Circular Logic
In one section you defend the right to reject help and in another lambast the lack of help. There is a mental factor in the cycle of poverty. I've seen it in relatives and inlaws. I'd like to help and have tried, but its real hard to help people who don't want to face their own faults or the impact of their spending choices or choices on issues like smoking, excessive drinking, and sex without birth control. A point in the article you did not address is that the standard of poverty keeps changing. The people with the behaviors that keep them at the low end of the economic scale still live far better lives than in the past.
Regards,
Mark