Ask500

My great grandfather came to America from Ireland. He was poor. He went from job to job and he skipped out on his family of 6 children- alcoholism. All of his children ended up successful. Most of the men served in WWII, and came home and bought homes with GI bill. All of the grandchildren went to college and of that number many are in very high paying professions- doctors, etc. So, will new immigrants be poor- could be. Is it a bad thing? No, it is the incentive some need to survive and achieve. Without it, what would people work for? I do think the poor of nowadays have more things. Most that I have seen have cell phones, TV's, decent clothes. I think the poor in the USA have a higher standard of living than the poor of 50 years ago. I am not saying we can't improve people's situations. Health care needs to be accessible, but not nationalized. Every child needs to have education available and decent- not just those born into the right neighborhoods. All of these things are challenges, but we will always have the poor. It is from the beginning of time.

How do you define poverty? This website talks about the 30.000 children that die as a result of poverty every day. In my country no children die because of poverty, the poor in my country all have health insurance, can go to school and buy food. The poor in my country are those who can't afford a holiday, a car, quality clothes and food, or join a sports club. Those are sad things, especially when you compare and the people around you can, but it is not the same kind of poverty.

And as shown by the responses above, the situation is simply a matter of public will. The world is what we wish to make it.