Re: Why the Poor are Mostly Deserving of their Fate

[Sean Gabb <cea01sig@gold.ac.uk>]

On Sat, 18 May 1996, Duncan Frissell wrote:

> It was understandable to be poor when all the world was poor.  It is 
> understandable to be poor in those nations today that make the 
> accumulation of wealth a crime for most people.  It is not understandable 
> to be poor (for long) in the US where one can reliably get out of poverty 
> simply by doing three simple things:
> 
> 1) get a high school diploma
> 2) get married
> 3) get any job
> 
> Only about 2 tenths of 1% of those who satisfy those three requirements
> incomes below the official poverty line.
> 
> Like most libertarians, I dislike the government.  I don't care what a 
> person's income is.  When I was self-supporting on an income of $200 a 
> month in 1979, I was below the poverty level for a single person myself.  
> I am not enamored of the rich or poor members of the dependendant classes 
> of course.
> 
> I try and keep in mind that 80-90% of the "take" in government 
> programs for the "poor" goes to unpoor government employees.
> 
> DCF
> 
I've done all these things - and rather more in the way of education.  But
while I don't fall on or near the poverty line, I'm still poor as a church
mouse.  What am I doing wrong?

Sean Gabb.