Helping the poor is a question central to American life. Partially driven by America's Judeo-Christian heritage, Americans believe we possess enough wealth to provide some minimum basic standard of living for all and genuinely desire to help the least among us. We are the most generous nation on earth, spending hundreds of billions of dollars annually through private giving, corporate philanthropy, government aid, and other forms of charity. And yet, despite these efforts, international and domestic poverty persist. In From Prophecy to Charity: How to Help the Poor, Lawrence M. Mead critiques the philosophical presuppositions of past and current endeavors to alleviate poverty and provides a framework to guide future efforts based on what has been proven to actually help those in need: charity rooted in love.

Lawrence M. Mead is a professor of politics and public policy at New York University. He is the author of the award-winning study Government Matters: Welfare Reform in Wisconsin (Princeton University Press, 2005).

List of Tables
List of Acronyms
Acknowledgments
Introduction
A Look Ahead
Chapter 1: Poverty, Politics, and Programs
Chapter 2: Why are People Poor?
Chapter 3: Critical Perspectives
Chapter 4: Welfare Reform
Chapter 5: The Way Forward
Chapter 6: Larger Questions
Endnotes
About the Author