Poverty in 2023

I've written about the frustration of America seeming to accept dangerous, crushing poverty with an easy shrug "oh well whaddya gonna do". Gereinek's book on Poverty I read in 2009 was eye-opening re: the way people convince themselves to rationalize in their own mind's that poverty is noble & necessary:

I could wrap my head around a few things. One being an early belief that the poor existed solely as a vehicle to help the rich gain salvation through alms. Geremiek quotes Life of St. Eligius:

"God could have made all men rich, but he wanted there to be poor people in this world, that the rich might be able to redeem their sins."

This is later flipped by the author suggesting "God wanted rich people in the world in order that they might help the poor." After which you may find yourself asking "Why didn't God just make all people rich?" Either way, if we are to agree that God exists, do we really think he would've created thousands of people whose sole purpose was to suffer and go without so that those who had been blessed with so much good fortune in the first place (apropos of nothing but birth) might better their own chances of getting into heaven by throwing some bones to the poor every now and again? Seems like if there was a God running this show he coulda come up with a more dignified, less-suffering way, no? To say nothing of wasted lives. Doesn't the life of the poor soul he gave aid to equal the life of the rich man "passing the test" of alms-giving?

 I've long tried to argue that of course we could end poverty practically overnight but we choose not to, an argument that's easily dismissed (rightfully so) when presented by someone like me but should absolutely be taken seriously when a brainiac like Ezra Klein breaks it down and declares that the simple answer is yes, as Americans we choose to live with this kind of soul-crushing poverty every single day. So if you really wanna feel fucking embarrassed to be a human being, listen to this episode. Ugh.