There are some simple truths in life which are extremely unpalatable to some people. These truths have been proven over the centuries as leading to better adjusted individuals, a stronger society, increased wealth, and less violence. They include such concepts as:
- Get an education.
- Get married.
- Do not have children before you are married.
- A child needs both a mother and a father.
Somehow, despite the failures of societies which ignore these rules, there are those who preach that “this time it will be different”. It never is, but there is not much that you can do with slow learners who are “believers”.
Another group which tends to ignore reality is called the “bleeding heart brigade”. They truly want to help people, but just want to take the clean sanitary way of throwing money at a problem in the belief that money in itself can solve a problem. A prime example of this was the “Great Society” movement during the 1960’s, when poverty was thought to be an outcome a lack of income. The result of that movement, which has cost the taxpayers of the United States over twenty trillion dollars, was the break up of the traditional Black family, a higher crime rate, a decrease in house ownership in the Black population, etc.. Do not forget that it has also come with another price, a permanent welfare bureaucracy at the Federal, state, and local level with a vested interest in self-preservation.
The link to the article by Steven Malanga points out how past policies have led to a debasement of life in the Black community. At some point we have to realize that the failed policies of the past have helped to ruin the opportunities for millions of our citizens. That is not only a financial failure, it is a moral failure and one which cannot be hidden by new programs based on the same policies which have been proven to be worse than worthless; they are criminal. We see not that poverty is not merely a matter of money, but it is also a failure of recognizing the value of the individual and destroying that individual’s belief in themselves. It is time for a change.
