The World Beyond BetterMost > Anything Goes
Why are the poor, poor?
Front-Ranger:
My idea is basically to educate women. By educating women, you are educating their children (and thus future generations) as well. And not just what you can learn in the public education system but practical living tools and survival techniques as well. Currently many poor women either willingly or unwillingly serve as free entertainment for idle men. With education and self-esteem, they can learn to say no, why to say no, alternatives to pursue, and how to deliver a swift kick to the groin. They need to know the birth control options, and there is absolutely no rhyme or reason why forced abortions, sterilization, or chastity belts or whatever else you have in mind should even be considered! Even tho birth control is the domain of the female, technology has managed to introduce new safe nonhumiliating reasonably priced methods. Yes, we have male birth control, they are called condoms and how well have they worked among poor men, among men in general? Piss-poor is how.
In societies where women are educated and have some measure of self-esteem, family size goes down, crime goes down, and quality of life rises. Women hold the key.
Artiste:
Merci beaucoup Front-Ranger !!
May I say that I love your post, and that I agree with it !!
Au revoir,
hugs!
Artiste:
It remains that some muslims in many arab areas, India with the cast system, etc., and other women remain captured by their so-called religion making them a slave.
Even in our countries such as the USA, Canada, and elsewhere !!
It is very hard to find them, get them to be safe, educated, like you say, as education can help !!
Artiste:
I like the idea of micro-loans, but if it does NOT feed the slave markets for the rich to get richer !! ??
serious crayons:
--- Quote from: injest on May 02, 2008, 06:22:33 pm ---oh, and the whole forced labor thing has been tried before...it is called SLAVERY.
--- End quote ---
Well, in defense of one of the few parts of broketrash's agenda that I agreed with, I must point out that slaves didn't get paid, weren't allowed to select different employment options, couldn't choose where they wanted to live, had little control over the fates of their children and family members, etc.
To me, as I mentioned in an earlier post, tying welfare benefits to public service reminds me more of Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration and Civilian Conservation Corp, Depression-Era work-relief programs that were considered quite successful. Many public parks still feature beautiful structures built by the WPA.
For many poor people, a big hurdle to being self-supporting is that they've simply never held a job. They aren't used to the procedures and habits. Providing welfare recipients an opportunity to be productive and gain employment experience, while also letting them give back something in return for their benefits, has always seemed to me like a good thing, so I've never quite understood the objection to it. Maybe I'm missing something, though. ???
Of course, it goes without saying that if people are expected to work, they must have access to affordable child care, transportation and so on.
--- Quote from: injest on May 02, 2008, 06:55:25 pm ---Another thing, there should be a 'grace period' on the end of benefits. We lived in a government apartment complex, the rent was a set amount based on income. My mother worked hard and got promoted at work...the complex promptly raised the rent, taking all the raise. So she was working longer hours with more responsibility for nothing. Her circumstances remained the same. If there was a 'grace period' she could have saved enough to make a deposit on another form of housing and moved OUT of the government housing.
(also when you are on welfare you are not allowed to save money. Your bank statements are checked and any money in savings counts as income so they raise your rent or cut benefits, so most people I know on welfare dont even try to save....and certainly not in banks)
--- End quote ---
Yes, I agree, and as broketrash also said, the structure of the system contains disincentives to work harder, save, get married -- the very things that would help people become more self-sufficient. Doesn't mean the whole baby should be thrown out with the bathwater, but it does seem it could use some fixin.
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