----- Original Message -----
From: Ronn Blankenship <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
> Many (in the US anyway) see today's major societal problem as a decline in
> the average level of personal responsibility during the past 40 years or
> so, caused in great part by increasing government programs that relieve
the
> individual of the need for personal responsibility,
Its interesting that the focus here is on a group that gets a very small
chunk of the federal payout instead of the group that gets the lion
share.(welfare verses social security). People my dad's age received far
more SS than they paid in taxes. My dad got all of his payments back in 15
months...with most of his payments being made in the last few years before
he retired.
For example, up until 1980, welfare was usually acute: 80% of the recipients
were off welfare within 2 years. The drop of the working poor from
assistance that happened around that time certainly didn't help in the
transition from acute to chronic welfare. Also the early requirement that
there be no husband at home in order for a family to receive assistance was
a big mistake.
I'm not arguing against personal responsibility. I'm arguing against the
denial of social responsibility. Look at 60 years ago with the massive
denial of social responsibility that existed then. I'd argue that a
responsible society needs both personal and social responsibility. Were we
really better of then when we denied social responsibility?
>it also encourages some to
> make bad decisions by allowing them to escape the natural consequences of
> their actions (e.g. having half a dozen kids by as many different fathers
> before turning 20).
While examples of this can be found, most people on welfare are not teen
mothers. Most teen mothers are not on welfare. I know that the proponents
of welfare reform claim that standing tough has reduced the number of people
on welfare. I'd argue that the sustained drop in unemployment from about 7%
to about 4% has more to do with people getting off welfare than tough
measures. Most of the time, people on welfare at not the most employable.
There was an interesting case study showing that, for many mothers on
welfare, the lack of health insurance for their children when they were off
welfare was a key component
But speaking of responsibility, why is the focus on welfare. I'll agree
that taking personal responsibility for one's children is necessary adult
behavior. There is, indeed, a strong tie in between poverty and single
parent families. But, a large part of that is the lack of support of
children by absentee fathers. I find it irksome that, in this country, a
deadbeat dad is not stigmatized the way a welfare mother is. One can
neglect to support one's children and still maintain a prominent role in
society.
In short, I find the focus on those at the bottom of our economy for
examples of negligence of personal responsibility troubling. It seems to me
that if personal responsibility was the true focus, one would consider all
people who neglect their responsibilities instead of just the poor people
who do.
Dan M.
