[Rhodes22-list] Political - 'Git er done!'

[Brad Haslett]

Let's get to the 'nut cuttin', the issues of poverty, starvation, and health
care are not that difficult!

Poverty - If you don't have at least a HS diploma, have children out of
wedlock, or have an addiction to alcohol or drugs, statistics show that you
have an 85% chance of living below the poverty level in the US.  Engage in
any one of the above behaviors and you substantially increase your chances
of living in poverty. Free public education is available in every community
but in some the dropout rate is as high as 50%.  Who is responsible for
that?  Here in Memphis the high schools have day care available for students
with children.  Is this a good thing or are we rewarding irresponsible
behavior?  When we normalize behavior that is a known contributor to
poverty, we are a part of the problem, not part of the solution.

Starvation - There is no shortage of food in the world, there is unequal
distribution.  Our US farm policy subsidizes fuel over food, raising the
price of basic starch worldwide.  We discriminate against third world
countries that could compete in the world agricultural market by subsidizing
cotton growers in the US.  Are we really helping people when we give
handouts to a small group of  US corporate farmers and then give handouts to
third world citizens because they can't compete?  Capitalism has turned
China, a country that could barely feed itself (think Great Leap Forward)
into an exporter of food.  I say we try a little more capitalism in the US
agriculture market.  Is handing out "free" food to third world countries
really in their long term best interests?  No one likes to see images of
starving babies, but when  you see pregnant mothers (for the 5th time)
waiting for the "government cheese truck" you have to ask yourself, are we
solving the problem or growing it?

Health care - Everyone with half a heart wants to see everyone have access
to health care. The health care system we have in the US is the best in the
world provided you have health insurance coverage.  Now let's be honest
here.  Insurance companies don't provide health care, doctors, nurses, and
hospitals do.  Insurance companies are there to DENY you health care.
Someone has to pay for all this!  In those countries where "free" health
care is provided, the overall quality has substantially decreased in the
interest of "fairness".  Responsibility for health care is a personal
responsibility.  You can find a good job with health care coverage, or you
can save money in a tax-free health savings account.  I realize this is
going to be extremely difficult if you've already engaged in the 85% poverty
predictor behavior.  In those states where universal access health care has
been tried (think Tennessee) the cost immediately became unmanageable.  The
ultimate solution will be some type of compromise or a predictable mediocre
outcome (Canada, Great Briton, etc.).

For the last two and a half years I have run a small company in an area of
the country that was first devastated by a weather phenomenon and then a
government created disaster.  I wish I had a twenty dollar bill for everyone
that has asked me for a job and then said, "I have to be paid in cash, I'm
drawing disability", or "I'm drawing Social Security".  Another favorite
which cuts across all economic strata, "we'd sign a contract today but I
think FEMA may do it for free."  If you look at countries and economies in
the world that are "one trick ponies", say Saudi Arabia or Venezuela (oil)
you see societies that can never be satisfied with the distribution of goods
and services without being fed some boogieman theory as the culprit (US and
Israel are convenient targets).  And yet, here in the US we continue the
slow march to "one trick pony" status by making the government the primary
distribution center of wants and needs rather than the marketplace.

Capitalism can be cruel to stupid decisions, for example, getting caught-up
in the euphoria of a speculative market like dot-coms or real estate when
you don't have the financial resources to play the game.  But it can also
turn starving nations into healthy nations that can give their citizens a
lifestyle they never dreamed of, like China.  I'm all for helping "little
people", I was one myself once upon a time.  Few of us want to raise our
children to be whining, permanently dependant souls who constantly feel they
are the "victims" of something or the other.  Why do we insist on treating
our fellow man this way?

Solve this for me, will ya?  I have to go to work.

Brad