If you are a regular Phalanx visitor, then you must know what we think of this latest report on poverty, released by the Brookings Institution. The report, which was released today, singled out several cities with concentrated areas of poverty. These concentrated areas were similar in that they compromised sections of the city with the greatest density of low-income housing, poor schools and high crime. As we noted yesterday, the reason Johnny is so stupid is the same reason why there is a poverty problem in several cities in America. The reason is culture. According to the Brookings Report, poor urban planning and past segregation are among the factors that have led to the maintenance of these pockets of poverty in some of America’s most vibrant cities. According to some officials the reason for such extreme cases of poverty also lies in the fact that the poor in these cities lack access to jobs and education. The Phalanx has a one-word retort for this argument…Nonsense.

To be fair, past segregation in access to schools, public services, employment and housing certainly were factors in poverty, but these factors alone do not count for the emergence of these pockets of poverty and this is especially true in light of the fact that such barriers have long been erased. Today, with the possible exception of a few extreme cases, there is no justification or excuse for such abject poverty in America. No, this isn’t a segway into why we think the government should do more to eradicate poverty in America. It’s a segway into why America’s poor seem to be so content to do nothing. Why is Johnny so poor? Johnny is so poor because Johnny is so lazy and refuses to take the steps necessary to secure a job. Johnny continues to have children he can’t afford and Johnny seeks first to enhance his own short term pleasure, at the expense of long term gain.

Everyone in America has an equal opportunity to succeed or fail. A public education is available for those who seek it. Indeed, it isn’t the schools themselves that are the problem. Quite a number of children have received a well-rounded education in many of our country’s public schools. The deficiency emerges from the fact that so few place a value in their education and parents are unwilling to make sacrifices for their children. Parents are more concerned with how well their child does on the football and basketball team, than they are with academics. If a parent wants their child to succeed then they must take a direct role in that child’s education. According to officials, in response to the Brookings study, people don’t have access to jobs and education. Well if you are poor and for some reason choose to have kids (and that’s exactly what it is, a choice), then you have responsibility to provide for that child, before your own needs, even if it means working 10hrs a day at McDonalds, then that’s what must be done. There are plenty of jobs available for those who are willing to work, how else do we explain the steady flow of illegals into this country and the speed with which they are able to find employment? If an illegal, who isn’t familiar with the country and often unable to speak the language, can find employment, what excuse does an American have? Some people see certain jobs as beneath them and would rather subsist on welfare rather than perform an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay.

Another gripe is that post-secondary education (i.e., college) isn’t available for the poor. This too is absolutely preposterous and just an excuse for sloth and failure. Anyone, and that’s anyone, can receive a student loan for vocational schools, junior college or university. In fact many junior colleges and vocational school don’t even require an entrance exam, such as the SAT or ACT. This country is filled with examples of people who have succeeded against all odds. Why? Because they persevere, they aren’t content with their station in life. They want something better for their children and they don’t have an expectation that someone else is going to provide for them. The left in this country has perpetuated the belief that it is the role of the state to care for the poor, to provide jobs, to feed and cloth them. Meanwhile, these dredges of society become nothing more than wards of the state, incapable of making decisions for themselves or even providing for their basic needs. Poverty is a direct byproduct of attitude. Those who have the right attitude, those who desire for success, those who aren’t content to subsist will and do succeed.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apus_story.asp?category=1110&slug=Poverty%20Study