20 Divide the Pie

 A tough post. This chapter was very insightful. It provided a great deal of important information, information that many would disregard and overlook all together. I argued with may Aunt once who had just returned from a mission trip to South America to build a school in a poor community about the extent of poverty here in the United States. She was revolted of the possibility and responded with disdain. Yet on page 401in this chapter the figure at the top of the page shows where the United States stands in distribution of economic well-being. hard to believe with our standard of living isn't it.

 Measuring inequality: Reviewing income distribution helps define the poverty rate and the poverty line and who is deemed to be in poverty and who typically is afflicted by this malady. It also addresses the problems with measuring inequality and how foggy the information can be with why poverty even exists. Obviously a touchy subject socially and politically.

 In my Aunts opinion poverty does not exist in the United States. Political philosophy and the topic of redistributing wealth enlists comments of the failure of Communism and how ridiculous taking money away from those who worked for it is. Further comments would be directed toward policies implemented in an effort to reduce poverty such as minimum-wage laws, welfare programs, negative income tax and in-kind transfers that "encourage people not to work."  

 It is a noble cause and our social responsibility to help the less fortunate.