Solving the caustic problem of poverty across America should not be a partisan issue.
That’s according to Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), who took to the stage early Thursday morning at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C., to kick off a day-long summit focused on eliminating poverty and boosting economic mobility.
Co-sponsored by Opportunity Lives, the “This Way Up” summit aimed to prove that solutions-based, free-market principles can uplift struggling citizens across the country.
“Simply put, we are coming to a consensus on how to fight poverty and restore upward mobility in America,” Ryan said. “And we’re all here because we agree this is a fight that needs to be fought.”
But reaching that goal — to finally discern the best course of action for fighting poverty — is no easy task. Ryan outlined the myriad challenges policymakers and other leaders will face during the next four years of the Trump administration.
“Far too many people are slipping through the cracks in this country,” Ryan said. “And that beautiful notion of the American ideal — that the condition of your birth doesn’t determine the outcome of your life — is an idea that a lot of people don’t believe in anymore.”
“Even if there are just some people who don’t believe in it,” he added, “it means that great American ideal is no longer universally true for all. So it’s our job to restore this.”
Featuring panel discussions and in-depth commentary from journalists, thought leaders, policymakers and poverty-fighters, each session of the summit targeted a specific aspect of American society. Whether that was workforce engagement or education, entitlement programs or mending family structures, the aim was to look at poverty from a holistic and human viewpoint, rather than from a strictly budgetary standpoint.
“Fighting poverty isn’t about solving budgetary concerns,” Ryan said. “It’s about saving lives. So we need to come at it from that approach.”
That fight begins with empowering local anti-poverty activists, while simultaneously ending the paternalistic view that Washington has all the answers.
The reality, Ryan said, is that Washington elites can no longer parachute into communities and push local leaders out of the fray. Such tactics only serve to alienate those allies on the ground whom Washington leaders need most of all, he added.
“So that’s what today is all about,” the speaker said. “It’s about learning. Because when you actually go into these communities, there are people doing tremendous work fighting poverty eye to eye, soul to soul, person to person, who we need to learn from. And they need our support.”
Evan Smith is a Staff Writer for Opportunity Lives. You can follow him on Twitter @Evansmithreport.
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