Gerson on War on Poverty | National Catholic Reporter

Gerson on War on Poverty | National Catholic Reporter by MSW.  MGB: The present case of poverty caused by globalization is different from the long term policy of illiteracy.  Even the globalized often move on to greener pastures and find a new job (just try to stay unemployed in North Dakota near the oil fields).  While many would be helped out of poverty by giving them more money (say a much larger child tax credit, minimum wage and access to paid training programs if they are illiterate (also at the minimum wage).  Indeed, the cure for poverty is a willingness to educate less than fully literate parents while educating their children - and ending the war on drugs would also help - its time to let non-violent drug offenders go and if they are not literate, pay them to become so.  Since those who are incarcerated for drugs often depends on race, I believe we can draw some conclusion - and not that the original war on poverty did so well partly because of the end of segregation and Jim Crow.  Race is always a part of this issue, given our unique history of mass slavery and segregation.