WHO IS RESPONSIBLE?

I was listening to a local talk radio program here recently. The subject of discussion was a shooting in a local housing authority complex. It seems that shootings at this complex are not necessarily rare. So the question arose, why? Why do people who are generally poor resort to violence and other uncivilized acts to resolve their differences? In most cases these are welfare recipients with subsidized housing and food stamps and they come from a long line of welfare recipients. They also have subsidized medical care and all other sorts of state care. Drugs are rampant in this area and dealers regularly ply their trade. I am sure this incident is not uncommon in housing authorities elsewhere.

The discussion among the listeners centered on the fact that these people were just ungrateful for the help they received from the state. As is always the case, no real solutions were offered during the discussion.

It occurred to me as I listened that I saw things a bit differently. I will take this forum to offer those thoughts. First, these people, for the most part, are irresponsible. They were not born irresponsible. They were trained to be irresponsible by the “Massa” of the plantation. That “Massa” is the government.

Liberal governments have for years believed it was necessary to subsidize this large segment of the population, probably to get their votes. This care has created a culture of dependence that pervades and chokes an entire society. Families are destroyed by absent fathers. Babies are born to little girls who themselves are children. The fathers of these babies show no responsibility for their offspring. They wouldn’t recognize responsibility if it hit them in the face. Many turn to illegal activities because there is little punishment. They use the excuse that they make much more money selling drugs than they could ever make doing legitimate work. The truth is that they probably can. Young girls say their benefits from welfare increase with every new baby they produce. That is also probably true.

The big question is would anybody want to change this way of life? What is in it for them to change? Generation after generation has been trained into this dependence and it is not going to end with a flip of a switch. Schools have been rendered impotent. The public school system has practiced discrimination through low expectation. The victims of that discrimination have responded by continuing their victimization all through their lives thus reproducing new generations of victims.

Here is a reality. You cannot expect responsible behavior when you encourage and reward irresponsible behavior. Why is that so difficult for the powers that be to understand? Insanity has been defined as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. If the “Massa” truly wanted a different result, the “Massa” has to try a different approach. It kind of makes you wonder if our government truly wants a different result, doesn’t it?

So who is responsible? Is our government content with warehousing a huge segment of the population in housing authorities with no way of escape short of death or prison? Is a large segment of our population content with this plantation way of life with no escape? I personally cannot believe either of these choices is absolute.

For now, if you are in that life and you choose to get out, here are some recommendations. First, you must learn and use English, not street slang. You must dress in civilized clothing, not thug uniforms. Pull your pants up. Turn off the rap music. Stay in school. Keep your pants zipped up. Get a real job. Successful lives are not gifts for bums. They are reserved for deserving people who are willing to work hard and not look for excuses for failure. If you came to me looking for a job with your cap on sideways, pants down to your knees, and talking street crap, I wouldn’t even consider you. If you don’t like that, that’s just too bad. I regularly discriminate against morons. Incidentally, so do most employers in this country.

So who is responsible for this situation? I will let you be the judge. One thing is clear. It will not change until responsible people, either victims or perpetrators, decide to change it.

Ron Scarbro August 3, 2011