The American nation was founded on freedom, respect, liberty, and many other virtues, but now the American Empire has begun to sustain itself quite similarly to past civilizations, through war and conflict. In this modern age of war in American politics we have adopted a system that thrives upon battling ideologies such as communism, waging a war on terror, a war on drugs, and fairly frequently engaging in war, in the classic use of the word. Despite our never-ending efforts to wage war on those ideas which we are opposed to there has never been any measurable success, furthermore, some of these problems have become worse. With all of the ideological wars being waged in America we neglect to commit ourselves to the fight against poverty for those millions who struggle to provide food and shelter for their families, who cannot find work, and whose cherished freedoms are traded for personal security. Instead, the decades old war on drugs has cost trillions of dollars and made criminals of millions of Americans. A war on terror has failed to give substantial evidence of progress against the idealism of terrorism, but has managed to take away the freedoms, liberties, and privacies of American citizens.

We fancy viewing ourselves somehow superior to past societies, as if we are immune to the mistakes and flaws of the old world, but this is not so. As a superpower the United States, like those of the past, strives to maintain and assert it authority, both domestically and abroad. That assertion is an undisputedly fundamental role of government. The extent of a government’s assertion, however, has been at the heart of debate for thousands of years. These are the issues that worry politicians as well as the people, but the most important issue is the philosophy behind the assertion. It is widely accepted as a noble cause to decrease the sale and flow of drugs, as well as the use and addiction, but why must it be a “war on drugs”? Is the idea of fighting a war an attractive one? There appears to be war everywhere in the world and we have now developed a system that thrives upon a constant state of conflict.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 12.5 percent (35.9 million) of Americans lived below the poverty level in 2003, up 1.3 million from 2002. These are real people with families that they must clothe and feed, children that must be educated, and bills that must be paid. Furthermore, “Children living in poverty are three times more likely to suffer a mental illness that children from wealthy families” (Williams). It is not enough to treat an illness, we must prevent it. It is not enough to simply stave off the effects of poverty, we must end it.

The job market in the United States has been very turbulent in the last few years. The effect on the economy is not pretty, but the effect of a dwindling job market on the poor is devastating. With millions of people struggling to make ends meet finding a well paying and stable job is essential. The problem that is too common in the urban neighborhoods that are home to a majority of those in poverty is that they lack the education to get good jobs, and lack the interest of politician to get the proper education. It is a slippery slope that destroys the infrastructure and eventually the spirit of these communities, ultimately condemning them to lifelong poverty that is past on to their posterity.

Now that this poverty has taken hold of so many people in the United States we are faced with challenges of how to deal with its effects. Urban redevelopment programs show some success in a few areas, and federal programs such as WIC and welfare help many. None of these programs, however, give the tools necessary to lift these people from their current station on the economic ladder. No national effort exists to fight poverty, hunger, homelessness, or failing school systems as a whole, but there are programs in place to repress the same economic group through lottery, drug wars, racial profiling, and redistricting of political boundaries. The inner city inhabitants are compelled to make their way by whatever means are necessary, most often by selling drugs, stolen goods, and by forming gangs for both power and protection.

The wars that are fought everyday destroy nations, lives, and economies, but there is no war to build our own nation, save and improve lives, or to build our own economy. There is no effort to replace a philosophy of waging war on an idea with one of waging peace. There is no effort to be better than those civilizations that came before us, only to tell ourselves that we are better with no proof other than materialistic examples of technological or governmental advances. As humans we should strive to evolve beyond our present station. As Americans we must strive to be that which we pride ourselves to be, a free and open minded nation of people with a standard of living superior to any other on Earth, free of poverty.

Works Cited

“Cost of the War on Drugs.” 3 Feb. 2004 Drug Library. <http://www.druglibrary.org/think/~jnr/wodcost.htm>

“Income Stable, Poverty Up, Numbers of Americans With and Without

Health Insurance Rise, Census Bureau Reports”11 April 2006 U.S. Department of Commerce http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/income_wealth/002484.html

Williams, Jessica 50 Facts that Should Change the World. New York: The Disinformation Company Ltd. 2004

Iceland, John Poverty in America: A Handbook. Berkely, California: University of California Press. 2003