Extension of Remarks: Ease childhood hunger

As most of us continue to digest that Thanksgiving meal, let us add an appropriate helping of guilt.

The lead editorial in today's Buffalo News notes that some 36 million Americans had to struggle to buy enough food last year, and some 691,000 children went hungry at some point during that year. That is a national disgrace, and has ramifications beyond a child's discomfort or a parent's shame.

Little, including learning, gets done on an empty stomach. Educational initiatives, vital to breaking the cycle of poverty, are harder to implement with a classroom of hungry children.

Elsewhere:
- The Waco Tribune: With our nation’s sagging economy, we’d be Scrooge to deny that the commercial sector could use attention through our wallets and credit cards. Yet we’d still ask fellow Central Texans to heavily consider charity in the mix, especially with nonprofits facing hard times.
- The New York Times notes that the government has not only fallen behind in its assistance for the poor, it clings to old and inaccurate ways of counting them: If there was ever a time for more precise measurements, it is now. Better numbers will produce a better understanding of poverty, and will enhance Washington’s ability to respond in the difficult days ahead.
- The Dallas Morning News offered one of its annual Thanksgiving toasts: To our brothers and sisters everywhere who are struggling with want, hunger or fear that the declining economy will leave them out in the cold. May we give thanks for what we have, however great or small, and hope the future is brighter for one and all.
- The Corvallis, Ore., Gazette Times thanks those who have already donated to local food drives -- some of them by llama: But the need is greater this year than it has been in years past. And the need will not go away when the holidays are over.
- The Lincoln, Mass., Journal  says the problems are widespread, if often hidden: In some cases, the façade that everything is OK behind lots with nice yards, homes and vehicles is just a front of pride. The truth is, your neighbors, no matter where you live, need your generosity this year to have some semblance of a happy holiday.

Happy Holidays!

-- George Pyle, Editorial Writer

Comments

[Buffalo Libertarian]

Maybe some of these children would have food to eat if their parents weren't out buying televisions and XBox and junk food and driving Escalades.

The Constitution does not give power to the federal government to create social(ist) programs. While the states most certainly have much broader powers, social programs have not proven to be effective in helping people get out of poverty. Instead, the programs have served only to make generations of people dependent on the government.

The only way you're going to help these people is by making it more attractive for them to go out and get a job (or two or three) instead of sucking on the government teat. Self-reliance, self-respect: these are what help a person overcome adversity; not some government social program.

[HapKlein]

A few years ago I was involved with distributing toys and food baskets to the needy. We would seek out social workers and church personnel to develop a list of bonifide recipients and deliver the goods into their hands.

These are the poor. They lack the education that could better their lives never owned any cars except and occasional junker that lasted less than a year.

Some of the parents worked two full time jobs at minimum wage and their partner a full or part time job also at minimum wage. I had trouble locating one mother with two children. Finally late at night we found her at home. She worked at two McDonalds at 25 hours each one in the AM and one in the PM so had to aprk her children with neighbors and friends.

The myth of the Welfare Queens and Kings died with the myth of trickle down economics.

Most of the poor are needy because our culture gives them second rate education and very little hope.

[Buffalo Libertarian]

I assure you, HapKlein, the Welfare Kings and Queens still exist. I see them fairly frequently at the local corner store.

Are there genuinely poor people out there who are trying to do for themselves instead of sucking at the government teat? Absolutely. But being poor in America very often still means having a house, a car, a television (or more than one), XBox, etc. I applaud those who are doing for themselves instead of becoming dependent on the government. Such self-reliance leads to self-respect and is a truly American ideal.

There will always be "poor" people ("poor" being a relative term): we're going to have to accept that everyone rises to his or her own level and, for some people, that level just isn't very high. LBJ's war on poverty hasn't eliminated poverty, it simply made generations of poor people dependent on the government.