I've mentioned a couple of times in previous postings how I don't really think that the poor in America are poor in any absolute sense. My friends have even mocked me by saying that I "hate the poor".
In a real sense, it's true. I hate that poverty exists. I hate that there's no simple solution to defeating it. But the poverty that I hate doesn't really exist in the U.S. Don't believe me? Go to this site and enter your salary. Then enter 10% of your salary. Then enter $1000.
Then consider this: the biggest reason that poverty persists in the world is bad government. If you want to fight poverty in the world, you can't be sanguine about the role that government plays. You also can't be sanguine about the role that our government plays. Every effort, by both democrats and republicans, to increase the control of the government - and consequently remove individual freedom - has the impact of increasing poverty.
Freedom is the most potent weapon against poverty. It seems unintuitive, but well meaning calls to the government, will very likely have a chilling effect on freedom. Calls for the government to provide health care, to increase military spending, to provide prescription drug programs to the elderly, or to do mostly anything have the impact of reducing freedom within a society. Kill freedom, impoverish the world.
Personally, I think that this is why freedom is such a recurring theme within the Bible. The Bible detests slavery and lauds freedom. God even gave us the freedom to reject him. This is how valuable freedom is to God. Trampling freedom is IMHO the work of Satan, whether done by the Republicans when they create a government entitlement program, or by the democrats who seem to think that universal healthcare is a good idea.
