How does the government try to keep poor people poor?

Show all answers

Lieu. Provo Parry Wallis

It's partly due to non-based income taxes that hurt poor people. For example, the GST is a tax on the poor because the rich can afford to pay 5% while the poor cannont.

Income tax doesn't hurt the poor because they are taxed based on their income. See the difference?

Also, keeping the minimum wage low hurts the working poor.

Pocket Protectorate

It's not so much that the Government tries to keep the poor poorer...

It's that they try to keep the rich getting richer...

(Which amounts to about the same thing...)

SteveN

The government does not try to keep poor people poor. There is no benefit to them if you are poor. They need people to be earning money and paying taxes so that it will pay for government programs, infrastructure, health care, etc.

The main problem with our society in Canada (and pretty much in USA as well) is special interest groups with lots of money and lots of clout.

In my eyes, we have basically three classes of people:

First, there is the poor (or low-income families). These are people that the government needs to help by providing low-cost houses, may have to give welfare payments, and the government pays all their healthcare issues. In terms of cost to Canada, this is a "pay out" situation.

At the other end of the spectrum, there is the rich (or financially secure families). They have made their wealth, and will spend it as they see fit. They can afford to buy luxury items, go to private clinics if they can't get what they want from the main system, and they have specialists to help them with their money. This group should be a "pay in" to the system situation, and they do. But because they are so powerful, they often have ways to get around having to pay as much as they really should.

Finally, there is the middle class. They have managed to make a living and are not worried as much about living day to day. They don't have the power and the money to make a difference and be able to start accumulating wealth, so they seem to be (percentage-wise) the largest contributor to our society in terms of taxes and moving the economy along.

It is that final group that tends to have the most trouble going from "middle of the pack" to "well off", and it is much easier for someone in that category to slip back into the poor category than someone who already made their money and is in the rich class.

sandy

WHat? Poor people stay that way by having a bunch of kids they cant afford and not getting an education!

el domingo

By putting excessive amounts of tax on gin.

Dangermanmi6

I think that there is no really quick answer other than by discouraging people to work and encouraging to collect social benefits. By providing social benefits that can increase the households income there is no need for the household to get off the welfare trap. The city where I live there are generations of people living on the public dole because that is all they have ever done and that is all they know. Welfare payments shouldn't be more than what the minimum wage would be and it shouldn't be increased by the number of children in the household.

OK down off my soap box, my thoughts are by social programmes discouraging people to get an education and work at any job.

Jim Z

Taxes is part of the equation. The other main ingedient is welfare. A certain number of people are lazy, and are uneducated. It is easier for them to not work, be a slave to the government do nothing than work for minimum wage, or slightly above minimum wage. The liberal party is the party that harbours this philosophy. It is their strength. It is all about power ,control and redistribution of weath penalizing those who work thru higher taxes , while rewarding those who do not want to work. Unfortunately, the oppressed have larger families, and 98% of these families are satisfied with their life style and continue on adding to the numbers generation after generation.

B0uncingMoonman@aol.com

It doesn`t.
But they do try to stop too many people getting rich, by heavy taxing.

Jane Marple

Government does many things to help people get out of poverty. They will pay your school for you to get an education and get a better job, they will pay your daycare while you go to school, your school supplies, they will pay your transport etc.

If you live in Canada and you're poor that's because you want to be. Education is free and available to everyone.

strine strumpet

I don't know how they do it, but they do it to keep in power...they need the poor and the poor need them for the 'hand outs'.

Amit

increasing taxes.

cali girl

they give them all the tax breaks and we pay more

casey s

Nobody can keep you poor in a Democratic based free market (somewhat) Economy.

If some people have come from lower income Families and become rich how can you claim the Government is keeping you poor.

The accumulation of wealth is hard work dedication and ambition, I agree not everyone can be rich but everyone can better their position in life through hard work.

In my opinion what is the real socialist travesty of Canada is the uncontrolled power of Unions that is what creates most of the problems here.

Meritocracy is the way to go. Then everyone will earn what they truly deserve.

Christopher

Higher taxes

The walking dead

High taxes, low benefits will ensure poverty

robert43041

The government needs money to pay for the services we get. So if people don't pay taxes, we don't get services. It's not trying to get people to be poor. It's not easy. For anybody.

Kilty

Yep, it's the tax thing. Keep us poor.

Omar

1. by making everyone dependent on government services, food stamps, social security, etc...THe poor know that the government will be there if anything happens.
2. encouraging people to spend money rather than save money by making credit so cheap to come by. This current economic mess came about because the federal reserve kept interest rates on credit so low (below true market rates) that people spent too much in bad ways.

Haha I like how you say "don't lie", as if that's going to shame the CIA into coming clean about all of it's murders. Anyway, it's not like the President is sitting in the White House rubbing his hands together and laughing evil-y while he comes up with plans to keep people poor. What people mean when they say that is our laws are created with a bias towards the more affluent. It's harder for poor people to succeed.

Eldifire

They take the brains of the zombie people and use it to make juice that can make the black man want to keep the poor guy poor, Christ I don't know go to some weird conspiracy blog or something.

Gary B

If you live in the U.S., Obama is going to take money from people who have earned it and give it to the lazy poor people who have never earned a dime in their lives. That is called socialism.

Enter Your Message or Comment

User Name:
User Email:
Post a comment: