When i grew up in New York more than half a century ago, I remember learning about the poor. OK, I learned about poorhouses and how they were made illegal. Way back in 1883.
Tag Archives: Poorhouse
Welcome to the Poorhouse
Growing up, I thought that America had changed the way it viewed poor people. We no longer made the poor go to jail. We outlawed debtor’s prisons in 1833 (which, unfortunately, did not really stop the practice). And, certainly by the end of the Depression, America knew that putting poor people in jail was bad policy. Obviously, some folks no longer understand bad policy.