The culture of poverty.

P overty and the so-called war against it provide a principal theme for the domestic program of the present Administration. In the midst of a population that enjoys un­ exampled material well-being-with the average annual family income exceed­ ing $7,000-it is officially acknowledged that some 18 million families, number­ ing more than 50 million individuals, live below the $3,000 "poverty line." Toward the improvement of the lot of these people some $1,600 million of Federal funds are directly allocated through the Office of Economic Oppor­ tunity, and many hundreds of millions of additional dollars flow indirectly through expanded Federal expenditures in the fields of health, education, wel­ fare and urban affairs. Along with the increase in activity on behalf of the poor indicated by these figures there has come a parallel ex­ pansion of publication in the social sciences on the subject of poverty. The new writings advance the same two op­ posed evaluations of the poor that are to be found in literature, in proverbs and in popular sayings throughout re­ corded history. Just as the poor have been pronounced blessed, virtuous, up­ right, serene, independent, honest, kind and happy, so contemporary students stress their great and neglected capacity for self-help, leadership and community organization. Conversely, as the poor have been characterized as shiftless, mean, sordid, violent, evil and criminal, by Oscar Lewis