These rural pockets of poverty were acknowledged by Galbraith to offer less hope, income, and interest than even an urban ghetto. In either case, rural or urban, the poor remain stuck, due to the circumstances of their environment, in a cycle of poverty impossible to .
Beck 2.
escape.
Galbraith realized that, "the poorest communities are poorest in the services which would eliminate poverty" (255). Today, we are taking steps to address that problem. The New York Times" Robert Pear reported that welfare spending has shifted, from a monthly check that could quickly be converted to cash, to paying for transportation from home to work, treating drug use and metal health problems, and providing temporary shelter for women who have suffered domestic violence. The money is also used for one-time payments to alleviate immediate financial needs, so people never go on welfare rolls. Child care and transportation have helped many families, enabling them to make the transition from welfare to work. This shift in social policy reflects a new, more efficient, solution to people's individual needs. Galbraith suggested that the best way to eliminate insular poverty is to service the community from the outside to allow the poor to work themselves out of the self-perpetuating cycle that is poverty. Ohio's welfare director Joel Potts believes that "the cheapest thing to do is to pay a woman to stay home and raise kids in extreme poverty. We did that for sixty years. We found that cash assistance, by itself, leads to nothing" (Pear, 2003).
Galbraith declared, "An affluent society that is both compassionate and rational would, no doubt, secure to all who needed it the minimum income essential for decency and comfort" (254). Eric Roston recently wrote an article for Time Magazine suggesting a solution that agrees with Galbraith's sentiments. Roston's article, entitled, "How Much Is A Living Wage?" discusses the movement to create a "living-wage" which would boost minimum pay in an effort to ease poverty.
