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Nov. 5, 2004 I was recently speaking to some teens like myself about community service and assisting the poor over the holiday season. I never agreed with the policy of only helping the homeless when those with money feel guilty and want to give back – they get cold in October and last through March. Perhaps helping them over Halloween is a better option. It was suggested that we reach out to those homeless who are in shelters due to lack of education or job loss, and offer food and money to help their suffering. It was at this point that I fully awakened to the difference between the position I advocate and include in my New Democratic Plan, and those of Terry McAuliffe’s version of the Democratic Party. “The homeless do not need a one-time contribution of stiletto heels or pity money,” I said, bringing the discussion back to a joke I had made about a homeless man being given a pair of red heels. “The homeless need help getting back on their feet. They do not need a system of endless welfare and handouts. What they need more than anything is training for a job, a GED, a chance to succeed.” President George W. Bush has cut job training and education programs for the homeless, unemployed and underemployed in a crude form social Darwinism. He also claims, with some justification, that welfare is not an unending charity for the un- or underemployed in America. The first point I see as being morally backwards. The second point, however, is a valid idea. Welfare ought to be looked upon, it seems, in the lens that Franklin Roosevelt saw it – a government recovery benefit to be used until that person is able to find work on his or her own. Welfare should not become a way of life. Families should not have to learn how to play the system so as to live from check to check. Keeping welfare in place would be ideal, while placing a time limit on its use, and offering better access to educational and job-training programs. A responsible security net should be the keystone of any social-minded Democracy. Emphasis must be put on helping those who are homeless or jobless, and who are able to work, find jobs that match their skills. If they do not have skills, it should be the moral duty of the government to provide facilities where they can gain an education. This means we must have a more comprehensive GED program, and better communication between homeless shelters, halfway homes, and the state and federal governments. States should be given economic bonuses and incentives for increasing their educational and employment opportunities for homeless, unemployed or underemployed Americans. This idea, while active in some areas, is both seriously out of date and not hitting the areas in which states would be driven to educate and employ the population. This requires that Republicans and Democrats work together in this divided nation, drop the partisan talking points, and admit several things: limited welfare is good, social programs do not all lead to Communism, there must be limits placed on welfare, and that people must, in the end, not rely wholly on the United States to tide them by. This will be made much harder than it has to be by both sides of the aisle. The teenagers – the very liberal, most of them – shirked the idea and claimed that their Democratic friend had been indoctrinated by the GOP. The method I proposed would take too much work. Money is faster. It is too intrusive on the lives of the homeless. It would mean effort from both sides. What was infinitely more inspiring was the group of teens – moderates, Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians – that nodded in silent agreement and walked away contemplating it. I even saw a Republican and Democrat, both of them well-known for their views, sharing mutual interest in the idea. Partisanship can wait. Let us help the people now. Together. ------------ About the author: Max Burns is a 17-year-old Democrat with moderate, centrist ideals. He blames John Kerry's 2004 loss on John Kerry, and is authoring a pamphlet on how to refine the Democratic Party for Victory in 2008 and beyond. For more information, check out The New Democrat. Read the fantasy-fiction novel "Alcardia". Email: DeMBurns@gmail.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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