Poverty in the Land of Prosperity: Problems and Solutions
Introduction
Poverty is a major problem in American societyone that has only gotten worse in recent years. One of the big factors in poverty is the offshoring of labor, which means the loss of domestic job opportunities, which are sent overseas. It means lost wages for Americans. At the same time there is also the other problem of the devaluation of the dollar, which lessens the purchasing power of the lower and middle classes. All of this leads to wealth transfer from the lower to the upper classes, and it helps the top 1% to become wealthier, while the lower 99% stay poor and become poorer. This paper argues that the offshoring of labor and the devaluation of the dollar are the two main problems regarding the issue of poverty; at the same time, others make the counterargument that globalization and central banking policies are needed for economic growth and social stability; nonetheless, this paper rebuts that belief and suggests that the solutions are to onshore as much labor as possible and replace the devaluing dollar with a limited supply currency, like Bitcoin.
Offshoring of Labor and Its Impact on Poverty
Offshoring labor refers to the moving of jobs from a companys home country to countries where labor costs are less (typically in Asia or third world countries). Offshoring is part of the process of globalization, which is good for the bottom lines of big corporationsbut not great for domestic labor markets. That is because when companies offshore, they reduce costs and increase profits, but at the expense of domestic workers. The loss of jobs leads to higher unemployment rates. Indeed, that has been happening for years in the USand the rise of AI is now making even some skilled labor jobs redundant.
According to the Economic Policy Institute, between 2001 and 2013, the U.S. lost 3.2 million jobs due to rising trade deficits with China (Scott, 2015). These job losses impacted whole communities. Local economies were hurt; consumes could not spend as much as they could before. The need for social welfare began to rise. And that comes with a cost, too.
Devaluation of the Dollar and Its Consequences
The devaluation of the dollar is another problem related to the issue of poverty. When the value of the dollar decreases, the cost of goods...
Poverty ends up being right around the corner as families struggle, paycheck to paycheck, to make it from one month to the next. The slightest unforeseen cost can tip the house over into
bankruptcy.
Moreover, the devaluation of the dollar reduces the purchasing power of wages. In dollar terms, wages might be rising over the yearsbut not in terms of purchasing power thanks to inflation...
…be to make it more financially attractive for companies to keep jobs at home.
Another solution is to abandon the dollar as an accepted form of currency: there is a rival, which has a limited supply, and it is called Bitcoin. This could serve as a practical approach to the problem of the devalued dollar, and it would remove the need for a central bank and the policies that go with it. It would stop inflation, because the money supply is limited. Overall, the point would be to keep the value of ones labor and not see it lost due to inflation caused by central bank policies like quantitative easing.
Conclusion
In conclusion poverty is an issue that can be viewed as being worsened by offshoring and dollar devaluation, i.e., wealth transfer from the lower classes to the upper. Poverty is a multifaceted issue influenced by various economic policies and practices. It all contributes to lost domestic job opportunities, no real wage growth, and lost purchasing power of the lower and middle classes. Globalization and currency policies may be said to be a good thing by and for some people (i.e., the wealthy), but poverty is a problem for the non-wealthy, and the point is to fix that. It can be fixed: by trade policies and financial reform, such as switching from fiat currency to a currency with a fixed supply like Bitcoin. This would help to…
