This day in history: President Lyndon B. Johnson declares a "War on Poverty" in the United States on this day in 1964.
George Carlin said: "It's the only metaphor we have in our public discourse for solving a problem; it's called declaring a war. We got a war on poverty, the war on crime, war on litter, the war on cancer, the war on drugs. But you ever notice there's no war on homelessness, is there? Nah. No war on homelessness. You know why? There's no money in that problem."
Tens of trillions have been spent on the war on poverty, and we still have poverty. Before government declared a War on Poverty, Americans were steadily lifting themselves out of poverty. Year after year, the number of people living below the poverty line dropped.
But that natural progress wasn't good enough. The poverty rate did drop for a few years after the War on Poverty was introduced, but then it stopped. Free money taught people to be dependent. A new permanent underclass was created and now generation after generation lives in poverty.
The War on Poverty increased dependence on the federal government, which is what bureaucrats consider success.
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