3 Facts that Poverty-Deniers Don't Want to Hear

By Paul Buchheit

August 3, 2014 | Three-quarters [3] of conservative Americans say poor people have it easy.

The degree of ignorance about poverty is stunning, even for people far removed from the realities of an average American lifestyle. Both oilman Charles Koch [4] and Nicole Miller CEO Bud Konheim [5] have suggested that we should compare ourselves to poor people in China and India, and then just shut up and be happy. The Cato Institute [6] informs Americans that "The current welfare system provides such a high level of benefits that it acts as a disincentive for work." And entrepreneur Marc Andreessen [7] explains, rather incomprehensibly, that "Technology innovation disproportionately helps the poor more than it helps the rich, as the poor spend more of their income on products."