Poring over the remaining morsels of my meager 12-course breakfast this morning, I observe that since the launch of this celebrity blog that there is no change in the trend that Arianna and her celib blogpals keep company like Kerry’s campaig…

David, if you’re having that much difficulty understanding the difference between domestic social welfare and the U.S. military / foreign affairs, that might be an area for you to explore. I suggest Google as a starting point, with added resources available at your local library.

Thank you eulalie.

Double meat cheeseburgers and curly fries. Heart attack in a sack!

You’re welcome.

Thanks for bringing back some memories.

Some of the overblown “US military as the world’s last hope” must have really thrown you for a loop.

Ahem. Sorry for the distraction, La Shawn; sometimes the urge just overcomes me.

2)”But in a democracy, where the majority has ultimate power, can you really expect a party that has a power base of collective interest (the Republican base is alot more homogenistic) to actively pursue and allocate resources to truly solve the social problems of one group within it’s segmented base?”

I have several issues with this statement. First, it is disingenuous to propose that the government continually step in to solve the problems. Our government has a terrible record at solving social and economic problems. Then the government proposes a wonderful idea to solve their problems: more government programs and handouts. Government assistance, no matter what it is for and where it comes from does promote dependence of some kind. The difference is in how long people want that dependence to last. For many of us, the shorter amount of time spent dependent upon the government, the better. The best solution does come from within. Even the most well meaning programs had unintended consequences. Desegregation was a wonderful thing, but did anyone stop to think the effect on the black businessman now that blacks could shop at Macy’s, etc. Instead of working to find a new market for these businessmen, the GOVERNMENT’S solution was a welfare check and more projects. Did that really solve the problem?

The best solutions for a social group have to come from that group, and not from some government entity. Remember that a bureaucracy exists only to serve itself. Our government has become a bureaucracy. Are we so naive to think that the government will really solve our problems?

No matter what our background is, we have to find ways to do things ourselves. Even if it means that we don’t aquire much wealth, if we can pass the tools and values on to our children, then they can improve upon our work and pass it on to the next generation. That following generation improves their lot and they pass it on. That is how the cycle of poverty is broken. It often takes a long time. While it doesn’t make today any easier, aren’t we supposed to pass on hope for those who come after us? Isn’t that part of our obligation, to prepare the way and sacrifice for those who will follow? Right now, among the poorest of the poor, the only thing that gets passed on is how to live off of a program. Our society has become so self-serving, that individuals see no logic nor reason to sacrifice so that the next generation will have it better than them. All that does is prevent the next generation from having a chance.

I learned of all of these through “liberal” MSM.

When Charles Murray attacked the effectiveness of Marva Collins’ schools, without even looking at the college attendence rate, although he said their college attendence rate was minimal, not one conservative group stepped up to defend Marva Collins.

The college attendence rate of kids graduating her school was greater than 90%.

Laura, without external GOVERNMENTAL prevention, slavery, sharecropping, jim crow, suffrage, etc. wouldn’t and couldn’t have been changed by the minority group. That is idealistic, as Milton Friedman, Thomas Sowells hero said, the government exists to referee the game in all other instances the free market and de-centralized governmental power should be the mantra. But when the government was decentralized the most, the most barbaric acts of racism were being done to minorities.

Thanks.

While I certainly understand that people may feel they have no choice but to accept welfare temporarily, FAR too many LIVE with it. The government SUBSIDIZES out-of-wedlock pregnancies, which only perpetuates the cycle of dependency. It is and SHOULD BE a very shameful thing. I commend your mother for stressing to you and your siblings that education is the way out of poverty. Did she teach you to grow up to be a welfare bum? No, but too many mothers on welfare teach it to their children by the lives they lead. I stand firm on that, no matter how loudly you rant and rave on this blog. I will continue speaking out against government dependency.

And why is it the government’s job to “help people out of poverty?” The government has no money of its own to do that. They jack money out of my paycheck. What about that old-fashion notioned of “helping yourself out of poverty?” THIS is the dependent mentally that I’m talking about. An entire sub-culture is groomed to believe that everybody else is responsible for their care and feeding, failures and successes. Absolutely repugnant!

When I was growing up, my mother raised 4 kids on her own…
she struggled to put food on the table, a roof over our heads…
I am not ashamed to say that we benefited from food stamps, housing vouchers, government cheese, and a whole range of welfare support to get us through those rough times when my mother had a literal choice between food or heat.

Fortnuately, we got through those rough years… my mother indoctrinated her children that for us, EDUCATION was the only way out of poverty… so with the the help of financial aid (oops… more evil, socialistic govt help that breeds dependency), all 4 of us graduated from college, one of us, myself, even earned a PhD… all 4 of us are in our 30s with excellent jobs… we are all proud TAX-PAYERS now…

Oh, but you never hear stories like that… it’s always how welfare breeds dependency… as LaShawn said: no “pride, hope, or expectation of excellence.”

Look… welfare has problems… I’m all for making it a more effective tool to help people out of poverty, so if liberals and conservatives have more ideas on how to make it more effective… I’m all for it. But all this conservative gnashing of teeth over “socialism” to help struggling families get out of poverty is counterproductive.