Over the past few weeks, we've talked a lot about the future of the liberty movement. Today, we're approaching the subject from a slightly different angle. But first, let's talk about the most recent Democratic debate. It's increasingly looking like a two-horse race. Bernie Sanders has been pacing the field for a while now, and it's pretty clear at this point. He's the people's choice. However, money talks. And Mike Bloomberg has a TON of money. The DNC clearly want to avoid a Bernie Sanders presidency. Will they even hand over their party to a rich white billionaire? Anything to defeat the Republicans' rich white billionaire! But it makes no difference. The DNC is going to nominate someone to lose to Trump, and your life is going to go on just the same. For the bulk of the show today, we're going to discuss why it's so hard to escape America's so-called "anti poverty" programs. American poverty rates plummeted throughout the 1960s, but they've remained between 11 and 15% ever since. That's nearly a half-century of unchanged poverty rates. Why? It's not a lack of money. Since 1973, anti-poverty programs have exploded from 3% to 20% of public spending. Here's the thing: it's no mystery what causes poverty. Poverty is the natural state of man. So the real question we need to ask is, what causes wealth? And how can you get a piece of it? How can everyone get a piece of it? It's not that Americans lack opportunity. Everyone has access to the internet, and nearly everyone has a cell phone. That means effectively everyone has the tools to conquer their own poverty. Yet they remain locked in dependence. It's no accident. Today, we'll dissect a conspiracy. It's a concerted effort by those with wealth, power, and influence to not only keep Americans poor, but to profit from their poverty. You need to understand how the system keeps people down, so you can understand how to save yourself. Once you know how to save yourself, you can teach others how to save themselves. And maybe this liberty movement will start moving. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Intro music by Nick White, producer of The Statist Quo. This episode is brought to you by our sponsors: Helix Sleep Blinkist