> So you need just enough poverty to create desire and urgency, but not so much that you have to stay stuck at a dead end job to make ends meet. Having witness

> So you need just enough poverty to create desire and urgency, but not so much that you have to stay stuck at a dead end job to make ends meet. Having witnessed what poverty can do to ruin people, that's a tough statement to agree with. Perhaps this may serve as a counterpoint, in terms of how to "create desire and urgency" - to encourage people's self-motivation. A person whose base needs (in terms of Maslow's pyramid) are met, who doesn't have to worry about food and shelter - they do not necessarily stop being productive members of society. I recently started reading a book called Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drive:_The_Surprising_Truth_About_What_Motivates_Us https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drive:_The_Surprising_Truth_Ab... The thesis is that the following will result in increased performance and satisfaction: autonomy, mastery, and purpose. My view is that society is failing the public, especially the poor, in providing an environment where physical, psychological, and social needs are adequetly met. There's too much unnecessary suffering for how rich and abundant life can be for the least among us.