A liberal case for reforming social programs

Nicholas Kristof wrote in the New York Times on Friday about a trip to Kentucky, where he heard stories of parents removing their children from literacy programs so they could keep getting disability payments from the government: "There’s a danger in drawing too firm conclusions about an issue — fighting poverty — that is as complex as human beings themselves. I’m no expert on domestic poverty. But for me, a tentative lesson from the field is that while we need safety nets, the focus should be instead on creating opportunity — and, still more difficult, on creating an environment that leads people to seize opportunities."