They got money for wars but can’t feed the poor.

The line is widely circulated as a Tupac Shakur quotation in posters and social-media compilations, typically framed as a critique of U.S. government priorities—lavish military spending alongside persistent domestic poverty. It aligns closely with themes Tupac voiced repeatedly in the early-to-mid 1990s in interviews and lyrics: frustration with structural inequality, neglect of poor communities, and the sense that public resources are mobilized quickly for violence and punishment but not for care, housing, or food security. However, this exact wording is difficult to tie to a specific dated interview, speech, or officially released lyric without a verifiable citation.

The line contrasts public willingness to fund militarism with reluctance to address basic human needs, framing poverty as a political choice rather than an inevitability. Attributed to Tupac Shakur, it aligns with a recurring theme in his work: anger at structural inequality and the sense that marginalized communities are asked to endure deprivation while the state readily bankrolls violence and coercion. The blunt parallel (“wars” vs. “feed the poor”) functions as moral indictment and protest slogan, compressing a critique of budget priorities, social neglect, and the devaluation of Black and poor lives into a single, memorable sentence.