The Function of Poverty

Poverty has been a long standing issue in human civilization. Its often used in political campaigns and promises, candidates will promise to reduce poverty or eliminate homelessness. More often then not however, these promises go unfulfilled, leading one to the inevitable question. Why? Certainly poverty is such an obviously negative thing in society that even these politicians should wish to eliminate it. Certainly if a politicians would work to end poverty that would only bolster their support. So why then, do they not take action?

There must be some function of poverty that keeps the government from taking efforts to reduce it. There must be an underlying reason. That is what I wish for this essay to cover, the simple functions of poverty that lead to governments to not take action against it.

The Class System

To start talking about poverty, we must talk class. Here I will describe two class systems. Both are important to understand to be able to look at the functions of poverty. The first is the class system most are familiar with, the system that focuses on income. The second is a class system influenced by Marx, and focuses more on the immediate differences in power among the people.

The class system we are most familiar with revolves around income. This system is a creation of a capitalist economy, where money is king. Most should be familiar with this system, and many would have a rough idea of where they are placed on this scale.

Lower Class:

The Lower Class are those who fall below the poverty line in a given nation. These people typically cannot afford much of their basic necessities without government help or loans. Their income alone cannot, or just barely can afford what they need. One may be more familiar with the terms working poor and underclass, which is simply an attempt to further describe the Lower Class.

Middle Class:

The Middle Class are those who typically are more comfortable in their income. While those in the lower end of the Middle Class may only be one or two missed checks away from losing their car or home, those in the higher end have a comfortable amount saved just in case. Overall, the Middle Class tends to have a comfortable standard of living (though the definition of comfort can vary quite a bit).

Upper Class:

The Upper Class are, for our purposes, those above the Middle Class, yet below the 1%ers. These people tend to be in upper management roles, have very comfortable standards of living. They dont need to worry about losing their job nearly as much, as they may have significant savings.

1%ers:

The 1%ers are the highest class in society. These are your large company CEOs, your billionaires, those who are the most wealthy. This class neednt too long an introduction, as most should be quite familiar with what constitutes the 1%ers.

While many criticize this idea of the class system (myself included), it is quite important to know and understand in order to make observations and conclusions about our society. Our society very much is centered around this idea.

The next class system is the one influenced by Marx. This class system focuses on the idea of power, not income.

The Working Class:

Those who sell their labor for income. They do not gain the full value of their labor, but are rather paid a small fraction of its worth. This is the majority of people in society.

The Ruling Class:

The Ruling Class are those who neednt sell their labor to others. Rather, they are the buyers of labor. Their income comes from the value of goods and services produced by the Working Class. Some (especially anarchists) would inherently include agents of the State in this category, politicians and police namely.

When talking about poverty, we dont need to focus on the role of politicians and police in the Ruling Class, however, it is important to keep in mind when the inevitable question of why do the politicians and police go along with this? comes up.

The Function of Poverty

Poverty serves one major function in a Capitalist society. Poverty creates desperation. Desperation is the most necessary cog in the Capitalist machine. Without desperation in the working class, Capitalism would fall apart.

How does Poverty create desperation? Under terms of the Capitalist class system, the Lower Class (the impoverished) serve as a reminder to the Middle Class. This reminder is grim and blunt if you dont work for us, that is how you will end up. Remember, most people in the Middle Class are only a few paychecks away from poverty. Seeing the life of those in poverty serves as a reminder to the Middle Class to continue working, to continue selling their labor for a tiny fraction of its actual value, in order to not starve or lose their home.

Without this reminder, without this desperation within society, no person would be willing to preform the amount of work they are required to, for the meager pay they are given. The system is designed to make any doubt or hatred of the system a secondary feeling. One simply cannot afford to doubt or hate the system. They must work within the system if they wish to keep a roof above their head or food in their fridge.

The Ruling Class purposefully keeps a portion of the population in poverty in order to serve as an example to the rest of the Working Class, Stop producing profit for us, and you will end up like them. This is the function of poverty.

This is why there is no meaningful action against poverty in our society. To fight against poverty would be to fight against the system. No politician wishes to destroy the system that gives them power, the system that puts them in the Ruling Class. Poverty is purposefully kept in society in order to bolster the strength the Ruling Class has over the Working Class.

This leads us to a secondary function of poverty. That of a political promise. Eliminating poverty serves as a goal for politicians. Increasing employment rates, declining homelessness rates, declining poverty rates, all of these are seen as measures of a successful politician. So by lifting a fraction out of poverty, they are able to maintain power, and thus their place in the Ruling Class, for much longer. Of course, they only help a portion, as completely eliminating poverty would jeopardize the entire existence of the Ruling Class.

Without poverty, the existence of the Ruling Class is jeopardized. Without the threat of homelessness, starvation, losing your car or your family, without these threats the Working Class is far more free to organize themselves. They no longer have a reason to fear the Ruling Class, no longer are desperate. They are no longer obligated to sell their labor for meager pay. This is the function of poverty. Simply put, poverty ensures Capitalisms smooth functioning. It is not a failure of Capitalism, it is not a broken system, it is the basic functioning of the system.