Funding Visions – Solving the World’s Problems

America has many problems, but homelessness, hunger, and extreme poverty should not be on this list.  We have the economic and technical ability to eliminate these problems but lack an understanding as to how to do it in ways that would be economically, politically, and socially acceptable. This website documents how we can solve this dilemma without significantly raising taxes or demonizing any group. Our plan is called the Community Support System (CSS). We are looking for a group that is interested in coordinating efforts to verify whether or not the CSS plan is credible enough to justify more intensive discussions and investigations.  If you know of such a group, please email david@fundingvisions.org

 

The plan starts by implementing a specific set of policy changes in the areas of income, healthcare, education, and housing that simultaneously mitigate root cause issues. Most of the policy changes needed are well known and extensively studied but cannot be implemented individually for various reasons. However, when a specific set of these policy changes are refined and implemented together, they can become economically, politically, and socially implementable. 

 

The goal is to provide better healthcare, education, and housing at lower costs while guaranteeing all Americans enough income to lift them out of poverty. This needs to be done in ways that should be acceptable to conservatives (who want less government, lower taxes, balanced budgets and more individual responsibility) and liberals (who want fewer social problems, more equal resource allocations, and more equal opportunities).  This also needs to be done in ways that respect traditional American values that give people realistic opportunities instead of constant government handouts.  

 

Why is a holistic approach needed?

Our problems with homelessness, hunger, and poverty are very complex and inter-related with many other issues. Currently many solutions to these problems only focus on easily identified issues in only one area, such as food for hungry, healthcare for the poor, or housing for the unhoused. Such solutions do help but seldom address the root issues that are generating our problems. Implementing a solution in one area will always cause issues (both positive and negative) in other areas. These other issues can easily cause a “good” solution to be unimplementable.

 

A more holistic approach that evaluates the impact of simultaneously implementing solutions from different areas can help “good” solutions to become more acceptable. By implementing solutions from different areas together, the positive effects of some of these solutions can offset the negative effects of others. In addition, solutions from different areas can help support each other. Hence a set of solutions implemented together may become acceptable to entities that would otherwise oppose some of the solutions in the set. This may allow root cause issues to be more easily addressed.   

 

The Wealth Paradox – creating more wealth does not always create less poverty

Mitigating poverty has always been related to the availability of low-cost goods and services. Increasing the availability of low-cost goods and services has always depended on technological advancements and trade. Technological advancements and trade create new industries, new jobs, and increased income for many people. But this process also disrupts existing industries, jobs, and wages. This creates great hardships for people who cannot adapt to the new conditions being created. It also creates constant demands for government assistance to mitigate the problems being created. Hence creating more wealth does not always create less poverty.  However, creating more wealth is essential to raising our living standards and eliminating poverty. We call this the “Wealth Paradox”. 

 

The Plan

The following links briefly describe the core problem areas addressed by the CSS plan, possible starting solutions in each of these areas, the theory that the CSS is based on, and projects to help establish whether or not the CSS plan is credible enough to justify more intensive investigations.   

 

INCOME

HEALTHCARE

EDUCATION

HOUSING

EMPLOYMENT

THEORY

 

Collectively these policy changes will:

 

  1. Cost less than what we are now spending on welfare, healthcare, and housing.
  2. Raise all American incomes above the poverty line.
  3. Give all Americans access to quality healthcare with a focus on preventive care and lifestyle choices.
  4. Help students to understand and deal with the non-academic experiences they may encounter in life.
  5. Expand the role local schools play in mitigating local social, economic, and/or political issues.
  6. Give all Americans access to affordable housing by building quality housing at lower costs.

 

Each of the proposed policy changes have the following characteristics:

 

  1. They are well known and have been extensively studied.
  2. They address root issues that are causing social problems.
  3. They only effect communities that voluntary adopt them.
  4. They will have little or no effect on the situations of most Americans.
  5. They would not be feasible and effectively mitigate our homelessness hunger, and poverty problems if implemented by themselves.

 

However, as stated earlier, when refined and implemented together, the proposed set of policy changes should become more feasible and greatly mitigate our homelessness, hunger, and poverty problems.

 

Developing the CSS plan will require intensive discussions, research, refinements and pilot projects. These activities will generate a long list of reasons why the CSS plan will not work as intended. However, by using this list, we can engineer a set of policy changes that will be more acceptable. This process needs to be repeated until a generally acceptable set of policy changes is found.

 

Pursuing this project can be challenging because it requires evaluating the impacts of simultaneously implementing policy changes in many different areas (income, healthcare, education, housing) and from many different points of view (economically, politically, and socially). This can be difficult to coordinate in an academic environment where everyone specializes. There is no department of holistic studies to coordinate such activities.  

 

A more detailed but still general description of the CSS plan with some supporting documentation can be found in the last part of the book Redesigning America for the 21st Century: Solving our Healthcare, Income, Education, and Housing Problems 

 

For more information email David@fundingvisions.org

Please note: Funding Visions does not solicit, nor does it accept, donations.   February 7, 2025