I absolutely agree that we should strive for the elimination of poverty, and that many people can't "claw their way out of poverty." My point is just that we s

I absolutely agree that we should strive for the elimination of poverty, and that many people can't "claw their way out of poverty." My point is just that we shouldn't start from the false premise that prosperity is the natural state and poverty must be explained, because you may end up blaming symptoms (in this case, landlords--in other cases, it's check cashing companies[0], or sweatshops[1], or the "profit motive") and implement a "treatment" that makes the poor even worse off. [0] http://www.businessinsider.com/check-cashing-stores-good-deal-upenn-professor-2017-2 http://www.businessinsider.com/check-cashing-stores-good-dea... [1] http://www.slate.com/articles/business/the_dismal_science/1997/03/in_praise_of_cheap_labor.html http://www.slate.com/articles/business/the_dismal_science/19...