Soap Box Alert!

I used to be big into politics, but this last election season (which now seems to last for about 24 months) really soured me towards politics. I've lost faith in the Republican party somewhat...mostly because no one is offering true solutions, but just rhetoric.

Also, the extremists on both sides were all yelling so loudly about why the other side was unfit, rational dialogue took a major hit. The campaigns on both sides, although tough, we're for the most part able to stay above the fray, but neither side convincingly denounced their supporters who unfairly bashed the other side. And though I voted I wasn't happy about any of the choices.

So Chris and I had planned to not pay attention to what was going on until at least after the first of the year. I didn't even find out how all the ballot measures in my state came out. However, I'm a big fan of Bill O'Reily and was interested in reading his latest, A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity, because it was billed as light reading. And as I was reading along today I came to the stuff about Hurricane Katrina...and suddenly I needed to blog about it.

Now I'm not a huge defender of Bill O'Reily...'cause he doesn't really need my help, but when he was attacked after his commentary about the disaster...I realized this was an argument I've been making for years too, and while his analysis is spot-on there are a few things he didn't say, and I'm going to say them:

His initial response after Katrina was that New Orleans was a city caught with it's figurative pants down. Poor people without support systems in place were 'hammered' because they had done nothing to prepare themselves. And his major point is, can we really be surprised that the Federal Government was slow to act? And shouldn't it be the responsibility of every citizen to have a plan of their own (as well as they can)?

Here's my argument: I am a stay-at-home mom because I never got a college education (I grew up in a household where both my parents worked hard, and money was always very tight), and I have ADD. Some days just functioning is a challenge. But my husband works hard, we have insurance, a will, and a rather large support system. Last year we had a significant house fire that kept us out of our home for eight and a half months while the repairs were done. The reason it took so long was because the city requires that any time you remodel more than 40% of your home you must bring the entire house up to code. Now if we had not had one of our 'fall backs' we could have struggled through (maybe not without insurance, since we couldn't rent an apartment for what our mortgage payments are because we live in a very small house), but if we hadn't had any support system...it would have been over. Since our situation only happened to us, it wouldn't have garnered media attention, so there would have been no pressure for anyone to help us. We would've had to rely on The Red Cross, and while it would have been a blessing...I don't know if it would have been enough for us to get by on. We certainly would have lost our house, as we would have never been able to afford repairs, or even clean up.

Bad stuff happens to good people. And while Mr. O'Reily was not trying to find blame(because really what good would that do any of those poor people), he was trying to suggest that it is crazy to believe that the Federal Government is the solution. I have never seen the Federal Government do anything quickly, and certainly not without a lot of red tape. And the people of New Orleans didn't have time for that. Oprah and others tell us that what separates the poor from the rich is education...but I submit there is a practical education that comes only from living, and being taught that no one is standing around waiting to hand out wealth or good fortune to anyone. If you want to have a better life, you have to make it better. Oprah is the perfect case in point. She worked long hours, and sacrificed to get where she is, and I've heard her say it. Hard work, and planning for the future is the key.

My husband and I didn't choose to have the fire, nor did we choose the time a kid with no insurance rammed into the back of our car (totaling it) when I was 5 1/2 months pregnant with my second child, nor did we choose to have some drunk jump the sidewalk,and hit the side of our house at two in the morning, flee the scene and leave us with damages that we had to cover. We didn't choose for our son to be born with a non-genetic, fluky birth defect that we didn't discover he had until 15 minutes after he was born. We didn't choose for all the surgeries I would need (I've had 9 or more since we got married 13 years ago), or that my pregnancies would put me in the hospital for so long. We've had our share of disasters, but we didn't come to those times without some means of dealing with the situation. God blessed us to be sure, but I think He also expects us to be good stewards of what we're given.

I think that there are those who can't care for themselves and need assistance (and I have no problem with my tax dollars going to help them, although I'm still not convinced private agencies couldn't manage things way better), but I also believe that many more choose not to help themselves, because they know that our social consciousness won't let them starve, and might even see to it that they get what middle class families deem necessary to 'survive'. Why else would people go to the emergency room when they have the sniffles, or give birth to multiple children that they don't have any real interest in parenting and sometimes even supporting? I don't ask this as a judgement, but rather as a what can we all collectively do about this problem? Why can't we expect more of those who's only limitations are poor choices and the lack of knowledge of pride in self. Why would we not want to give them the motivation to do better?

I'm sorry, I know this post was long...but I just have to say. I don't hate poor people. I am one, sort of. We certainly live below the poverty line, but I have a hard working husband, a strong sense of responsibility, a back up system, and hope that with hard work and determination we'll always have the 'wealth' that comes from living a life you can be proud of. I wish that for everybody!