CW - The Great Society and Poverty Lesson

The Great Society and Poverty

Photograph from President Johnson's poverty tour in 1964.President Lyndon B. Johnson pursued an ambitious legislative agenda known as the "Great Society". Congress passed laws relating to immigration reform, protecting the environment, and civil rights. A key portion of the Great Society was a "War on Poverty" as President Johnson vowed to "end poverty in our time." The Great Society sought to provide access to educational, economic, and health care improvements through new federal programs. This increase in the number of programs and domestic spending for them was the largest since the New Deal under President Franklin Roosevelt during the Great Depression.

So did it work? Supporters (generally on the more liberal end of the political spectrum) argue that it did as poverty rates fell significantly in the wake of the Great Society. Opponents (generally on the more conservative end of the political spectrum) said it did not as poverty rates have risen since their initial fall and that the programs have increased government dependency among the poor. Liberals counter that poverty would have fallen further if spending on the programs had remained high and not been cut by later administrations. Conservatives respond that the federal government is too big and inefficient to solve a complex problem like poverty. So the debate continues, even in political campaigns of today.

Please participate in the discussion forum for this topic. You will be asked to give your opinion on the effectiveness of government programs in combating poverty and give some examples to support your position. Read the Boundless reading on the Great Society Links to an external site. and view this chart Links to an external site..

Here is your prompt:

  • In the mid 1960s President Lyndon Johnson embarked on a War on Poverty. His Great Society plan pushed for many new government programs to combat poverty in the U.S. But are these programs effective? A half-century later the debate on how effective government programs are in bringing people out of poverty continues. So are government programs an effective means to combat poverty and lift people to higher economic levels? Give some specifics as to why you would say they are or are not.

Discussions are in found in each unit and they are a great way to have interaction with your classmates as well as for me to understand how you are grasping the content. We do have some rules for discussion:

  • Everyone must make at least two entries.
  • The first entry answering the questions posed must be at least a paragraph of 4-5 sentences of quality information that fully answers the question or questions posed.
  • You do not have to agree with the opinions of others but you must respect their right to an opinion.
  • You need to make at least one post responding to another student's post. This should be at least a sentence or two.
  • Everyone should feel comfortable expressing themselves in class discussions.
  • If you feel someone is lacking understanding of a concept, help them understand by explaining.
  • Do NOT belittle what they have said. Remember, we are not face-to-face so it is easy to misinterpret what we someone is saying.

 

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