Poverty, by America

Chapter 7 begins with the great Russian author Leo Tolstoy, who moved to Moscow as a wealthy adult and noticed its crushing poverty. He blamed himself for living a life of leisure that relied on the ceaseless labor of so many. Today, the wealthy and middle class contribute to poverty by restricting their power in labor, housing, and financial markets. Cheap goods and expensive houses contribute to the exploitation of the poor just as the burning of coal leads to both electricity and poisonous air. Society favors the preservation of wealth over efforts to alleviate poverty. Communities are specifically designed to entrench the wealth of their inhabitants and prevent outsiders from claiming a share of the benefits.

The problem is a bipartisan one, with both liberals and conservatives opting to keep the system in place. Solving the problem begins with connecting people with the aid designed to help them. Underutilization of welfare has been traditionally attributed to feelings of shame, but new research shows that it is simply hard to access such programs. People who receive information on how to use such programs are far more likely to use them, and so the government should take a page from the advertising industry and start showcasing its services.