There has always been an unfair distribution of wealth within society. Since the dawn of time, people tried to take as many goods and food as they could. It is obvious that the strongest person obtained almost all while the remnants were distributed between the rest of the people. It was the beginning of the issue of poverty. There is no use denying the fact that society changed, and new patterns of wealth distribution appeared.
However, there were no significant changes in the issue of poverty. The minority of people, who were considered to be better than the rest of society, obtained almost everything. The only difference was that they did not have to use force to do it. Nowadays, things have almost not changed. About 1% of the population of the world has almost half of its wealth. Under these conditions, the issue of poverty obtains even greater significance.
However, nowadays, there are some attempts to help people who are at the edge of starvation. That is why such an issue as the war on poverty appeared. There have been a great number of different debates connected with this issue, and many attempts to find a good and efficient solution to this question, however, the problem still exists, and millions of people suffer from the lack of food, clothes, and medicines.
Resting on these facts, it is possible to analyze the arguments from different sources to understand the peculiarities of the issue and give our own conclusion.
The first person to address this issue and create the term war on poverty was the president of the USA Lyndon Jonson in his State of Union address in 1964. Under this term he meant several governmental initiatives and programs which main aim was to guarantee stable economic development and improvement of the conditions under which people lived (The Film Archives, 2013). Moreover, the President associated war on poverty with civil rights movement which was very topical at those times. That is why, these initiatives were combined with some other steps which main aim was to promote development of tolerance and humanism.
However, there was a great number of debates connected with the necessity of these actions and their efficiency. Besides, there is the same problem nowadays. Unfortunately, in coherent society, great number of people still live at the edge of starvation. Main ideas of the debates on the issue of poverty, which started in the middle of the 20th century, can be discussed for better understanding of the issue. First of all, Dylan Matthews in Washington Post says, that 1964 was an ideal time for these debates to start (2014). Great number of people lived under terrible conditions.
That is why, something should be done. Under these conditions, the Presided of the USA had no other choice but to introduce measures which main aim was to reduce the level of poverty. However, there is an opinion that it was the question of policy and his way to increase the level of popularity. Anyhow, the term was created and some phenomena appeared. Due to the war on poverty such notions as Medicaid, Medicare and food stamp program appeared (Does the U.S. Need Another War on Poverty? 2014).
However, being rather controversial steps, they promoted the appearance of even a greater number of questions connected with the efficiency of these methods. Nevertheless, according to the recent study from economists at Colombia, all these remedies were quite efficient and managed to reduce the level of poverty (Matthews, 2014). The fact that Medicaid, Medicare and food stamp program still exist can serve as the best evidence of their efficiency. However, there is a question whether similar remedies are needed nowadays. The issue of poverty is very controversial now. There is a great number of different points of view on it.
The thing is, that nowadays the poverty rate is very high and current situation can be even compared with the situation in the middle of the 20th century. With this in mind, there are several suggestions connected with this issue. First of all, there are adherers of the idea that existing working anti-poverty programs should be expanded (Matthews, 2014). Moreover, the working poor can pay less taxes while rich people should be obliged to do it. Besides, there is even the idea to cancel all taxes for poor people. Moreover, new social programs, which main aim is to help poor people, should be created. However, it is obvious that there is another point of view in society.
Some people think that there is no need in another war as the situation is not so crucial as it used to be several decades ago (Does the U.S. Need Another War on Poverty? 2014). Nevertheless, it is obvious for them that some changes are still needed. That is why, they suggest not so radical measures. Their desire is to reduce existing level of poverty gradually, without some significant changes in society and some pivotal steps.
However, having analyzed arguments of all participants of these debate, it is possible to understand whose ideas seem to be the most persuasive. It is my belief, that nowadays some very serious measures are needed in order to help people who live at the edge of starvation. It seems impossible that at the age of humanism and tolerance the issue of poverty still exists. With this in mind, it is possible to say that the government should create and accept some radical measures which will be able to change existing situation.
That is why, people should take a side of the adherers of expanding of existing programs and creation of some new ones. Moreover, these measures are not enough. Nowadays, the richest 1% of the population gets almost 50% of the worlds wealth. This unfair distribution of funds leads to increase of the level of poverty. With this in mind, it is possible to say, that some other pattern of distribution of money should be created. It is obvious that these sums are too big for one person and he/she does not need them. It is possible to introduce some extra taxes to get money for programs which will support poor people. Moreover, it is possible to make rich people responsible for financing actions aimed at reducing the level of poverty.
Having analyzed information connected with the main sense of the term war on poverty, it is possible to make certain conclusion. There are different points of view on this problem in society, however, there is no use denying the fact that some measures are needed to find solution to this problem. Being introduced by the president Johnson, the term war on poverty is still topical. Moreover, some steps which were made in the middle of the 20th century can be accepted even nowadays.
References
Does the U.S. Need Another War on Poverty? (2014). Web.
Matthews, D. (2014). Everything you need to know about the war on poverty. The Washington Post. Web.
The Film Archives. (2013). Lyndon Johnson State of the Union Address – War on Poverty. Web.