For nearly 50 years, America has been at war against poverty. Actually, the battle has been raging for much longer than that, I was merely thinking back to Lyndon Johnson’s bold Great Society initiative, which was launched in 1964, mainly to address issues of racism and systemic inequality.

Actually, much of the social safety net was assembled 30 years prior, during the administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and the enactment of New Deal programs like the Social Security Act, the Works Progress Administration (WPA), and a host of others that were a direct response to the crushing economic collapse caused by the Great Depression. Historians refer to Roosevelt’s focus being on the “3 Rs”: Relief for the unemployed and poor, Recovery of the economy to normal levels, and Reform of the financial and banking system in order to prevent a repeat of the depression. Continue reading →