Culture war

When LBJ started the War on Poverty in 1965, it was, like many government programs, designed to help the poor. Typically a 16 year old single mom was given an apartment with a separate bedroom for her baby, food to eat, health insurance, cash and other benefits wrapped up in about a dozen other programs. In addition she could work and be eligible for Earned Income Credit. She could also file income tax and receive a $1,000 child tax credit even though she owed no tax. It wasn’t long before the street smart people got wise to this government largess and last year it was a 62 billion dollar bonanza. Through the sixties and seventies the program grew at a moderate rate but in the early eighties certain individuals like Jesse Jackson realized there was money to be made in the War on Poverty and this is where the safety net began its metamorphic rebirth into the hammock it is today. As is often the case the good intentions had unintended consequences. The 16 year old single mom was the daughter of another 16 year old single mom who was the daughter of another 16 year old single mom and that lead to three generations on welfare. What was intended to be a helping hand became a way of life. These young women who grew up in homes where there was no interest in education, were the pawns in a massive game of wealth payments that left them as permanent wards of the state. Recently certain commentators have been pointing out how these programs have affected the culture in the minority neighborhoods. Self-reliance was replaced with government aid, fathers were replaced with government programs, the work ethic replaced with government assistance and entire neighborhoods became dependent on government. As this culture of dependency is brought into the public’s attention those making money from it are upset and claim anyone who talks this way is racist. President Obama is aware of this cultural change and made reference to it in his MLK speech. Legitimate grievances against police brutality tipped into excuse- making for criminal behavior. Racial politics could cut both ways as the transformative message of unity and brotherhood was drowned out by the language of recrimination. And what had once been a call for equality of opportunity, the chance for all Americans to work hard and get ahead was too often framed as a mere desire for government support, as if we had no agency in our own liberation, as if poverty was an excuse for not raising your child and the bigotry of others was reason to give up on yourself. All of that history is how progress stalled. That's how hope was diverted. It's how our country remained divided. Oh, those unintended consequences will get you every time.