After reading An Intellectual Road Map, I think you are spot on about the difficult challenges a country faces, and how we deal with this issues. The theory of raising people out of poverty sounds great, however, first we all need to understand poverty and the people that live in it. While I’m not saying it’s always a choice, some, especially those victim to generational poverty, don’t know how, or have to tools necessary to get out of poverty. A great book to read in your free time that will give you an inside look at people who ‘choose’ this lifestyle is The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls.