Michael, I wasn't arguing in favor of WELFARE programs for Indians, which I don't think are very effective. I would agree that they create a culture of dependency. However, we shunted Indians off to remote, barren corners of America where it is very difficult to make money. And while a few tribes have increased revenues with gambling, this has not been the case for all of them.
All I am advocating is the same kind of health care and education on Indian reservations that we want for our own children, so that young Indians have reasonable chances to succeed. Since we killed most of them off and were very much less than honorable in our dealings with them over a period of several hundred years, after they helped our earliest settlers survive here, I think it is only fair to do everything we can to reverse the decimation of their culture which does NOT create more dependency.
The only way that you could possibly call that a 'liberal' philosophy is if you equate being liberal with essential fairness. It doesn't involve welfare at all. I would dispute your statement that they don't need more lawyers, though. The higher education of the younger Indians is the only way the tribes will be able to survive, and Indian attorneys are excellent advocates for the rights of their peoples. The treaties are complex legal documents, which the U.S. government, and the state governments, are still trying to violate in every way they can. Attorneys is exactly what the Indians need!! |
