I just finished reading the profound book by Dr. Paul Polak which underscores that in order for people to get out of poverty, they must have the tools to provide for themselves and their families. In the book, Dr. Polak identifies three great myths:
- We can donate people out of poverty
To move out of poverty, poor people have to invest their own money and time. That is the only realistic path to get out of poverty.
- National economic growth will end poverty
Ending urban poverty requires economic growth in slum areas stimulated by creating new markets for informal slum based enterprises that create the jobs that poor people come to get.
- Big business will end poverty
Now, many see big businesses (multi-nationals) as a “white knight ready to slay the poverty dragon”. A multi-national corporation is an organizational structure for doing business. If most multi-nationals continue to operate the way they do now, the belief that big business will end poverty will remain nothing more than a tantalizing myth. It is tantalizing because there are good reasons to think of big businesses as instruments to end poverty. If it’s a fact that poor people need to increase their income, who knows more about how to make money than multi-nationals – BUT very few multi-nationals know how to make a profit serving customers who survive on less than $1 a day.
Please keep this in mind when you look at the social programs that create dependence rather than independence with welfare recipients.