As Americans we used to value empowerment over entitlement, opportunity over dependence, pleasing friends over appeasement of enemies. We used to try to encourage entrepreneurs and free markets not bureaucracies and debt. We used to celebrate success, not demonize it. We used to believe America was exceptional but that was before the Obama's were "proud of their country." Entitlements do little to eliminate poverty. I believe that entitlements lead to greater destitution.
There are two ways to measure poverty. One is the way the Census Bureau does, by "counting income earned by individuals and families without including government benefits." The other is not measurable in a statistical sense. It is poverty of the soul or spirit. People need to be inspired and told they do not have to settle for whatever environments they find themselves in.
There is no undiscovered truth about the cure for the majority of poverty: stay in school; stop having babies out of wedlock, get married and stay married; develop a good work ethic, save for the future. We can be victorious in the the "war on poverty." This war must be fought with programs that differ dramatically from those that have failed over the past fifty years. Entitlements in most forms do little to lift the veil of poverty.
Entitlements are designed for those souls who through no fault of their own were found to be wanting either physically or mentally. It is for those who cannot be fully employed due to a debilitating condition or circumstances beyond their control.
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