As I've suggested on this blog, those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it, as philosopher George Santayana famously said. History is a great teacher. We learn lessons by learning from our mistakes. This is true for a nation as it is true for each one of us in our personal life. Are you making the same mistakes you made as a teenager?
One of the issues that fascinates me is what happened to the War on Poverty, started by President Lyndon Johnson in 1965. The highest poverty rate in the US was in 1959 with 22% of people in poverty. By 1965 that rate had fallen to 17.3% (today it is 15%). Johnson started the War on Poverty to great fanfare. The left felt really good to do it; as it does to this day. But as Lt. Columbo would say before he left his suspect: One more question, if you don't mind: Have we won the war on poverty? and how much have we spent? We've spent over 15 Trillion dollars. Our current national debt is about 16 trillion dollars. The result: nothing. That's right nothing. Click here for verification. Had we not spent that 15 Trillion we would not have a national debt today.
What does the left want to do still to this day? Spend more money to fight poverty. Now, as one who loves logic, how does this square with facts? The political left not only does not learn from history, it ignores it completely. You see, for the left facts do not matter; feeling good about themselves does. If you appear to be doing good, even if it does not accomplish what you intend, it does not matter to them.
Economist all over the world are in almost total agreement that poverty cannot be alleviated by government handouts; on the contrary government policies do most of the damage by their incoherent policies, such as minimum wage which causes more unemployment. In the August 26, 2013 issue of "The Weekly Standard," An article titled "Don't Forget the Poor" states: "Moreover, many of the conditions that trap Americans in poverty are the direct result of governmental policies, often implemented with good intentions." Further down in the article it says this: "Government itself often holds back the poor, for instance through the ever-growing regulatory state. Outdated union-protection laws like the Davis-Bacon Act, which requires union wages on many federal project, reserve desirable jobs for union members."
Listen to one of the best economists in the US, Thomas Sowell, talking about the economics of poverty. Click here.
