Gary North

But liberals are right in saying that personal behavior is not the only issue in poverty -- not by a long shot. Structural issues are also involved, as the Bible itself points out in holding kings and rulers, employers, landlords, and judges responsible for injustice. Good family values don't insure you of a job that pays a living family wage. Nor do they allow you to ever become a homeowner. . . . -- Jim Wallis, "Poverty Is Not a Left-Wing Issue," Sojourners Magazine (September-October 2000)

Here is my question: What do you thinks makes a living wage possible?

Here is my next question. Isn't the basis of a living wage two-fold: productivity on the income side of the ledger, and frugality on the expenditure side?

If a person is not competitive at a high wage, and therefore gets no offer to work at this high wage, then he has these choices: (1) become more competitive; (2) accept a lower wage until he does become more competitive; (3) beg for private charity; (4) go onto some existing government welfare program; (5) organize politically and force taxpayers to start new government welfare programs.

You are always recommending solution #5. Your entire career is based on this.

Actually, I cheated. There is a sixth way. It is my recommendation. They can organize politically and get the Federal government to revoke all minimum wage laws. These are coercive price floors that remove opportunities for people who are willing to work for less, but who cannot find employment because it is illegal for employers to offer them jobs below minimum wage.

That first job, that entry-level job, that much-maligned dead-end job is a way for an unskilled person to learn what it takes to become more competitive. It is on-the-job training. It means getting paid to get ahead.

Buying a Home

Contrary to your assertion, good family values do indeed make it possible to buy a home. Maybe not in Bel Air, California, but somewhere. It just takes time.

Recent immigrants who have no money or even the ability to speak English have been buying homes for centuries in the United States because the private property system allows them to rise. Hard work pays off. Immigrants save very high percentages of their income. Within a very short time, they become home-owners. They become good credit risks.

But this takes time.

Being credit-worthy is the key to buying a house. Also knowing where to buy and on what terms.

Hispanic families in California barrios are buying homes and paying $250 to $400 per square foot. They have been doing this for decades, always able to buy. How do they do this? By violating Anglo politician-dominated city planning commissions that passed "whites-mainly" laws that are called zoning laws. The Hispanics bring two or three families into one house and splitting the rent.

I say "more power to them."

You then go on:

Overcoming poverty also takes some responsibility on the part of private business to see the common good and not just the bottom line; it entails different corporate and banking policies and effective government action where the market has failed to address fundamental issues of fairness and justice.

To call on businessmen or taxpayers to play the role of a tax-funded Habitat for Humanity confuses coercion with charity. Charity backed up with a gun is not charity. It's coercion. It's organized violence. It's a government agent's gun in someone's belly. "Hand over your wallet." In your version, it's "Hand over your wallet for Jesus."

Conclusion

Please, stop invoking Christianity in your recommended programs of organized coercion. The Bible upholds private property. It does not uphold putting on a badge, grabbing a gun, and using these combined marks of authority to take wealth from one group and transfer it to another (minus 50% for handling).