Edwin Rubenstein on Poverty

http://www.vdare.com/rubenstein/090921_nd.htm

If Bill Gates walks into a bar, the average income of those in the room skyrockets. In addition, the number of wealthy individuals increases. But is anyone better off? What if a poor man walks in? The average income of those in the room plummets. The poverty rate increases. But the wealth of the individuals in the room hasn’t changed.

Edwin S. Rubenstein writes a column in which he considers it “bad news” that the presence of poverty-stricken immigrants causes the U.S. poverty figures to increase. What Rubenstein blatantly fails to understand is that whether someone is poor in the U.S. or poor in Cambodia has no effect on the wealth of people in the U.S.

Another thing that Rubenstein blatantly fails to understand is that immigration is one of the most effective poverty reduction methods available. A poor immigrant who comes to the U.S. can increase his or her income by 1,000% easily. This dramatic increase in income not only boosts the immigrant’s standard of living but also that of the family members both in the U.S. and back home. Immigrants send tens of billions of dollars in remittances to their families every year improving the quality of life of their family who stayed in their home country.