For good or ill?

Authors offer sound advice on giving without doing harm | Joel Belz

Are poor people poor because they're paying the price for their own personal failures—or because the systems in which they find themselves have been broken and have failed the people within them?

It is, of course, an age-old question. Authors Brian Fikkert and Steve Corbett, in a brand new book called When Helping Hurts, note that political conservatives have tended to stress the former explanation, while liberals have emphasized the latter. Which, they ask, is correct?

Before jumping to their answer, I can't help thinking how different the responses might be right now, if I posed that question to all of WORLD's readers, from the answers I might have gotten 18 months ago. If a whole lot of us find ourselves poorer than we were at the end of 2007, how many of us are admitting that our new "poverty" is the result of our own failures and bad decisions—versus those of us who are complaining that a broken system has let us down?

Find out how to get instant access to this article and one month of WORLD for only $5.00! If you are already a subscriber, please log in below.

The complete article is ~735 words long

Current Subscribers

Magazine
Subscriber

Online Only
Subscriber

>> Click here to see other purchase options for this article

New Subscribers

Secure form

Receive instant access to this article and the WORLDMag.com Archives
Plus, enjoy 2 issues of WORLD Magazine for only $5.00*

Want a different type of subscription? Click here for Online-Only Subscription options. Or here for Print Subscription options (which include online subscription access).

Payment Information

Name	State	Card Type

Address	Zip	Card Number

City	Email	Expiration Date
		/
	Phone Number

Offer Terms

Subscribers Advantage Automatic Renewal Program You authorize WORLD Magazine to charge your credit/debit card at the price listed above and in time to renew your subscription to WORLD Magazine, without interruption, before the start of the first 6-month term (for $24.95) and then thereafter at 6-month terms at the regular rate then in effect unless you tell us to stop. You may cancel at any time during your subscription and receive a full refund on all unmailed issues. If your credit/debit card cannot be charged, we will bill you directly instead.

*Offer good in the U.S. only for new subscribers.
I agree to the terms above

Outside the US, click here.
Renewing subscribers, click here.
Gift subscriptions, click here.

MORE PREVIOUS ISSUES

Hurtling toward havoc Aug. 1, 2009 View WORLD E-zine	Crackdown Jul. 18, 2009 View WORLD E-zine	2009 Books Issue Jul. 4, 2009 View WORLD E-zine
Is Christianity in the U.S. doomed? Jun. 20, 2009 View WORLD E-zine	Tiananmen massacre Jun. 6, 2009 View WORLD E-zine	Playing with capitalism May. 23, 2009 View WORLD E-zine