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SOCIOLOGY + POLITICS
Poverty Is America’s Choice
It does not have to be like this
Poverty, in America, is structural, and ideological. This has always been known, or sort of know; now, we know for sure. Conservatives, libertarians, and liberals are well aware that poverty can go away. We know this because during COVID-19 it did got down very fast, and I mean fast.
Here is a chart from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) :
The above chart demonstrates that in 2020 through 2021, poverty decreased dramatically like it hasn’t done in over 50 years during LBJ’s Great Society programs. This began during the end of the Trump administration as the early funding for pandemic relief was released to the public. President Biden injected an accelerant into it and poverty plunged even more.
And then, when the programs were not extended, poverty rose right back up. Congress could have extended the programs in 2022 but the Republicans ideologically opposed to policies that equalize historically stopped it all.
As for the assistance passed by Congress over a one year period, it is pretty impressive…
