Much of what our government spends its money can and does actually help us as citizens. One main predictor of future success is early childhood education, which is provided for free up through high school by the government. The government does also contribute towards college level education through the use of grants and subsidized loans, which can make it more affordable and easier to pay off for college age Americans.
A lot of Social Welfare programs also do a lot of good, like WIC, Social Security, and Food stamps. These programs help look out for our most vulnerable members of society – pregnant women, children, and the elderly. A lot of the programs focus on providing necessities for lower-income peoples, like housing assistance, food, clothing for work, and healthcare.
Healthcare in America is also trending in the right direction, we’ve moved away from fully privatized healthcare to partially government-funded, and proposals continue to be put forth for single payer healthcare. Healthcare related debt is currently the leading cause of debt in America, which is contributing to the decline in life expectancy and quality of life across America. This is caused by many people being reluctant to go to the doctor when something could be easily treated, like the flu, and with the hopes it will get better on its own. These same people will either get better, or get worse, and once they get worse and must go, their treatment is even more expensive and invasive. This has gotten a little better with the ACA, where low-income peoples and families can qualify for anything from fully funded to assisted insurance, so they can go to the doctor.
Government spending can indirectly help Americans by creating jobs as well. Infrastructure spending helps fund jobs for working class Americans in construction, plumbing, electrical work, and other trade-based jobs. These people are the engine of our economy, the thriving middle class that powers our domestic economy. These are the people, who given extra disposable income, spend that income on luxury items like new appliances, TVs, clothing, or even a newer automobile or electronic, rather than stashing the money away into foreign and domestic bank accounts that never get touched. This drives more economic growth by allowing manufacturing plants to hire more people, retail outlets to hire more people, and more money to circulate through our economy, which the government gets back through taxes to reinvest into the economy through other spending and stipends.
Different people may have different views on how to spend money in America to best benefit all the people. Many people believe that cutting spending for social programs and lowering taxes is the way to help the impoverished. They assert that lowered taxes allows small businesses and corporations to invest more back into their companies, which allows them to hire more staff and thus contribute more to the economy.
However, according to CNBC, CEO’s on average make about 271 times the median wage of their workers. This is also a number that has been steadily rising over the years as effective tax rates fall. A huge example of this gap is Amazon, where Jeff Bezos made around $80,000 for his regular salary, over $1.6 million in securities, and climbed to the second wealthiest man in America thanks to the valuations on his Amazon stocks, while Amazon paid no taxes. At the same time Amazon’s warehouse workers have been subjected to some of the worst working conditions in America, from being discouraged from sitting on their breaks, to working 10 hour shifts, to even reports of employees falling asleep on their feet and having to be taken away in ambulances due to exhaustion and panic attacks.
In conclusion, government spending can do a whole lot of good for Americans. It leads to job growth in shrinking sectors of the economy, it helps those who are unable to support themselves, and it is the only thing that can make our America have the American Dream again.
the Poverty Circle 
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