> the poor would simply be led by new masters, a la "Animal Farm" or North Korea or the old Soviet Union.

The verdict of history seems pretty clear on that one.

As to rising above poverty: Of course, some highly motivated and unusually fortunate (or should I say, "unfortunately unusual") people can wind up with a decent (legal) income no matter what circumstances they were born into.

The point is that, statistically, most poor people don't.