OT.....Ron, for every personal story there is another with the other side. I'm not disputing your opinions...nor do I wish to debate what is and is not a sin.
What I am saying is that there is no proof which can be found in the expenditures of this government that the poor are a significant financial drain on the economy. There is significant proof however that the middle classes are now a drain and will become a much greater drain in the near future. There is also a great deal of proof that Corporations benefit greatly from government expenditure without providing a good return on that expenditure. Yet the poor are held up as symbols of eating up the taxes paid by the middle classes.
The homeless, The child with children, the other urban icons have simply become a focus for fear and hatred. Most of these people are pathetic. They deserve our compassion and help, even if that help is not effective on first offering. When 1 out 4 children in the US lives in poverty we have a serious problem. One that will look quite nasty when those children grow up. Like you said every one should have the opportunity to do better. Most of these kids will never even really have that opportunity.
(I have some relatives who worked at Pilgrim State Mental Hospital in New York in the 60's and 70's. The government move then was to release people from the hospital and 'integrate' them into the community. My relatives were deeply saddened by the process when they saw many of these helpless and pathetic people released only to end up wandering the streets. These aren't people like your relative, who should know right from wrong or who were fortunate enough to have a strong family to help them recover, but souls lost in the darkness and despair of serious mental illness. For many drugs and drink and irrational behavior are just the symptom of the problem, not the real problem.)
Most people on the streets are there because the mental hell in which they reside is beyond their ability to handle. They need care and help, before they need a job. But I agree with you that work, any kind of work should be regarded as an essential aspect of their rehabilitation.
Compassion is a cheap commodity. It costs relatively little. I am simply saying that the problem with this country, with the economy can not be traced to the poor and the disenfranchised. Nor to the government programs which have been established to attempt to help them. If you are seeking a serious financial problem you need look no farther than the 67 year old guy down the block who drives a nice car, lives in a good house, goes to church, and plays golf 3 times a week, has 3 grand kids and 2 college educated children. He and his wife are the problem when their Social Security and Medicare payments will be far less than what they paid into the system even some reasonable return on it over time. We will join them soon enough. The problem is US. But it is a lot easier to hate what we fear, to ignore our own culpability. |
