2007
Soap Box Archives
Poverty
in America Part Four Causes And Cures
There are individuals and families
in this nation who through no fault of their own have fallen into poverty. The
cause could be catastrophic illness, the death of the breadwinner or any of a
myriad of very real circumstances
that could cause a long-term dependence on
outside assistance for the necessities of life.
These people should be
able to receive help for as long as they need it. But it is absolutely essential
to break the chain of poverty in the next generation. The family must put emphasis
on the children getting a good education and stress the importance of ambition
and work ethic if the problem of poverty is to ever be solved.
We all
know about the welfare families who live on public assistance generation after
generation, having children they can't afford and turning them out on the streets,
bitter and discouraged left to the mercy of drug dealers and street gangs, and
many times when the child reaches the age of puberty the whole cycle starts all
over again.
We all know about the punks who father multiple children with
multiple women and never pay a cent toward their upbringing.
Any man who
fathers a child should be forced to support that child until it reaches the age
of majority.
No exceptions, even if it means working three jobs.
In
good economic times and bad the typical poor family with children is supported
by only 800 hours of work per year which translates to sixteen hours of work per
week.
If work levels in each poor family were raised to 2000 hours a year
which is the equivalent of one adult per household working forty hours a week
nearly 75% of poor children would be lifted out of official poverty.
The
decline in marriage is the second major cause of child poverty. Nearly two thirds
of poor children live in single parent homes. Each year an additional 1.5 million
children are born out of wedlock. Increasing marriage
would substantially reduce
child poverty. If poor mothers married the fathers of their children almost three
quarters would immediately be lifted out of poverty.
If child poverty
is to be reduced we must transform welfare. Able-bodied parents would have to
be required to work and the welfare system would have to encourage rather than
penalizing marriage.
What it all is boils down to personal responsibility.
Responsibility to train for, find and keep a job. Responsibility to not become
pregnant with a child you don't have the means to raise.
Responsibility
to send your children to school.
Responsibility of government to stop
treating the symptoms and start treating the causes and having the guts to identify
them, to stop throwing money into a generational black hole.
No able bodied
person is too good to work.
Law enforcement should be given the manpower
and the means to clean up neighborhoods where children are afraid to walk to school,
to get the crack dealers off the corner.
Responsibility of schools to
get out of politics and get back to teaching the basics.
The responsibility
of the public to lend a helping hand to the truly poor people in our neighborhoods
and demand that everybody else take responsibility for their own lives and join
the ranks of people who work for a living.
Pray for our troops
What
do you think?
God Bless America
Charlie Daniels
September 28, 2007
