I think there are two major reasons there are so many impoverished people in the United States….and one minor reason.

I’ll tackle the minor reason first (because it is the easiest to understand).

There are those people who, due to no fault of their own, are incapable of earning money. Whether it be for physical or mental difficulties, or both. These are the people deserving of a constant financial helping hand.

Now, to the major reasons for the high level of poverty in the U. S.

Reason #1 : Some people don’t know how to make money or how to spend it. It is that simple. They don’t know how the dollar works.  You can see this manifest itself in their frustrations. The solution to the problem is just as simple. Teach them. A little knowledge combined with encouragement goes a long, long way toward inspiring success. So do good work ethics.

A poor person who learns what an employer wants in an employee and is willing to provide that, need only add ambition to the mix and voila’! Entrepreneurs spring from poverty all the time. These are the cornerstones of immigrants’ success stories.

Reason #2 : Some people listen to or are the children of people who listened to politicians. These listeners are the folks who just don’t try. They believe the deck is stacked against them. I mean, why put out the effort to try to succeed when so many are telling you that you CAN’T do it on your own. They say you deserve to be the dependents of those who make money. After all, there is only so much success (money) available and if you don’t have it already, you missed the boat. And they believe this crap.

There is the story of the young kid who decided he wanted to make some money so he got the idea of going down to the beach to collect driftwood. He would bring it home and handcraft it into saleable things. All of a sudden he had made NEW wealth that had never belonged to anyone else before. New money. He had a disabled friend who couldn’t walk to the beach, so he started collecting some extra driftwood for him, as well . Now the disabled kid was creating value out of thin air. New money. The other kids were jealous. They didn’t know how to make money. But they thought they were entitled to a share of the loot because they thought sharing was nice. Right?

These are the same other kids who take great pride in and demand profound respect for their showcases full of the trophies they got, not for winning competitions, not even for competing, but  for simply showing up.