Remember the Children

As the oldest of 13 children who grew up in the family that made less than $13,000 a year I managed to survive and break the cycle of poverty because of a free public education, food stamps, welfare, and social security disability. Only 5 of us as adults no longer depend on these programs. With poverty children are more vulnerable to abuse, drug addiction, and criminal activity.

This will be even more true in the current economic climate. With globalization, outsourcing, and layoffs, more and more families will fall below the poverty line. At the same a Republican controlled Congress seeks to eliminate the safety net programs. While most of America would like to believe in the protestant work ethic, secure jobs with benefits, are becoming more and more scarce.

As the cost of living rises, wages continue to fall, lowering the standard of living for the average family. Student loan debt for students who come from poor families ensures that the cycle of poverty will continue. It becomes a vicious circle: you must have an education to get higher paying jobs, but many jobs that require college degrees do not pay enough to keep up with the cost of living and pay off student loan debt. The middle class continues to shrink, as the gap between the rich and the poor widens.

Politicians like Newt Gingrich tend to demonize the poor. Gingrich even suggests programs that would enforce social stratification, such as eliminating child labor laws, and having poor children work as janitors at public schools to learn the value of money. In reality the link between poverty and intelligence is largely environmental and closely tied to access to basic resources, such as food, shelter, and safety. Most of us would not like to see a return to the Dickensian world of David Copperfield or Oliver Twist.

Poverty is not an intrinsic character flaw, it is imposed on families by a society with decreasing opportunities for employment. I did not choose the family I was born into, and I did not survive by hard work alone. I survived by charity, luck, and the grace of God.