Articles in the poverty Category

Though he’s mostly unknown in the United States outside a few elite universities where he’s been a visiting scholar, Slavoj Zizek is considered one of modern Europe’s leading philosophers. Following is a link to a talk he gave in November 2009 in London. After opening with a somewhat general discussion of modern capitalism, particularly the [...]

Ending poverty in Namibia, with income security for all Namibia, in southwest Africa, is one of the poorest countries in the world, with a high rate of AIDS and many of its 2.1 million people living on less than $1 a day. But it may be leading the world in showing a way to end [...]

Ending welfare, providing income security for all. Welfare rolls are increasing, according to the Wall Street Journal, and food stamp use is increasing even faster. The facts are only part of the story. A few key sentences from the Journal article: Twenty-three of the 30 largest states, which account for more than 88% of the [...]

Ending hunger requires income security for all A new book reports that 35 million Americans go hungry every day. It’s Breadline USA: The Hidden Scandal of American Hunger and How to Fix It. Here’s a quote from the author, Sasha Abramsky: “The failures of our policies that led to this epidemic of hunger and poverty [...]

After roughly ten days of nearly constant news about the rapidly-spreading swine flu, it now appears to be relatively mild. That’s very good news. There are many lessons. One is that we depend on government. In crisis situations particularly, we rely on government to respond appropriately and inform us responsibly. President Obama and other officials [...]

The most cost-effective and least intrusive — thus, in one word, conservative — way to help the poor is with a guaranteed basic income, Citizen Dividends. Every poor person will have some income, guaranteed, to meet their basic needs. That income will be provided with minimal government, because the same amount will go to everyone, [...]

The shooter’s poverty is central to the story. He had been laid off, was unable to find a job, was living on $200 a week in unemployment insurance. Could this tragedy have been prevented if we had a guaranteed income? Very possibly, especially if it was a true basic income, income security for all, with [...]