There's a limit to what can be done. Government does not produce anything. It only spends what it takes from others - and inefficiently at that. Increasing taxes has a negative effect on the economy. That's the LAST thing we need. "Government" can't borrow much more without causing interest rates to climb - ANOTHER bad influence on the economy. Very very few people in th USA are starving. I didn't see too many emaciated people evacuating from New Orleans. I continually see people on the news that are used to handouts - and they are UPSET that they don't get more. The only thing that will change this behavior is to stop subsidizing it. An empty belly is a strong incentive to work. Instead of subsidizing sloth, immorality, and ignorance, the "Government" should force those on "the dole" to perform meaningful work - whatever they are capable of doing. If you want to live "on the dole", you should live in a government sponsored trailer park - WITH RULES- where you will be required to work and attend school. <img src="/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />


"Government is the great fiction wherein men strive to live at the expense of others". Fredrick Bastiat

Poor is a very relative term. "Poor" in America in 2005 is pretty [email]d@mn[/email] comfy by historical and world-wide standards.

You will please note, I did not say 'government'. I said society. There is a major distinction.

"If you want to live "on the dole", you should live in a government sponsored trailer park - WITH RULES- where you will be required to work and attend school."

I am of the slightly controversial opinion that if the government provided decent funding to schools in the first place, there wouldn't be so many people on the dole. And don't even get me started on the quality of life you can acheive by working a fifty hour week at minimum wage . . . sure, you can pay rent, but only if you didn't plan on eating anything or ever visiting a doctor, ever.

GG

Depends on what you call decent funding. The small town I grew up in the school teachers lived in a lake resort and drove big new conversion vans to school every day while the rest of the population lived in trailers. I live within a city now and my property taxes are higher than all the suburbs due to a new school tax being added a few years ago yet the suburbs have better school still. Throwing more money at a broken system won't fix it. And giving better schools to people that refuse to learn won't help them either. Not saying everyone in that situation isn't willing to learn, but having come from a poor county in WV I can say that better than half the kids I was in school with didn't want to learn and my wife growing up in the city school can say the same about her classmates.
Minimum wage jobs are not a career. Minium wage jobs are temp jobs for college students to work until the graduate then get a real job. I worked miniumum wage for 4 years through college and I can tell you from experiance that most of the people stuck in those minimum wage jobs have the same attitude that someone else should take care of them, either the union or the government and they refuse to learn anything or try to do anything to better themselves.

*Long deep sigh*

I have practiced primarily personal injury law for nearly twenty years in a below average income community, with a below average of average clientel. I can assure you that minimum wage earners of any race [aggravated by language barriers here, however] get hurt at far greater rates than white boys that went to SMU. Unfortunately, we also have among the highest rates of high school failure and teenage pregnancy. They all go together: failure of education, lifetime menial labor, early pregnancy, and thus the cycle of poverty continues. Don't even start talking about substances, licit and illicit. I also have personal experience with a family that ran through $1.8 million dollars in one year with the 'guidance' of their pastor. I am not a fan of organized religion.

My personal observations: good primary education is the best predictor of success in life. I've seen lots of kids that didn't have a statistical chance in hell wind up doing quite well because they had a teacher early-on that gave a rats ass. If you can get a little kid started to enjoy learning, he'll overcome a lot to keep on learning.

Money does not equate to good schools, but if the schools are chronically underfunded, not to mention dangerous, you have a worse chance on getting and keeping good teachers.

Economics 101: price fixing always leads to shortages.

If it is too low the demand will be high and suppliers will not want to produce it because of lack of a normal profit. If the price is too high people will not want to buy it and suppliers will not be able to produce it. The lack of sales and profits will force them to reduce production.

Supply and demand always reach an equilibrium point. It is the Adam Smith invisible hand of economics.

And I hope that your not thinking I'm putting anyone down or anything like that. I just wanted to point out that I have seen plenty of well funded schools with no better results than the underfunded schools because it takes people who care to make it work, both students and teachers. If I had listened to my teachers who told me I wasn't fit for college then I would be the one service french fries in that little town.

Politically incorrect, but how true!

Successful students (people) come from dedicated parents, not expensive schools or government programs!