Poverty term paper

Free Term Paper On Poverty

We have already discussed some of the remedial measures against poverty. We have seen that philanthropic methods are remedial measures which relieve some of the evils arising out of poverty. But while these methods may sometimes indirectly prevent a little poverty, they are likely also to cause a certain amount of poverty. So that it is frequently doubtful whether they have done more good than harm. In any case, it is obvious that philanthropic methods do not remove the fundamental causes of poverty. We have seen that eugenic methods can be used only to a very slight extent at present.

poverty research paper

It is evident that the important question for us is as to the extent to which social legislation prevents poverty. To begin with, we may note that the aim of all such legislation obviously is desirable. It certainly is to be desired that conditions in factories should be sanitary; that children and women should not work when it is physically injurious to them (and the same should be true of men as well); that the hours of labor should not be too long; that wages should not fall below a certain minimum; etc. But the question is as to whether such legislation in the long run lessens poverty at all, or to any material extent.

poverty term paper

However desirable it may be to prevent the young from working below a certain age, if it be true that when they reach the higher age, at which they are permitted to work, the opportunities for work are no more numerous, and the rate of wages is no higher than if they had started to work at an earlier age, it is obvious that they will be no better off and that the amount of poverty will not have been lessened. Now it is impossible to measure directly the effect of child labor legislation. But it is highly probable that this legislation has lessened poverty a little, principally because it has decreased the number of workers, thus increasing the number of jobs in proportion to the number of workmen.

essays on poverty

However, on the other hand it must be remembered that the incomes of some families have been lessened by such legislation, and that they have been brought closer to poverty. Furthermore, such legislation can have no effect in expanding industry so as to meet the demands of the labor supply for opportunities to work and to earn a living wage. So that at most the net result of child labor legislation cannot lessen poverty to any great extent. The same may be true of all forms of social legislation. For example, it may appear as if minimum wage legislation must certainly be preventive of poverty, because if the minimum is set sufficiently high it will keep the workers above the poverty line.

research paper on poverty

It is therefore highly probable that most if not all of this social legislation can never accomplish very much in the way of preventing poverty. It is certain that such legislation is beneficial to individual members of the working class. But however much the members of the working class may be improved physically and mentally, so as to become more efficient workmen, it is doubtful if such an increase in efficiency is likely to lessen materially the amount of poverty without a corresponding change in the economic organization of society. So long as wealth is distributed according to the present method, and so long as industry does not expand adequately in response to an increase in the labor supply, it is not to be expected that poverty can decrease materially.

research papers on poverty

Furthermore, social legislation may stand in the way of more effective preventive methods. This may happen, in the first place, by distracting the attention of well-meaning people, who are sincerely desirous of lessening the amount of poverty, from more fundamental methods. It is true of a good many humanitarians today that they have realized the ineffectiveness of philanthropy, and think they have found sufficiently effective methods in social legislation. They think so because they exaggerate greatly the ultimate results from such legislation as we have discussed. They are not yet capable of seeing the need for and the much greater results from such fundamental methods as those mentioned in the last paragraph.

thesis about poverty

While social legislation cannot accomplish much directly towards the prevention of poverty, and may sometimes serve indirectly as a hindrance, it is nevertheless a necessary step towards more fundamental measures. This is so, if for no other reason, because many people have to be educated through social legislation to see the need for more fundamental measures. It is, however, desirable that the limitations of social legislation as a means for the prevention of poverty should be realized as soon as possible, in order to clear the way for more effective measures.

essays on racism

The corporate brass has always regarded racism as an instrument of their rule. The men of Big Business create it. They perpetuate it. The ghettos are of their making. Now they intend to use the struggle by the victims of their racist policies to heighten racial tension, increase racial prejudices, to continue to divide and rule. In addition to extracting superprofits from its victims, racism also serves capitalism by diverting workers from the struggle against their real enemy. The South is the clearest example of this. For generations large sections of Southern whites have lived in utter poverty, only because injections of racism by the rich landlords divert their attention from the responsiblity of the government and the rich for their miserable status.

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It is a many-sided struggle. It is many-sided because the poison of white supremacy penetrates and affects every facet of our lives. It poisons the moral climate. It affects our moral and ethical standards as a nation and as individuals. Thus it is a moral issue. Further, the concept of white supremacy rests on a complete falsehood; therefore it is a matter of fighting for scientific truth. It is also a legal and constitutional question because the oppression tramples the very premises on which the constitution rests. The cruel practices of racism and discrimination contradict the accepted practices of all civilized people. Hence it is a matter of basic human rights.

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The fight against white chauvinism must become the cause of all progressive forces in society because the system of racial oppression is a primary obstacle to all social progress. It affects the immediate and long-range interests of the bulk of the American people. It is a matter of our many-sided and urgent self-interest as a nation. The struggle must be related to each of these facets. To relate the ideological struggle against racism to people's material interests does not in any way minimize the need to conduct the struggle on more general grounds. Double standards, the conflict between the statement of generally-accepted concepts by trade unions, religious bodies and other democratic organizations, on the one hand, and racist practices, on the other, give rise to shame and moral dissatisfaction.