How Right-Wing Media Talk About Poverty In America

From “Richness Of Spirit” To Food Stamps As A Diet Plan, 5 Ways Conservatives Are Wrong About The Poor

Written by Hannah Groch-Begley & John Kerr

Published

Right-wing media have a plan to solve the national crisis of poverty in America -- and it's all about “personal responsibility.”

Roughly 45 million Americans live in poverty, 1 in 7 received food stamps just last year, and 20 percent of children under the age of 18 were impoverished in 2013. Politicians and media figures have offered many possible solutions to help low-income Americans break free from this systemic cycle of inequality, including expanding the social safety net and educational opportunities for all.

But over the years, conservative media have offered their own strategies. Watch as Media Matters looks back at the five easy steps they've proposed to help Americans living paycheck to paycheck find that “richness of spirit”: