There is a centrality of the traditional family to the American dream of opportunity and a centrality of family breakdown to poverty.
By Star Parker
Speroforum.com
Monday, November 23, 2009
At a time when our country is sick, it shouldn't surprise that one our sickest places is our nation's capital. The poverty rate of Washington, DC, almost 20 percent, is one of the highest in the nation. Its child poverty rate is the nation's highest..
DC's public school system, with a graduation rate of less than 50 percent, is one of the worst in the country.
According to DC's HIV/AIDS office, three percent of the local population has HIV or AIDS. The Administrator of this office notes that this HIV/AIDS incidence is "...higher than West Africa...on par with Uganda and some parts of Kenya." And the principal way that HIV is transmitted continues to be through male homosexual activity.
Amidst this dismal picture, the DC City Council, perhaps on the theory that serving up another glass of wine is the way to help a drunk, is scheduled to vote on December 1 to legalize same sex marriage in America's capital city.
Looking at realities in Washington, DC should make clear why George Washington said "Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports."
But the America that our first president had in mind was very different from the vision of our DC government officials.
George Washington's America was one in which the point of freedom is to allow Man to rise to what he can become. To do this, the greatest challenge he faces is conquering himself. To rise above his baser instincts, to rise above the many temptations that lead him astray. And to achieve this end, as Washington said, "religion and morality are indispensable supports."
In left wing America, of which the DC government is a poster child, freedom means to indulge every instinct that the tradition and religion of George Washington would have us overcome.
Where does it lead? Well, look at DC.
It is tempting to look at DC's realities and just call this a black thing. And by and large it is.
DC is largely black -- almost 60 percent. Its poverty is black poverty. Its public school system serves mostly black children. And its AIDS crisis is mostly among blacks.
But the pathologies that strike the weakest parts of our population most brutally are nonetheless pathologies of the nation.
The Brooking's Institution is one of our oldest policy institutes and certainly no bastion of conservatism. But in a recently published volume, Brooking's scholars Ron Haskins and Isabel Sawhill point out the centrality of the traditional family to the American dream of opportunity and the centrality of family breakdown to poverty.
Reporting data showing the general breakdown of the traditional American family, they say, "'Some claim that anyone who is concerned about these trends is simply out of touch with modern culture'; we respond that, if that be the case, then, 'modern culture is out of touch with the needs of children.'"
The Catholic Archdiocese of DC announced that legalization of same sex marriage would make it impossible to continue its relationship with the DC government and require termination of the social services it provides to some 68,000 of the city's poor -- including about one third of its homeless. The reaction of DC council member David Catania was essentially "so what." According to him, "their services are not indispensable."
Is Catania out of touch with the needs of DC's poor?
No. He just has different priorities. More important to him, and more important to DC's left wing city council, is advancing moral relativism and the indulgences it feeds.
This is more important to them than feeding the poor or recognizing the values that would get them out of poverty.
It should concern every American as we watch our nation's capital city transform officially into Sodom.
Showing posts with label Poverty. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Poverty. Show all posts
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Saturday, November 8, 2008
U.S Gap Between Rich and Poor Widening!
By Bob Kendall
October 31, 2008 "Information Clearinghouse" -- "PC" -- Now that the U.S.A. has discovered that only Mexico and Turkey had poverty rates higher than the 30-country study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, what if anything will be done to help the U.S. poor obtain health care?
Politicians, during campaigns, loudly proclaim "The U.S.A. is the greatest nation on earth and the richest."
With the largest, almost incomprehensible national debt in the world, exceeding all prior national debts combined since the U.S. was founded, recent political rants have avoided claiming the U.S.A. to be the richest nation in the world! However, the persistent claim to greatness has been much used in the current election campaigns (rest assured).
Mary Reynolds-Gilmore of Northport, N.Y. in her October 24 Letter to the Editors of the New York Times hit the problem of U.S. health care precisely, stating:
"The problem is cost and access. We will never be first until all Americans have basic health care, health and malpractice executives stop pocketing such a high percentage of our premiums, and we institute a system of medical-specialist juries to control the malpractice frenzy. More money for evidence-based research is not the answer."
Stanley R. Bermann of Santa Fe, New Mexico had this to say in his letter of the same day to the Times:
"What needs to happen is that we have a universal health care program for all Americans. Nothing else will do!
"No American should have to suffer medically and then suffer financially."
Bruce Leff of Baltimore, also writing the same day in the Times, is an Associate Professor of Medicine at John Hopkins University School of Medicine. He explains succinctly:
"The evidence base for most interventions in medicine is lacking, especially so in the area of how to deliver quality care to the most costly patients, the elderly with multiple chronic conditions.
"Improvements in the evidence will be ineffective if they come in the absence of health care payment reform that obliterates the perverse incentives that favor specialty care and glitzy idolatry over diligent primary care and care coordination.
"A vast overhaul of medical education must be aligned with any reforms to achieve success."
This professor's opinion reflects a recent survey of students entering the schools of medicine at U.S. universities, where only 2% wanted to become primary care physicians. The reason? Because the specialty fields of medicine pay much more.
John McCain's much vaunted health care plan is almost amusing if it wasn't so absurd. The Republican health care plan allows a $5,000 tax consideration for health insurance. With almost all health insurance policies $12,000 top $15,000 a year, that doesn't help very much. But even worse is the accompanying nonsense of having to pay taxes on any health insurance coverage supplied by one's place of employment.
After hearing for years the boast about the U.S.A. being the richest nation in the world, possibly the recent survey of 30 nations by the Economic Cooperation and Development study, placing the U.S. above only Mexico and Turkey will bring us down to earth.
Arnold S. Cohen, president of Partnership for the Homeless in New York City in his October 23 letter to the Times touches base with reality:
"During these fragile and uncertain economic times, we'll certainly be seeing thousands upon thousands more people teetering on the precipice, falling into homelessness.
"Just think back to the days of the 2001 economic slump when homelessness in New York City dramatically increased.
"By the fall of 2003, more than 16,000 children were living in homeless shelters.
"The shrinking economy will undoubtedly mean less public financing for critical services and fewer jobs for our neighbors in need. But deep budget cuts -- which may appear on their face prudent -- have historically proved to be fiscally unwise.
"It only manages to push people further into poverty and homelessness, costing taxpayers millions more."
While 45 million Americans lack health care coverage, this Republican-led administration goes on spending $10 billion a month in Iraq. Meanwhile on the business front, U.S. CEO's have the highest salaries in the world!
October 31, 2008 "Information Clearinghouse" -- "PC" -- Now that the U.S.A. has discovered that only Mexico and Turkey had poverty rates higher than the 30-country study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, what if anything will be done to help the U.S. poor obtain health care?
Politicians, during campaigns, loudly proclaim "The U.S.A. is the greatest nation on earth and the richest."
With the largest, almost incomprehensible national debt in the world, exceeding all prior national debts combined since the U.S. was founded, recent political rants have avoided claiming the U.S.A. to be the richest nation in the world! However, the persistent claim to greatness has been much used in the current election campaigns (rest assured).
Mary Reynolds-Gilmore of Northport, N.Y. in her October 24 Letter to the Editors of the New York Times hit the problem of U.S. health care precisely, stating:
"The problem is cost and access. We will never be first until all Americans have basic health care, health and malpractice executives stop pocketing such a high percentage of our premiums, and we institute a system of medical-specialist juries to control the malpractice frenzy. More money for evidence-based research is not the answer."
Stanley R. Bermann of Santa Fe, New Mexico had this to say in his letter of the same day to the Times:
"What needs to happen is that we have a universal health care program for all Americans. Nothing else will do!
"No American should have to suffer medically and then suffer financially."
Bruce Leff of Baltimore, also writing the same day in the Times, is an Associate Professor of Medicine at John Hopkins University School of Medicine. He explains succinctly:
"The evidence base for most interventions in medicine is lacking, especially so in the area of how to deliver quality care to the most costly patients, the elderly with multiple chronic conditions.
"Improvements in the evidence will be ineffective if they come in the absence of health care payment reform that obliterates the perverse incentives that favor specialty care and glitzy idolatry over diligent primary care and care coordination.
"A vast overhaul of medical education must be aligned with any reforms to achieve success."
This professor's opinion reflects a recent survey of students entering the schools of medicine at U.S. universities, where only 2% wanted to become primary care physicians. The reason? Because the specialty fields of medicine pay much more.
John McCain's much vaunted health care plan is almost amusing if it wasn't so absurd. The Republican health care plan allows a $5,000 tax consideration for health insurance. With almost all health insurance policies $12,000 top $15,000 a year, that doesn't help very much. But even worse is the accompanying nonsense of having to pay taxes on any health insurance coverage supplied by one's place of employment.
After hearing for years the boast about the U.S.A. being the richest nation in the world, possibly the recent survey of 30 nations by the Economic Cooperation and Development study, placing the U.S. above only Mexico and Turkey will bring us down to earth.
Arnold S. Cohen, president of Partnership for the Homeless in New York City in his October 23 letter to the Times touches base with reality:
"During these fragile and uncertain economic times, we'll certainly be seeing thousands upon thousands more people teetering on the precipice, falling into homelessness.
"Just think back to the days of the 2001 economic slump when homelessness in New York City dramatically increased.
"By the fall of 2003, more than 16,000 children were living in homeless shelters.
"The shrinking economy will undoubtedly mean less public financing for critical services and fewer jobs for our neighbors in need. But deep budget cuts -- which may appear on their face prudent -- have historically proved to be fiscally unwise.
"It only manages to push people further into poverty and homelessness, costing taxpayers millions more."
While 45 million Americans lack health care coverage, this Republican-led administration goes on spending $10 billion a month in Iraq. Meanwhile on the business front, U.S. CEO's have the highest salaries in the world!
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
The Scourge of Poverty: Many Countries Left Behind in Economic Development
By Father John Flynn, LC
ROME, NOV. 5, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The poorest countries need help, and the more developed countries need to come to their aid, the Vatican has been insisting of late. Almost 10 million children below 5 years of age die each year from preventable illnesses, denounced Archbishop Celestino Migliore, permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations.
The archbishop's Oct. 9 speech to the U.N. General Assembly examined progress toward meeting a series of targets for development, known as the Millennium Development Goals.
"The global community seems to have been losing focus on the need to ensure the right to basic health care for all," he added.
Archbishop Migliore recognized that some countries have made gains, but a number of states are trailing the rest of the developing world. He called for greater attention to these states, and the encouragement of more investment and the creation of a favorable economic and social climate, along with the establishment of peace and security and the rule of law...
The fight against poverty is a moral duty, stated Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, permanent observer of the Holy See to the Office of the United Nations and Specialized Institutions in Geneva, to a July 4 session of the U.N. Economic and Social Council.
In several regions of Africa and Asia, life expectancy is almost half of that in rich countries and illiteracy reaches high levels, he pointed out.
The improvements sought through aid and debt cancellation have not yielded all the results expected, he observed. The archbishop suggested that greater concentration on projects that will create jobs could be one way to reduce poverty. "Work is the only possibility for a community to generate its own value added that pays the way out of poverty," he said.
The Holy See, Archbishop Tomasi emphasized, has repeatedly insisted on the responsibility of poorer countries to strive for good governance and do all they can to eliminate poverty. No less vital is help by other countries that are better off. Such assistance he urged, is a grave moral responsibility.
More here.
It seems trite to state the obvious: children have no control over where and to whom they are born. A life of poverty and squalor is inherently unjust and incompatible with basic human dignity. The ancient Greek pagan philosopher's Socrates and Aristotle [and St. Thomas much later of course in harmonizing the best of Greek philosophy with Christianity] understood the need to ensure that every human being is afforded the basic goods necessary for human flourishing. This is the case of course because no one is truly self-sufficient. Human beings are fundamentally social creatures who are dependent upon one another, a reality which is too often forgotten by radical libertarians and other fiscal conservatives.
It would be impossible for anyone to amass a fortune without availing themselves of certain "goods" which they had no part in providing. One has no right to demand just treatment while meeting out injustice to others. The second principle of the Natural Law (Right Reason) requires that we treat our neighbor fairly that is, treat each individual we meet as we would wish to be treated, better; actually desire and work for what is truly best for them as St. Thomas taught on "loving our neighbor."
--Dr. J. P. Hubert
ROME, NOV. 5, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The poorest countries need help, and the more developed countries need to come to their aid, the Vatican has been insisting of late. Almost 10 million children below 5 years of age die each year from preventable illnesses, denounced Archbishop Celestino Migliore, permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations.
The archbishop's Oct. 9 speech to the U.N. General Assembly examined progress toward meeting a series of targets for development, known as the Millennium Development Goals.
"The global community seems to have been losing focus on the need to ensure the right to basic health care for all," he added.
Archbishop Migliore recognized that some countries have made gains, but a number of states are trailing the rest of the developing world. He called for greater attention to these states, and the encouragement of more investment and the creation of a favorable economic and social climate, along with the establishment of peace and security and the rule of law...
The fight against poverty is a moral duty, stated Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, permanent observer of the Holy See to the Office of the United Nations and Specialized Institutions in Geneva, to a July 4 session of the U.N. Economic and Social Council.
In several regions of Africa and Asia, life expectancy is almost half of that in rich countries and illiteracy reaches high levels, he pointed out.
The improvements sought through aid and debt cancellation have not yielded all the results expected, he observed. The archbishop suggested that greater concentration on projects that will create jobs could be one way to reduce poverty. "Work is the only possibility for a community to generate its own value added that pays the way out of poverty," he said.
The Holy See, Archbishop Tomasi emphasized, has repeatedly insisted on the responsibility of poorer countries to strive for good governance and do all they can to eliminate poverty. No less vital is help by other countries that are better off. Such assistance he urged, is a grave moral responsibility.
More here.
It seems trite to state the obvious: children have no control over where and to whom they are born. A life of poverty and squalor is inherently unjust and incompatible with basic human dignity. The ancient Greek pagan philosopher's Socrates and Aristotle [and St. Thomas much later of course in harmonizing the best of Greek philosophy with Christianity] understood the need to ensure that every human being is afforded the basic goods necessary for human flourishing. This is the case of course because no one is truly self-sufficient. Human beings are fundamentally social creatures who are dependent upon one another, a reality which is too often forgotten by radical libertarians and other fiscal conservatives.
It would be impossible for anyone to amass a fortune without availing themselves of certain "goods" which they had no part in providing. One has no right to demand just treatment while meeting out injustice to others. The second principle of the Natural Law (Right Reason) requires that we treat our neighbor fairly that is, treat each individual we meet as we would wish to be treated, better; actually desire and work for what is truly best for them as St. Thomas taught on "loving our neighbor."
--Dr. J. P. Hubert
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