Maybe Moose needs to try roaming those same streets up in Harlem at
night and see if he has the same perspective.
What irks me is when people deny that there is a problem or choose to
blame everything else on why people are the way they are. It's the
white cops' fault that we have riots. It's lack of education or
opportunity or whatever. In the USA, we have the lowest rate of income
mobility that we've seen in generations. Why is that? Education? We
spend more on education than ever before. Food security? Again, we
have more programs and food availability to the food insecure than
ever before. Drugs and crime? We've always had it in one form or
another. Lack of opportunity? In some areas, yes, but it is also by
choice. We see that choice on a daily basis.
We're heavily involved in NGO food and assistance programs in our
community and have close ties with the government assistance programs
too as we try to avoid unnecessary duplication. What we have found is
there is a "culture of poverty" that is every bit as powerful as a
"culture of wealth". Whichever culture you grow up in is very likely
going to be your own culture as an adult. And you will pass that on to
your own children.
The previously mentioned girl with the four kids has a brother one
year younger. He wanted to be a structural engineer and aced every
class he took in high school. He got accepted into the best
engineering program in Iowa (ISU) with a total free ride because of
his grades and the fact that his family was below the poverty line. He
turned it down so he could stay and help raise his sister's kids. He's
been working part-time at a pizza joint ever since and his
scholorships are history. EVERYBODY is on government assistance.
Those rose tinted glasses Moose is wearing show a different world than
what I'm familiar with.
However, I certainly don't buy into the "the trouble with kids today"
mentality. I look at my own children and their friends and am
confident in the future.
AG Schnozz
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