Obama and the American Dream

There will always be people who need help. But I think a hand-up is better than a hand-out. If you've got the option of keeping a single mom on subsistence level welfare for 25 years or paying her welfare for 5 years while fully funding a college or university degree for her via an interest free loan payable back within say 20 years after graduation (or even with interest at inflation rates - below 4%, interest commencing say 5 years after graduation), the latter is my choice.

What you've effectively done is taken 20 years of welfare payments away from government costs. You've added to the GDP by creating a productive member of society. And far more importantly, you've given her self-reliance, self-confidence and a sense of accomplishment. That filters down to the next generation. By that I mean the child or children see her succeeding and see what it does for her and they get that sense of self-reliance and that sense of what independence means. Hopefully the next generation doesn't repeat the cycle.

[This guy rocks!]

And that's just one option. In the mid-1990's the Republican Congress forced Clinton into signing into law changes from Welfare into Workfare. That's good for certain people but it doesn't fit for everyone. Some will remain under-employed for life, and some will always need welfare because they just can't function as a productive member of society (say for example that world's heaviest man in Mexico who can't get out of bed). But some can go to work and most can learn more and find better work options.

To keep someone on welfare is to keep them dependent, and to keep them dependent on crumbs. That to me isn't freedom. It certainly isn't the American dream. Actually, what it resembles is the serfdom of the middle ages. That's why I don't understand why the same civil rights activists like Jesse Jackson who lionize MLK are the same ones who are activists for liberal causes that (seemingly 'unwittingly') ensure the continued dependence they should be trying to fight.

It's a circular system.

We want to help you. We'll keep you fed. Just keep voting for us and we'll ensure you keep getting your cheque. The African American community has the most to gain from the freedom to follow the American Dream.

They just seem to keep going about it the wrong way. An Obama presidency should prove to some disbelievers that anything is possible. But it doesn't mean everyone has reached the promised land. Just him. What I fear is that Democratic policies will continue to 'keep the black man down'. And what frustrates me is that very few people seem to realize the vicious cycle will perpetuate itself until enough people realize that the ONLY thing that will level the playing field for everyone (regardless of ethnic, religious or racial make-up), is equal access to equal education. The alternative is another 50 years of welfare, and no real change. Just more unfulfilled promises of a better future. Unfortunately, I expect we'll see the latter.