Poverty

I've been thinking a lot about poverty lately. How it affects learning, how it affects businesses and general economics, how it affects emotional and physical health. No answers to the many questions, but I do have these questions that I haven't seen many people ask:

Would poverty be such a big deal if the other side of the spectrum didn't exist at such extreme levels?

Would people feel the effects of poverty so much if western consumerism and our impulses for immediate gratification wasn't as intense as it is now?

How many people can be lifted out of poverty just from practicing conservative money management and investment?

Are we expecting money to solve problems on a near impossible level? Can we throw cash into the coffers of public education and hope it'll all turn out well automatically?

Why do we expect to have the fanciest luxury items and at the same time hold out our hands for government intervention for our basic needs?

Who else out there is liberal on social issues but conservative on economic issues?