Poverty

So our Bible study tonight focused on the radical Discipleship and mounting controversy surrounding Jesus Christ right up until his death. We studied a lot the Sermon on the Mount and what it is asking us to do, in short what God is asking us to do as Disciples, and I keep coming back to this great question that my friend Wilson asked. I'm not sure if he thought of it himself or if he got it somewhere, but nonetheless, its amazingly thought provoking...
"Are we called to eradicate poverty, or are we called to take vows of poverty?"
So regardless of religious convictions, you have to admit.... poverty and the poor have been around FOREVER, the class stratifications in early Europe shaped European society today which in turn influenced America, not to mention that most wars throughout history have been based off money, some people have it, others don't. I'm sure this has some tone about communism in it, but are we ever, as a society, really going to be able to eradicate poverty? Won't that make us all become somewhat equal? Heaven forbid! So if its NEVER going to go away....what's to be done about it? "If you can't beat'em, join 'em"....hmmm...