War on Poverty

During my career I spent a number of years in management and it was my goal to provide the time, tools and training to those who worked for me so they could do their jobs. I wanted to create an atmosphere where employees would want to do their best, improve their skills and provide incentives for those who reported to them. Leadership to me meant motivating people to desire to make the most of their talents. It was not my responsibility to do their job for them but to create a work place where they could make the most of their individual skills. I always listen carefully whenever The President gives a speech and Obama’s MLK speech was no exception. I liked what he said and agreed with most. It is much like many of my liberal friends when they say that people want to have a good place to live, a good job that pays a decent wage, health care for when they are sick, comfort when they are old and a good education for all. Here is the way the President phrased it: And with that courage, we can stand together for good jobs and just wages. With that courage, we can stand together for the right to health care in the richest nation on earth for every person. (Applause.) With that courage, we can stand together for the right of every child, from the corners of Anacostia to the hills of Appalachia, to get an education that stirs the mind and captures the spirit and prepares them for the world that awaits them. (Applause.) With that courage, we can feed the hungry and house the homeless and transform bleak wastelands of poverty into fields of commerce and promise. Took up the mantle of the King challange Less than two years after MLK gave his, “I Have A Dream Speech”, LBJ began the war on poverty believing that it was the government that would provide the road to all of the above mentioned benefits. 50 years and 12 trillion dollars later many informed people are admitting that we have lost the war on poverty. I suggest that we not give up on our desire to promote these benefits but we must act like a manager and