2008 under the weight of the worst economic conditions in the United States since the Great Depression.
Connecticut saw the largest increase with an additional 1.4 percent of the state's population living in poverty, the U.S. Census Bureau said.
Other states showing significant increases in their poverty percentages included California, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Michigan, Oregon and Pennsylvania.
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There will always be some segment of the population which will live in poverty no matter how hard we work at it, and no matter which model is employed. Hopefully, however, we can keep that percentage to a minimum. Demonizing the group, as some have done, is also not the answer.
ReplyDeleteHere’s a thumbnail of what it takes, in my view, for a society to be prosperous:
1) An inventive / innovative class; people have to want to invent things and processes;
2) Cross-culturalization, where multiple inventors get together and compare their inventions, and newer \ better inventions are created;
3) Seaports or trade route intersections;
4) Business flowing from invention / innovation;
5) Decent Jobs flowing from business, so people can take care of their families with pride;
6) A reasonably decent life flowing from more people having jobs; and
7) Education encouraging the repeat of the process
Either some force in society sets this in motion, governs the process, and maintains it, or it does not. If you leave it to chance, you might be on top for a while but you will not be on top indefinitely. But that is a cost of freedom, when you do not direct people what to do with their lives.
My suspicion is that China will be the next world power because they tell more people what to do, and they are more controlling. More free? Of course not. But more planning, organization, consistency, and coordination take place under their model. We in the U.S. use the “herding cats” model, and there are benefits and costs associated with it.
We’ve needed more inventors for years, and few in our country have paid attention to that issue.