Poverty: source of all trouble

I am deeply convinced poverty is the source of all man-made trouble. Apart from trouble imposed by nature (disasters), all man-made trouble like war and oppression originally come from poverty, or at least from large income differences. Our new pope was right to turn 'poverty' into the key performance indicator of the Church.

There are different viewpoints on how to deal with poverty. At the political level, there are two approaches:

The 'republican' approach is to emphasise the personal responsibility. Study, work hard, and you will get there. The state is only there to give equal chances. But we all know this doesn't work for everybody and everywhere. We know equal chances are not equal if your parents happen to be poor. In our "equal chances" rat race, one rat starts with new shoes, the other rat starts with a rucksack full of stones. At the end of the race, the winning rat writes a book on how he made it.

The 'democratic' approach is to emphasise the role of the government. The government redistributes wealth and creates social peace. The disadvantage is here the loss of motivation. It is often easier to live from an allowance than to do a decent job. All western societies now struggle with this problem.

Politically, both approaches are needed. You need to encourage hard work by rewarding it and you need to redistribute. The disadvantage of the political solution is that it never works sufficiently. Poverty remains. Moreover, if you happen to be poor, it is your own fault. If you're struck by poverty, you will not only get a bad education, you will also get the contempt of the rich on top. We live in a meritocratic logic. This logic has the advantage for the rich that they don't have to do anything for the poor, no matter whether the state intervenes or not. Therefore, the rich always prefer to maintain meritocracy.

Money is not enough. The key is education. Politics can do a lot to improve education at school. But it is not good at improving education in families. Perhaps the battle against "ghettos" would be a good start. But even then, the political level will never be enough. There is also the moral level.

The rich need to help the poor, not because they are forced by the government, but because it is their moral duty; it is a duty that comes from within, probably out of gratitude to God or to Lady Fortuna. In Islam, this is the moral obligation of the zakat. In christian tradition, poverty can even be a virtue, something we choose consciously, not an inflicted fate. Soberness and simplicity are a start. Let us follow these islamic and christian rules and virtues. It is also good for the environment.