Poverty in America

[inudesu]

There is no doubt that people suffering in our own country should be taken care of before people in far away countries. That's like all the Hollywood crowd -- who are self-proclaimed liberals -- going to the UN and lobbying the federal government for funding to assist Darfur. Why aren't they out trying to help the people in this country?

In general principle I agree, but Darfur is a pretty special situation. Gov. backed genocide is worth dealing with in my opinion. But I understand what you mean in general. U.S. tax dollars should start by ending starvation here, and then be applied elsewhere. Probably not really an either/or type question anyway, more a matter of how much should stay and how much should go.

I read an interesting article in G.Q. this week about gov. wastefulness in other areas. Sickening.

[mildawg]

In general principle I agree, but Darfur is a pretty special situation. Gov. backed genocide is worth dealing with in my opinion. But I understand what you mean in general. U.S. tax dollars should start by ending starvation here, and then be applied elsewhere. Probably not really an either/or type question anyway, more a matter of how much should stay and how much should go.

I read an interesting article in G.Q. this week about gov. wastefulness in other areas. Sickening.

No doubt about the waste. That's been the general point of my posts in this thread. If we throw more money at a system that has already been proven to waste it, then we're just throwing more money away. As far as Darfur, I have no doubt that there is a humanitarian crisis there. I don't mean to minimize what is obviously a terrible situation. I just don't understand why these Hollywood-types go on crusades for foreign countries when there is suffering--albeit not on the same scale--in our own country.

The US is in a very delicate situation -- regardless of how people around the world perceive us, they still look at us to take the reigns anytime there is a crisis. We can't engage ourselves or our money in every crisis situation around the world, but I can agree that places of extreme crisis like Darfur probably need our help. In the end, the government/administration winds up looking bad either way we go -- we either focus on taking care of domestic issues and anger the international community or we focus on foreign matters and alienate some of our own citizens. I think we've done a pretty good job, historically, of maintaining a good balance of both. But with everything going on in the world today, as well as crises in our own country, we can't do everything. I don't know, though... this is why I'll never go into politics; I have a headache just thinking about this post...

[duckbillplatty]

There is abuse in the system. I will stand by the fact that it is a small portion of the help that is being delivered, though. It is those abuse cases that draw the attention, but not the others. That is understandable and, please do not think that I am excusing ANY abuse of the system. Any is too much, but compared to the ones that are helped, it pales.

$3 billion for one state for one year... pales?!?!? I know some people south of the lake that would love $100K of that money. Such large fraud does not pale because it is both an injustice to the taxpayers that pay for it AND the poor who need it. Imagine what help you could bring to the entire country if you were given 3 BILLION dollars to do so with. I guarantee you could help a lot of people with that.

I want to say again that this is what someone (Cartek?) said was one state for one year. Something needs to be fixed.

[Spinoza]

Consider for a moment...... A large extended family!

Most are hard working middle-class individuals...... A few are not.
Most have decent incomes, live within their means, and have various amounts of decretionary income to save or invest or spend as they like...... Some do not.
Most have high school educations, several have college degrees...... Some have neither.
Most function realistically in our real world...... A few are mentally impaired.
Some have served in America's military...... Most have not.
Most are members of a Christian church...... Some are not.
Most have something akin to decent medical insurance...... Some have none.
Most have been reared in an intact nuclear family environment...... Some have not.
Some are alcoholic or drug addicted...... Most are not.
Some are functionallly "poor"...... Most are not.
Most are sympathetic regarding the emotional and physical needs of other family members...... Some are not.
And so on and so forth.
Bottom line......
Most members of most extended families in our relatively affluent society function either adequately or better...... And some do not.

In any such extended family...... They who "have not" are assisted by other family members who have either something or more. Rent and utility bills get paid. Homelessness does not occur. Necessary medical care is found. Job and church introductions are made, and so forth.
Problems get slowly but eventually solved even if new problems arise in their wake...... To be dealt with by a generally efficient "network" of extended family interaction.

Along the way......
Mistakes are always made.
Good money is not uncommonly poured over bad.
One (or more) of "the few" is always there to try to take advantage of, and dismay and confuse the largese of their faithful family.
But if even ONE is saved while ONE or MORE or NONE is lost......
How might that translate tomorrow within any family history?

[Spinoza]

Consider for a moment...... A large extended family!

Most are hard working middle-class individuals...... A few are not.
Most have decent incomes, live within their means, and have various amounts of decretionary income to save or invest or spend as they like...... Some do not.
Most have high school educations, several have college degrees...... Some have neither.
Most function realistically in our real world...... A few are mentally impaired.
Some have served in America's military...... Most have not.
Most are members of a Christian church...... Some are not.
Most have something akin to decent medical insurance...... Some have none.
Most have been reared in an intact nuclear family environment...... Some have not.
Some are alcoholic or drug addicted...... Most are not.
Some are functionallly "poor"...... Most are not.
Most are sympathetic regarding the emotional and physical needs of other family members...... Some are not.
And so on and so forth.
Bottom line......
Most members of most extended families in our relatively affluent society function either adequately or better...... And some do not.

In any such extended family...... They who "have not" are assisted by other family members who have either something or more. Rent and utility bills get paid. Homelessness does not occur. Necessary medical care is found. Job and church introductions are made, and so forth.
Problems get slowly but eventually solved even if new problems arise in their wake...... To be dealt with by a generally efficient "network" of extended family interaction.

Along the way......
Mistakes are always made.
Good money is not uncommonly poured over bad.
One (or more) of "the few" is always there to try to take advantage of, and dismay and confuse the largese of their faithful family.
But if even ONE is saved while ONE or MORE or NONE is lost......
How might that translate tomorrow within any family history?

Now consider individuals who have no such NETWORK of extended family to turn toward for even some remote fantasy of personal succor...... Where everyone they know is as far or even further removed from the prospect of any "American dream" than they or their unaborted children.

What might it mean to any such adult or unaborted child if our American society suddenly began to ROUTINELY SCREEM LOUDLY......
About our CERTAINTY of their worth......
Our willingness to error repeatedly (if necessary) toward their potential future......
And any newly found commitment to spend as many tax dollars on OUR OWN over the next 4 years as we have recklessly spent in Iraq over the last 4 years.

[Dawgpix]

There is abuse in the system. I will stand by the fact that it is a small portion of the help that is being delivered, though. It is those abuse cases that draw the attention, but not the others. That is understandable and, please do not think that I am excusing ANY abuse of the system. Any is too much, but compared to the ones that are helped, it pales.

Champ- I had a heads up to watch the show through our Boys & Girls Clubs of America intranet.

I've had this saying for about 13 years now . . "Kids are just kids. It's their parents who have problems." However, when there is trouble at home, the kids bring it to school and they bring it to the Boys & Girls Club that I run.

I thought it was a very good piece by ABC News. Of course I kept saying, "Well, Diane, take a few dollars out of your pocket take off a few hours each day and make a difference in Ivan's life." Of course, half-way through the hour she said something to the effect if they got directly involved we would not get the real story, the real lives of these children and their families.

We just had a successful year reaching more kids who need our programs, but 2007 is a whole new year and a whole new year of challenges as the city of Monroe wants us to come into a rec center or two of theirs. However, we've got to dance through the funding loops. It'll happen, but for some it might not be soon enough.
tm

Those on the board can find plenty of opportunities at their local Boys & Girls Club to serve. We'd love your money to reach more kids with our programs. The kids would love your time. There's a story in each child. And, they're not all poverty cases.
www.bgcwestmonroe.org

www.bgca.org

[champion110]

Champ- I had a heads up to watch the show through our Boys & Girls Clubs of America intranet.

I've had this saying for about 13 years now . . "Kids are just kids. It's their parents who have problems." However, when there is trouble at home, the kids bring it to school and they bring it to the Boys & Girls Club that I run.

I thought it was a very good piece by ABC News. Of course I kept saying, "Well, Diane, take a few dollars out of your pocket take off a few hours each day and make a difference in Ivan's life." Of course, half-way through the hour she said something to the effect if they got directly involved we would not get the real story, the real lives of these children and their families.

We just had a successful year reaching more kids who need our programs, but 2007 is a whole new year and a whole new year of challenges as the city of Monroe wants us to come into a rec center or two of theirs. However, we've got to dance through the funding loops. It'll happen, but for some it might not be soon enough.
tm

Those on the board can find plenty of opportunities at their local Boys & Girls Club to serve. We'd love your money to reach more kids with our programs. The kids would love your time. There's a story in each child. And, they're not all poverty cases.
www.bgcwestmonroe.org

www.bgca.org

That is good, Dawgpix. THe Boys and Girls Club is a good example of how to change lives.

All those kids grow up to be adults and have kids of their own. The cycle continues. The only way to break it is to help the kids and parents - hoping that an impact can be made. Having food, medical care, emotional support, and a place to live are all vital to breaking the cycle - one family at a time.

[dawg80]

I love spending time at the Natchitoches Boys and Girls Club! Right now, having gone back to school, with coaching, work, etc....I am very busy and haven't spent as much time at the Club recently. I miss being there. Of course, the best part is playing basketball with the kids after they finish their homework. That's when you can connect to them. Often, several kids will call their mommas, or their aunt or grandmother, who was coming to pick them up and ask if they can stay longer, shooting hoops, then I take them home later. The Club stays open til 7:00. And now with the city league basketball starting up, the facility is opened even later than that.

They are just kids. They are starved for what most of us had, adults in their lives that care enough to lower the boom on 'em and make them do the right thing: stay in school, get a good education, stay out of trouble with the law, and NOT get pregnant! Or, get a girl pregnant.

I am thinking of dropping my Wed night class. It's too much. If I do, I will return to the Club more often. Get involved! Change some kid's life!

[Dawgpix]

great, 80. And thank you for taking that time.
These kids can melt your heart.
No, we can't do much about Camden, NJ, but we can do something in our own towns, cuz believe me, it's there.

tm

[TYLERTECHSAS]

A tad off subject but not really. Did any of you guys see the movie

Freedom Writers with Hillary Swank yet? I recommend it highly.

[champion110]

A tad off subject but not really. Did any of you guys see the movie

Freedom Writers with Hillary Swank yet? I recommend it highly.

Don't know much about it. It scares me that you recommend it, though. Now, I am not so sure that I should see it or not.

[mildawg]

She's a speech writer for Bush. You'll love it. Really warms the heart.

[TYLERTECHSAS]

She's a speech writer for Bush. You'll love it. Really warms the heart.

Not true Champ. In Freedom Writers Hillary Swank plays a freshman and soph teacher in a very poor high risk and now mixed area. Poor blacks, whites, Viet., hispanics are forced together by busing ect..... The use of Hitler's Germany and the holocaust provides an interesting twist to the problem.

[dhussdawg]

Another poverty issue in America is healthcare for children. I watched "John Q" the other day, and I have to say it was a great movie. If you havent seen it, it is very good. It shows the extremes a good man will do to get his son a new heart because his HMO unjustly wont pay for it. In the end, the message is that nationwide healthcare is the answer. I agree with the premise that all kids should be taken care of, but it is a romantical idea and not one that is plausible, IMO. Denzel's kid would have died waiting for a heart with socialized healthcare. I dont think it will be any different than a donor list now, except it will be worse because those with extra money will be able to grease their way to the top of donor lists while the poor will sit at the bottom. I will say it like I always say it, people are way too selfish for social programs to ever work.

I actually think the people that will get boned in a social healthcare system is the middle class that used to have enough money to afford thier own private healthcare, but now have to pay extra taxes to support public healthcare. Thus, receiving the same crappy dilemma that the poor will face in my previous paragraph. The rich will win out even more in a social healthcare program.

[TYLERTECHSAS]

My family and I traveled to Europe this past summer. We didn't even have to ask them about what they thought about socialized healthcare. They went to great lengths to tell us how terrible it was. They talked about 4-6 months to see specialist. Inferior doctors because they all had headed to the good old USA. People dying because they couldn't even receive there first treatments for cancer. Have you guys talked to those across our northern boarder in Canada? Socialized healthcare is a wet dream of the DEMS/LIBS to gain more mind and political control over the poor and more tax money for them to spend. Period! What a joke!