Poverty Book of the Day: The Greater Good

Today’s poverty-related book of the day is The Greater Good by Claire Gaudiani. Here is the overview:

“For over a century, the United States has stood as a beacon of prosperity and democracy, proof that big business and big dreams could flourish side by side. Yet few Americans realize the crucial role that generosity plays in keeping that fragile balance. And now, with gated communities, oppressive personal debts, shrinking government, and tax and welfare reform crusades, that essential moral glue is at risk of melting away. A leading voice for community development, former Connecticut College president and scholar Claire Gaudiani explores all these issues as she examines American prosperity from the Constitution to the New Economy bust. She traces the push and pull of the robber barons and the progressive movement, the New Deal and the postwar boom, and the Me Decade and the technology revolution, finding that altruism powerfully invests in people, property, and ingenuity. Rather than pitting the capitalists against the populists, Gaudiani brings both sides to the table to reseal this fundamental social contract and provide a blueprint for a just future. The Greater Good is a passionate, pragmatic, and, finally, optimistic manifesto for revitalizing the promise of the American economy.”

You can post comments on that book and recommend other books related to poverty or humanitarianism in the World Hunger and Poverty Forums.

Long-Term Personal Development Programs

Increasing prices of energy and food have worsened and will continue to worsen the problems of world hunger and poverty. Even in first world countries such as the United States, rising food prices and inflation have made poor people poorer, have put more people at greater risk of poverty, and have worsened the financial conditions of most non-poor people.

I believe the current food crisis makes it even more important that we utilize long-term solutions to prevent, alleviate and hopefully eradicate poverty.

Let me play on an old metaphor: If you give a man a fish each day, when fishing prices go up you will not be able to afford to give the charity and the man will starve. If you teach a man to fish, then afterwards he can probably fully support himself regardless of fluctuations in the price of fish. Also, in the long run, teaching a man to fish costs less than giving him a fish each day for the rest of his life.

We can protect people and society as a whole from poverty and rising food prices. I believe we need to do it by getting people in poverty or at risk of poverty into programs that will turn poor families into self-sufficient families. Namely, we need to provide people with education, skills training, and job placement services. We need to help the people start their own businesses or get jobs that pay them enough to support themselves and their families. And we need to make sure the people have access to food, shelter and healthcare while they go through the process of getting the job, including the time it takes them to get the education and skills to get the job.

Healthcare can be especially important in cases where a person has an illness or mental disorder that prevents them from doing what it takes to get a job that pays them enough to support themselves and their families.

If you know of any good programs helping families become self-sufficient as I have described above, please post about them in my World Hunger and Poverty Forums. You can also use the forums to post other comments in response to this blog post.

Book of the Day: How to Make a Difference

Today’s book of the day is How to Make a Difference by Catherine E. Poelman. Here is the overview:

“A selfless volunteer herself, author Catherine E. Poelman offers hundreds and hundreds of ideas for would-be volunteers. Her book is filled with ways to serve, along with Internet resources, national and community organizations to contact, and books to read. Learn what it takes to become a volunteer at a hospital or a zoo, at a homeless shelter or a battered women’s shelter, in an elementary school classroom or an adult literacy program. In addition, discover dozens of ideas for simple, everyday service.”

You can discuss that book, post about other good books related to poverty or humanitarianism, and discuss poverty in general all at the World Hunger and Poverty Forums.

Requiring Healthcare with Education Funding

I could criticize the No Child Left Behind Act. But almost all the people with whom I have spoken about it have expressed strong criticism of it themselves. Namely, they make note of the obvious flaws in taking funding away from failing schools, considering that those schools tend to need the funding the most. I do not want to beat the proverbial dead horse.

While I do think No Child Left Behind does not work and is often counter-productive, I do have some sympathy for the philosophy behind it. Offering conditional funding and threatening to take away funding is the main way the federal government influences local policies of local governments. Additionally, it can be hard to allocate funding for populistic purposes because the taxpayers and general public are rightfully afraid of government spending. So it is easier to get them to accept laws that place more restrictions on funding than laws that just wastefully throw more money at the problem. The problem, in this case, is inefficient, failing schools.

I do not have any clear-cut solutions.

I would consider suggesting making requirements based on methods not on outcomes. Instead of just taking funding away from schools that have too low of standardized test scores, I would suggest making requirements about what the schools need to provide. Namely, I would suggest requiring that all children and students under a local government receive complete healthcare for the schools to get education funding from the federal government.

The healthcare could be provided by a state government, by an even more local government, or by the public schools themselves. It could be provided to all citizens or only to those who cannot afford it on their own. (I would consider charging parents with child abuse if they can afford healthcare for their kids but choose to waste their money on non-essential purposes instead.)

Healthcare would help alleviate the poverty that causes public schools in poor neighborhoods to fail. Also, sick students cannot learn well. Even furthermore, psychological and psychiatric care would help neutralize students’ behavior issues which perhaps is the biggest obstacle for failing schools.

Requiring healthcare coverage for education funding would help alleviate both the education and healthcare problems in the United States without drastically increasing federal government spending and without further federalizing either education or healthcare. If a local government does not want to ensure that all children and students have complete healthcare coverage, then the local government can refuse the federal funding.

I am not dedicated to the idea. I am still thinking it through. So I would love for you to post your comments and replies on my idea of requiring schools to provide healthcare coverage to receive education funding from the federal government. I have decided to post the discussion for that idea in my philosophy forums due to the idea’s very theoretical state. So you can post your thoughts and comments on the idea in this thread at the philosophy forums.

Poverty Book of the Day: Do Unto Others

Today’s poverty-related book of the day is Do Unto Others by Samuel Oliner. Check out the overview:

“In Do Unto Others, Holocaust survivor and sociologist Samuel Oliner explores what gives an individual a sense of social responsibility, what leads to the development of care and compassion, and what it means to put the welfare of others ahead of one’s own. Having been saved himself from the Nazis at age 12 as the result of one non-Jewish family’s altruism, Oliner has made a lifelong study of the nature of altruism. Weaving together moving personal testimony and years of observation, Oliner makes sense of the factors that elicit altruistic behavior – exceptional acts by ordinary people in ordinary times.”

The book looks inspiring to me, especially for those of us who so desperately want more unity and compassion in society. I hope to read it soon.

If the idea of altruism interests you, you may also want to read a short philosophy article I wrote in which I talk about altruism: Is Selfishness Compatible with Kindness?

If you know other good books related poverty, including those related to humanitarianism in general, please post about them in our World Hunger and Poverty Forums. Thanks!

Walk Against Hunger in Connecticut

On Sunday, May 4th, I will be volunteering at Foodshare’s Walk Against Hunger. If you will be in Connecticut and could make it to the walk site in Hartford, then please do. If you want to go and volunteer with me, just tell me as soon as you can. (You can contact me by email at scott@scotthughes.biz.) Alternatively, you can get more information from Foodshare directly:

http://foodshare.org

I think you can still sign up as a walker. If you think you might want to walk, go to the Foodshare website at foodshare.org.

Walk Date:
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Check-in 1:00, Walk Start 2:00

Walk Site:
The Hartford
690 Asylum Avenue, Hartford

If you do not live in Connecticut, then consider forming a local volunteer group in your local community.