Community as the Solution to Poverty

[Todd]

This was posted on a site I frequent. Great article. I think Christians (especially the progressive type) conflate what the Bible actually calls Christians to do....or they favor public over private charity.

It would be convenient if money alone could solve the problem of poverty. As citizens of the modern age, it might make our lives simpler and our consciences clearer if simply increasing the share of our paycheck the government takes to redistribute to others would truly help the poor. The answer to poverty is not that easy.

In the developed world (and in much of the developing world), new government programs are often pitched as the next best hope for alleviating poverty and its symptoms. On paper, it seems that a rechargeable debit card, a steady welfare check, and the ability to have “free” access to medical care simply by standing in line for a while should meet people’s needs. However, research continues to show that humans cannot live by impersonal handouts administered by a bureaucratic system alone.

Nearly a century after economist William Beveridge’s proposed social reforms were enacted in Britain, the problems of poverty that he intended to eliminate still persist, as the costs to maintain the system continue to rise.

Hilary Cottam, a designer seeking to find solutions to poverty around the world, observes that despite its efficiency in spending money, “The welfare state can do little to ease either the anxiety or the material effects that modern poverty produces in our lives.”

In her recent book, Radical Help, Cottam outlines the results of the last decade or so of her work, where she set out to find better ways to alleviate poverty amid the complex labyrinth of social welfare programs in Britain.

Is Welfare Working?
Cottam’s quest began with a single question to social workers across link.

[timosman]

ftfy

[Todd]

ftfy

Yeah whatever. Someone actually suggests that people just might seek lower level local solutions to social problems and can't fathom the idea that people just might voluntarily organize to solve those issues and that is communism?

A voluntary community is private. Hate to break it to some of you, but a biblical community would resemble a commune. Key word is voluntary.

As long as it's individuals initiating it then it really doesn't matter. People are completely gone if they think that local community solutions wouldn't be preferable to the corporate oligarchy we have now.

[ThePaleoLibertarian]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with communitarianism. Libertarian and even conservative allergy to the word "community" is one of the stupidest things I can fathom.

[nobody's_hero]

The church pawned a lot of responsibilities off on government. We have a few church based organizations around here that provide volunteer dental care services. People come to the ER with a toothache and basically there's nothing we can do for it. Maybe give an NSAID shot and an antibiotic if the gum looks inflamed/abscessed. The only thing fixing these dental cases is a dentist.


On the other hand, these volunteer groups serve patients based on need, and you have to have a few qualifiers to show you're making some effort towards helping yourself as well. If you are able-bodied, you've got to have a job or at least be volunteering in some form of community service while you're looking for a job. Gotta provide a paycheck stub. There's a few other requirements. You might or might not be surprised how many of those fliers for the volunteer clinic get tossed into the trash by patients on the way out the door. People just don't want to meet you even a 3rd of the way.


Government's questionnaire for aid is pretty simple:

"Will you vote for us?" Great, here's free s***.