Why do most of the poor stay poor?

Monty at Ace of Spades posted a piece that explains most of why the poor in the U.S. stay that way:

The biggest difference between the wealthy and the poor in this country is not (purely) economic. [Rather,] it lies in the adherence to what Bryan Caplan calls “the founding virtues.” Much of America’s “poor” have pretty much [abandoned] those institutions and habits that lead to personal fulfillment as well as wealth creation: marriage, religious faith, entrepreneurship, and a strong work ethic. The reason for this collapse in social and cultural ability can be laid directly at the door of the modern welfare state and the ascendance of post-modernist schools of thought like feminism and ... Marxism.

The thrust of the philosophy of the Democratic party over the past several decades can be summarized as an effort to replace the traditional family--and the values that make it a successful engine--with government, especially for the poor. As Monty puts it,

The social contract... has been... fatally weakened. And not just in America, but the entire “enlightened” western world.

I suspect most working Americans would say the welfare state hasn't worked very well--or works about as well as most huge government programs. But Democrats are able to duck any criticism of these programs by simply claiming that life would be so much worse without them. And certainly it's impossible to prove one way or the other.

Interesting.