 |
| Fair start at the Poverty Line |
I have often heard the story about how a single parent achieved great success through hard work to raise the family out of Poverty. It is always followed by the claim that anyone can do the same. It is only laziness and dependency that cause people to remain trapped in Poverty.
The point is not that it is possible. It is, in fact, probable that those without resources will not achieve the success that your parents did. Your parent was not the rule but the exception. Congratulations on your choice of the successful single parent as your caregiver as a child. Most were not able to make the same choice.
Whatever your moral judgment of failure of the parenting by the poor, the fact remains that the success rate is overwhelmingly negative. Your condemnation of that moral failure will not change that fact. Moral judgment never has changed that fact. So we must look for an effective solution if we value the life of every person rather than just those that you find to be deserving.
My commitment is to the idea that every life has an inalienable intrinsic value. That Right can only be fulfilled if every person is guaranteed food, shelter, medical care, and life skill training [education.]
When Thomas Jefferson wrote of those inalienable Rights in the Declaration of Independence, he listed Life first. It must be first because Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness are impossible unless one can secure the preservation of Life first. That is the reason humans form communities. It is not to protect the right of "Winner takes the Prize" competition that leaves the loser with no resources to ensure survival. It is rather to ensure equal opportunity to achieve from a foundation of freedom from want. That foundation is an equal opportunity starting line to the Freedom to Achieve your pathway to your Passion.
