How to help the poor is a question central to American life, rooted deeply in our nation's Judeo-Christian heritage. We believe we possess enough wealth to provide a 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. Yet, despite these efforts, international and domestic poverty persist.

In From Prophecy to Charity: How to Help the Poor, Lawrence M. Mead critiques the moral presuppositions of past and current endeavors to alleviate poverty and provides a framework for future efforts based on an approach proven to actually help those in need: charity rooted in love.

Lawrence M. Mead is a visiting scholar at AEI.