The welfare state is the single largest reason that millions of Americans are still in poverty today. Welfare consist of any program that provide cash, food, housing, medical care and targeted social services to poor and low-income Americans (Robert Recort), yet 35.4 percent of americans are on welfare (not including social security, unemployment insurance and pensions) (Kevin Boyd). President Lyndon B. Johnson declared a “War on Poverty” in 1964 and set many American families on a path of generational poverty and a reliance on the welfare system. These Americans who rely on the welfare system are being put in perpetual poverty. The welfare system does not offer any real solution to anyone who is impoverished, all the welfare system offers is a weight to be put on the lower class so they cannot rise out of their economic state of instability. The reason the welfare system causes so much of a burden on its recipients is because the welfare system does not give its recipients any real tools to actually get out of poverty. The welfare system has embedded poverty deeper into society and has made it harder and harder for people to escape poverty. Due, to the decline in the education system from the expansion of the welfare system.

Ever since the “War on Poverty” was declared, the American poverty levels have stayed right around 15 percent without any change. Yet, before any of Johnson's policies were implemented, poverty was going down by 10 percent every 5 years (National Poverty Center University of Michigan). One might argue that maybe we are not spending enough on welfare, but that would be an ignorant statement. In 2015 the United States federal government spent 361.87 billion dollars on welfare making up 10 percent of the budget last year, but in that same year we only spent only 133.78 billion dollars on education spending only making up 4 percent of the budget last year (Government Spending Chart). In other words, it is not that we are not spending enough on welfare, it is quite the opposite: we are spending too much. From the simple fact that we invest more into subsidizing those who were failed by the education system instead of investing in fixing, and revamping the education system makes me furious. The Brookings Institute, (a leftist institution) compiled data and said if a person wants to get out of, and stay out of poverty they had to do two key things: One, they need to graduate high school, and two get married and stay married when and if you have children. Brookings Institute also claims that welfare plays no part in One of these factors can be directly controlled by the state and that is the educational aspect of it.

If the federal government would cut welfare spending and allocate those funds to the education budget you would see drastic change. The federal government would have the money to revamp the education system and turn the education system into one similar to what Germany has. So those students who were overly reliant on welfare now have a trait they are learning. This would increase graduation rates, produce more highly skilled workers which should reduce the poverty rate easily from 15 percent to half that amount (National Poverty Center University of Michigan). Now what do we do with the rest of the funds still funding welfare? You turn the welfare system into a workfare system, where you require those who are able to work who are getting welfare to do some type of work or job training so that they can build the skills and traits to compete in the job market. Finally, there must be a time limit on how long they receive these benefits.

The Black Lives Matter Movement's biggest focus is to stop institutionalized oppression on black American’s, but the Black Lives Matter Movement cannot bring up one law on the books that is racist towards black people. The Black Lives Matter Movement is extremely leftist and supports the welfare system (BlackLivesMatter). The fact of the matter is that the welfare system is the only thing closest to institutionalized racism than anything we have in America. African Americans have the highest poverty rate amongst any other racial or ethnic group with 27.4 percent of the African American community living in poverty (stateofworkingamerica poverty). This coupled with the fact that African Americans make up a 39.8 percent just sliming out whites as the majority for welfare recipients should really have The Black Lives Matter Movement thinking. African Americans are only 13 percent of Americans population but has more African Americans in poverty and reliant on the government than any other race or ethnicity (Welfare Statistics). The one thing that could make everything change, that you see no one rioting in the streets for, is education reform. Only 69 percent of African Americans graduate high school (State High School Graduation Rates By Race, and Ethnicity). The key factor in getting out of poverty. If we could simply reform the education system we would be able to give new light into the African American community.

I brought all of the information on Black Lives Matter, and the black community to show you what happens when the welfare system is allowed to stay with a single community. I also brought the failure of the the education system to show you how everything can correlate and how we can change things for the better. The expansion of the welfare system will only push America farther behind and we will not be able to achieve any future success if we go down this road of eventual poverty instead of one of enlightenment.