“Inevitably, people tell me that poor folks are lazy or unintelligent, that they are somehow deserving of their poverty. However, if you begin to look at the sociological literature on poverty, a more complex picture emerges. Poverty and unemployment are part and parcel of our economic order. Without them, capitalism would cease to function effectively, and in order to continue to function, the system itself must produce poverty and an army of underemployed or unemployed people.” PeopleIfsLooksOrderLiteraturePoorPovertyEconomicProduceCapitalismFunctionArmyComplexesFolksCeaseLazyUnemploymentDeservingUnemployedParcelSociologicalUnintelligentEconomic OrderUnderemployed Author:Bob Torres
“There are different varieties and forms of capitalism. There are priorities within the capitalist society so that you can have countervailing forces come in and empower your working people and your poor people. There are capitalist societies that do not have poverty. America needs to understand that.” PeopleNeedsDifferentAmericaFormForcePoorPovertyCapitalismPrioritiesVarietyEmpoweringCapitalistPoor People Author:Cornel West
“One of the glaring failures of capitalism is the continuing widespread existence of poverty - often extreme poverty. Even in the advanced economies, many millions of people endure terrible economic and social deprivation, despite the incredible wealth all around them.” PeopleSocialWealthExistencePovertyMillionsEconomyEconomicTerribleCapitalismEndureIncrediblesExtremesDespiteContinuingDeprivationExtreme Poverty Book:Economics for everyone: a short guide to the economics of capitalism Source: Economics for everyone: a short guide to the economics of capitalism
“The real causes of terrorism are not poverty and oppression per se, but rather the bankruptcy of materialist ideologies, like Neo-Conservatism, which promise much but deliver little. The central doctrine of Neo-Conservatism is "democratic capitalism." This is the ultimate oxymoron, because in practice the political pluralism that should underlie democracy cannot exist in a climate of economic plutocracy.” ShouldLittlesRealPoliticalPoliticsCausesPovertyPracticeEconomyDemocracyEconomicPromiseCapitalismUltimateDemocraticClimateTerrorismDoctrineOppressionIdeologyLiberalismConservatismBankruptcyPluralismOxymoronPlutocracy Author:Robert Dickson Crane
“If I were a supervillain, I would end capitalism, racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia... but I guess that's a little too obvious and not villain-y enough. Because that's actually being a superhero. I would break down poverty with my machete; I would end world hunger.” IfsWorldLittlesEndsEnoughPovertyBreakRacismCapitalismHungerObviousSexismVillainBreaking DownSuperheroHomophobiaWorld HungerSupervillainsMachetes Author:Kathleen Hanna
“Now, you might say – “But why should we pay people for doing what they’re supposed to do?” It’s a fair question – but think of it this way: Every other anti-poverty program that’s been tried has failed to get the national poverty rate below 11 percent... Why shouldn’t we experiment with a program built around the one strategy that has proven time and again to work wonders – capitalism?” PeopleThinkingWayShouldMightPayWonderPovertyPercentCapitalismBuiltFairsProgramStrategyRateExperimentsProven Author:Michael Bloomberg
“Capitalism with near-full employment was an impressive spectacle. But a growth in wealth is not at all the same thing as reducing poverty. A universal paean was raised in praise of growth. Growth was going to solve all problems. No need to bother about poverty. Growth will lift up the bottom and poverty will disappear without any need to pay attention to it. The economists, who should have known better, fell in with the same cry.” NeedsShouldProblemGrowthWealthPayAttentionKnownPovertyCryCapitalismEconomicsShould HaveUniversalPraiseRaisedBottomSolveDisappearEmploymentLiftsPay AttentionBotherEconomistImpressiveReducingShould Have KnownShould Have Known BetterReducing Poverty Book:Contributions to Modern Economics Source: Contributions to Modern Economics
“...If peace were the goal of today's intellectuals, a failure of that magnitude -- and the evidence of unspeakable suffering on so large a scale -- would make them pause and check their statist premises. Instead, blind to everything but their hatred for capitalism, they are now asserting that 'poverty breeds wars' ... But the question is: What breeds poverty? If you look a the world of today and if you look back at history, you will see the answer: the degree of a country's freedom is the degree of its prosperity.” IfsWorldLooksWarCountryTodaySufferingGoalAnswersPovertyDegreesEvidenceCapitalismHatredBlindProsperityScalesChecksPausesPremisesMagnitudeUnspeakable Author:Ayn Rand
“What kind of a society are we going to have if it consists of highly paid people doing high-value-added work - and masses of unemployed?” PeopleIfsKindValuesPovertyMassCapitalismPaidUnemployed Author:Andy Grove
“A lot of Democrats have said that raising the minimum wage is both good economics and good politics. The nonpartisan CBO issued a report today saying that raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour would cost the economy about 500,000 jobs...Why should we trust Democrats on anything when they couldn't have foreseen that this would be the case?” ShouldSaidRealityWould BeTodayJobsPoliticalPoliticsCommunityHoursWorkMoneyPartyPovertyHistoryCasesEconomyPolicyCostCapitalismEconomicsDemocratIdeologyReportsMinimumPolitical PartiesMinimum WagePartisanshipForeseen Author:S. E. Cupp
“Aggressive capitalism leads the world, and we can see the results, especially in Europe: more poverty for the vast majority, and more riches for a few.” WorldResultsPovertyCapitalismEuropeMajorityRichesAggressive Author:Costa-Gavras
“Most of Marx's predictions have failed to materialize, and his labor theory of value and other ideas have been proven wrong. Marx failed to recognize the incentive system built into the capitalist model - consumer choice and the profit motive of the entrepreneur. The irony is that capitalism, not socialism or Marxism, that has liberated the worker from the chains of poverty, monopoly, war, and oppression, and has better achieved Marx's vision of a millennium of hope, peace, abundance, leisure, and aesthetic expression for the 'full' human being.” HumansHas BeensIdeasWarValuesChoicesHuman BeingsVisionPovertyExpressionTheoryModelsCapitalismBuiltLaborEntrepreneurWorkersProfitSocialismOppressionChainsConsumersIronyMotiveAbundanceAestheticCapitalistLeisureProvenPredictionsIncentivesMonopolyMarxismLiberatedMillenniumProfit MotiveProven WrongConsumer Choice Author:Mark Skousen
“Capitalism in the 19th century did not doom the worker to a life of perpetual poverty. Instead, they kept creating new and better-paying employments as the decades went by. They produced the wealth and rising income that resulted in the emergence of a phenomenon completely new to human history: a self-supporting and educated middle class that grew more and more as they lower classes bettered their economic well-being.” HumansWellsSelfWealthClassPovertyEconomicMiddleCenturyGrewCreatingCapitalismWorkersDecadesIncomeEducatedEmploymentWell BeingRisingMiddle ClassPhenomenonPerpetualHuman HistoryDoom19th CenturyEmergenceLower Class Author:Richard Ebeling
“Capitalism, the ogre of those protesting Wall Street, has suffered a public relations crisis in the wake of the global economic collapse. But any remedy to the systemic corruption that led to the collapse should not displace recognition that capitalism creates wealth. Capitalism, and no other economic system, has raised millions from poverty around the world.” WorldShouldWealthPovertyMillionsEconomicStreetsWallCapitalismRelationCrisisRaisedCorruptionAround The WorldRecognitionCollapseRemedyPublic RelationsEconomic SystemsEconomic Collapse Author:Kathleen Parker
“A city suffering from chronic poverty, out-of-control crime, a $76 million budget deficit and a 15 percent unemployment rate (nearly 50 percent for Oakland's youth) can hardly afford such social justice follies. But a pushover Democratic mayor and an overwhelmed police force have left what's left of gainfully employed Oakland taxpayers at the mercy of professional freeloaders and anti-capitalism saboteurs.” SufferingLeftForceSocialJusticeCitiesPovertyMillionsCrimeYouthPercentCapitalismMercyPoliceSocial JusticeDemocraticRateBudgetsFollyUnemploymentEmployedOverwhelmedDeficitTaxpayersMayorsPolice ForceOaklandBudget DeficitUnemployment RateSaboteursPushovers Author:Michelle Malkin
“Capitalism, and capitalism alone, has rescued the human race from degrading poverty, rampant sickness and early death.” HumansRacePovertyCapitalismHuman RaceSicknessDegradingEarly Death Author:Llewellyn Rockwell
“Poverty is about low, self-esteem and a lack of role models and opportunities. Without money, people resort to de-dignifying activities in order to support themselves. We free people through education and entrepreneurship. Freedom is self-determination, and you can't self-determine without understanding money and capitalism.” PeopleSelfOrderOpportunityUnderstandingFreedomMoneyEducationPovertyRolesSupportSelf EsteemActivityModelsLowsSelf ImprovementCapitalismDeterminationEntrepreneurDetermineDeterminedEsteemEntrepreneurshipRole ModelsSelf DeterminationLackingKey To SuccessResortsRoad To SuccessLow Self EsteemDetermination MotivationalCauses Of Poverty Author:John Hope Bryant
“Today, we live in a world of incredible wealth and technology, alongside the most horrendous conditions of poverty, war and environmental crisis. This is result of capitalism, a system based on prioritizing profits not human need where the wealth is concentrated in the hands of a capitalist elite.” WorldNeedsHumansWarHandsTodayWealthResultsPovertyTechnologyConditionsCapitalismCrisisEnvironmentalIncrediblesProfitCapitalistElitesHuman NeedsPrioritizeEnvironmental Crisis Author:Kshama Sawant
“What we've undergone in recent decades worldwide has been totally insane, and all of this is a result of capitalism. The workforce in Latin America was treated as a vulgar instrument for capital accumulation. Mechanisms of exploitation were imposed, such as outsourcing, labor mediation, and the like.The results are plain to see: greater inequality in Latin America; unemployment is higher than in previous decades; we haven't resolved the problem of poverty; we've lost a great deal of sovereignty.” ProblemPovertyCapitalismLaborInsaneInequalityLatinExploitationSovereigntyVulgarLatin AmericaMediationOutsourcing Author:Rafael Correa
“And if you look at the reality in the United States, where you have more than 40 million people below the poverty line and 42 million on food stamps, and then you look at poverty around the world, clearly the way we're running the engine of capitalism is not serving us well.” PeopleIfsWorldWayWellsLooksStatesRealityRunningLinesUnitedPovertyMillionsUnited StatesCapitalismAround The WorldServingEnginesStampsFood Stamps Author:Simon Mainwaring
“Socialism needs to pull down wealth; liberalism seeks to raise up poverty. Socialism would destroy private interests, Liberalism would preserve [them] ... by reconciling them with public right. Socialism would kill enterprise; Liberalism would rescue enterprise from the trammels of privilege and preference. Socialism assails the preeminence of the individual; Liberalism seeks ... to build up a minimum standard for the mass. Socialism exalts the rule; Liberalism exalts the man. Socialism attacks capitalism; Liberalism attacks monopoly.” MenNeedsIndividualInterestWealthPovertyMassStandardsCapitalismRaisesPrivilegeSocialismPreservesLiberalismEnterpriseRescueMinimumPreferenceMonopolyRaise Up Author:Winston Churchill