Have You Ever Noticed...

(Reposted from the myspace blog)

....That when some polling group prints up what people think are the issues closest to their heart, they always say WE need to do this or that? For example,

-WE need to dump Bush and then provide free health care.

-WE need to do more to help the poor in New Orleans.

-WE need provide more assistance to poor single moms.

Its as if the collective viewpoint is so ingrained that it has become unimaginable to think that I should go down and volunteer at the homeless shelter, or I should take some vacation time and go help with the hurricane clean-up, or I should spend some of my paycheck to buy food for the local food bank.

It is just expected that we will give up more of our income through taxes and let government handle these inconvenient messes of human life. Because it is not enough that the unfortunate should benefit from temporary charity, WE must take from those who have and redistribute to those who have not. It is just so much easier than giving up your personal time to actually face the side of human existence that isn't pretty.

Now don't get uppity with me and start screaming "Hypocrite!" before you can spit out "Bush Lied! Children Died!". I'm a public defender and I work with those that are indigent on a daily basis. I defend people most of us wouldn't sit in the same room with. I have also come to know those who devote their lives to working among the most destitute among us. Most of those that are continually poor and continually in the criminal justice system are where they are not because of capitalism, racism, or any of the other popular "isms". They are there because of choices they have made and continue to make. The clients who have successfully extricated themselves from the system are those who finally follow my advice and make a lifestyle change. Leave the addictions and negative people behind, clean up, get a job and a life. It takes hard work and persistence but these people can rise, I've seen it. Permanent welfare is poison to this, charity is not.

The halfway houses, like those run by the Salvation Army, do more permanent good for the poor than any social program ever administered by government. But to stay at a place like Harbor House or Oxford House, you have to clean up your act. Charity requires one to take responsibility for ones life. It helps one on the path to independence, not to permanent servitude. Most welfare programs amount to little more than hay and a barn for human cattle.

Admittedly, for some, the problems are addiction and/or mental health issues. It was a major mistake for most state governments to slash the mental health care budgets back in the 60's and 70's. After all, I'm not an anarchist and the states do have the police power and there is nothing unconstitutional about social policy as practiced by the individual states. Government does have its place, like being the repository of the collective force that protects those among us who can't protect themselves. Many of the mentally ill who are homeless should be in a residential care facility or an institution. But in accordance with the psychological practice of "mainstreaming", we send them out into the street with a prescription and a hearty, "Good Luck!"

But I'm off on another tangent. I claim no special wisdom just a little experience. All of us would rather pay someone else to clean up the mess. That's just human nature. But the tab is getting out of hand. The perverse incentives now in place encourage the poor to stay poor and dependant. When people stop waiting for a personal savior to emerge, they are liberated. For it is only then that they can realize that they have the power to control their fate and improve their lot. End of Sermon.