Americans Have Social Obligations - All Americans

Today's writings connect to nothing directly in the headlines except maybe the fact that our government and business infrastructure is faltering and each of us must take some responsibility for ourselves and our actions. Although there are subtle nuances to the sub-prime mortgage crisis, there certainly were people who took advantage of the 110% mortgages thinking they were getting "free money". Or those who let themselves believe they could own a $250,000 house, with nothing down, on a $40,000 income. Logic, unfortunately, was suspended in many of those cases. While I admit these borrowers should have known that it was all too good to be true, the lenders share the blame by pushing people to borrow more than they could ever afford, even if the housing market hadn't tanked.

But it seems it is getting a little too easy for some to blame the government for all their ills; in fact, not just blame the government but expect the government to save them, bail them out, protect them from themselves.

Welfare used to be like that. Just have a kid or two and you got "free money". Oh to be sure, you'd never get rich in the pittance of that monthly check, but you didn't have to work for it. That, for the most part, has been taken care of and the country, it turns out, is better for it. As are those who would have kept drawing on the dole to live if it hadn't ended.

I found an old quote that summarizes some of this well from Isabel V. Sawhill, who was then a senior fellow at the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C. She maintained that there are certain social obligations that many in the underclass have not fulfilled. Here is what she said:

They have not studied hard, completed high school, delayed childbirth until after school, married, or held a steady job, refrained from drug or alcohol abuse.

Those who fulfill these social obligations of American life are unlikely to be be chronically poor. If they are poor despite having abided by the rules, society is much more likely to come to their rescue. The problem is too many people who are not fulfilling their end of the bargain; these people constitute the underclass.

Interesting points.