How can the country eradicate poverty, if not really, but just minimize it?

Question

does the answer lies alone on the government?

Answer 1

Yes, it's entirely governmental.  The government created the poverty by allowing the richest 5% of americans to control 70% of the wealth.  By enacting fair taxation, the government could be used to redistribute the wealth from the rich to the poor rather than the other way around.  My favorite idea?  Modify the estate tax.  The first inherited million dollars is free, a 95% tax on everything else.  Then use the revenue to fund useful public-works projects (rather than a war, which consumes enormous financial resources and produces only corpses).  A good public-works project would be a government-subsidised extremely fuel-efficient tiny car.  So, not only would you have a hundred thousand people employed at a living wage, you could sell a little one-seat commuter vehicle that gets 100mpg for $2000.

Answer 2

The answer lies in IGNORING the government - they never have any good ideas.

Poor people need opportunity, not charity.

They need tutoring so they can overcome barriers to education.

They need investment - invest in kiva.com to help small entrepreneurs get loans to start their business.

And they need you and your friends to buy their products once they've made them.

50% of homeless people are on the street solely because they had a run of bad luck - they don't do drugs or booze and they don't gamble - they just didn't get lucky one time they needed to.  They are perfectly capable of working but nobody will give them a chance.

What they need most is a permanent address so they can get welfare and apply for jobs.

They don't need to live at that address - they just need a mail drop.

YOU have an address.

Think about it.