Eradicating extreme poverty: It's past time to get the job done

I was 15 in 1960, hyped up on hormones and learning to drive. I followed the presidential election campaign and the World Series with equal fervor ... pulling for Richard Nixon and the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates won.

John F. Kennedy's inaugural speech ignited our imaginations. "Let the word go forth from this time and place ... that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans." It was a short speech, barely 1,300 well-chosen words, striking in its vision and international outlook. (The complete text of John F. Kennedy's inaugural address can be found at www.jfklibrary.org.)

Even at age 15, I knew he was talking about my generation. We had some work to do.

His call to "ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country" empowered teachers and counselors to insist that those with even modest talent in math and science pursue that path. The willingness of our fellow citizens to fully fund our higher education validated that direction. It was a space race after all.

JFK was killed during freshman year. Over the years I found myself drawn to his words as a personal "to do" list. His charge to "bear any burden" kept me focused as a young naval officer during those long Vietnam years.

We won the space race and the Cold War. OK, perhaps the other side lost. But we stood the watch, firm and unwavering in our willingness to "pay any price" for freedom. Mission accomplished.

Rechecking the "to do" list recently, I was taken aback to find these words. "The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life." Had they always been there?

There was more. "To those people in the huts and villages of half the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves, for whatever period is required. ... If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich."

How had I missed it before?

During the '60s, a well-intentioned Socratic teacher inquired, "If we can put a man on the moon, why can't we wipe out poverty?" He opined that the moon was a comprehensible goal for which plans could be formulated and progress tracked. We'd know when we reached it. Poverty on the other hand is amorphous and incomprehensible. Wiping out poverty was a noble but impossible idea. Another myth firmly rooted in an impressionable young mind.

It's not in the speech, but JFK also said, "The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie — deliberate, contrived, and dishonest — but the myth — persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic." We banish myths with facts. Here are some facts.

More than 1 billion of our fellow humans live short, brutal lives, devoid of hope, opportunity or freedom, struggling to survive on less than a dollar a day.

It does not have to be this way. We know how to lift the poor out of poverty. We know what works. There are success stories all around us. The poor themselves can tell us clearly what is needed.

Success flows not from any single approach or silver bullet but from millions upon millions of individual face-to-face actions and transactions. Success is marked by the rebirth of hope, opportunity and freedom — hope for a better life, free from want, free from disease, free from fear.

The cost is a relative pittance — another $40 billion-$60 billion per year well invested could turn the tide. But this is not simply about more aid for the poor. Unstinting U.S. leadership and commitment are essential — from government, from business, from nongovernmental organizations and private citizens. In forging our future, ideas and example will trump missiles and might.

Business brings what the poor need most — jobs and paychecks. Business leaders across America cite reducing extreme poverty as the highest priority on the global agenda. Good business can prevail over corruption and ineptitude. Corruption is a problem, but it's no excuse for failing to act. It is a symptom of poverty, not a cause. Reducing poverty reduces corruption, not the other way round.

Some suggest we must help the poor here at home before looking abroad. This is a false choice. The fact is we can and should do both. There are few actions we could take that will boost the global or U.S. economies more than eradicating extreme poverty.

JFK was right. Failure of U.S. leadership on this issue could seal our fate. If we cannot help the world's poor, we cannot save ourselves. We have some work to do, and it's not rocket science.