Wednesday, September 28, 2005

A Lesson

Once, many years ago, my youngest brother found a fledgling sparrow hawk.

If you are unfamiliar with the sparrow hawk, they are the smallest of the falcons, (birds of prey). They are hunters that eat mice, insects and other birds.

He took care of it, intending to release it to the wild when it was old enough. One day he decided that it was old enough and released it. It flew off in a rush and he had thought that he would never see it again.

The next day it returned, landing on its cage, squawking and generally making a pest of itself.

He thought that it returned because it loved him!

The truth is it returned because it didn't know how to obtain food and water, it had no idea how to shelter itself or do all the things that hunting birds do in the wild.

I showed him how to train the bird to hunt, (a time consuming process). When I thought it was time, I told him to leave its cage open. It stayed around for a few days, then one day it left. Occasionally the bird would return and watch from the top of a nearby tree.

My point?

For over forty years we have clothed, feed and took care of people that are perfectly able to take care of themselves. Why are we surprised that they refuse to leave the cage?

Isn't it time we quit treating them like tamed animals?

18 comments:

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Unknown said...

here's the problem- these people could be(most likely they are not) legitimately looking for work and finding nothing. sure they would have better chances if they moved, but if resources are limited, it is impossible to do so.

i am not an advocate of these programs, probably because of my upbringing, but we should do something for the ones who look for work rather than the ones who go to bars and spend all their money on alcohol. the best help we can give is a job so they can earn their keep.

Warren said...

In case anyone cares, I deleted the first three posts because they were spam.

If they want to advertise on my blog, they should pay me!

Warren said...

There are answers to those type of problems.

I do have some experience with these matters, on a much smaller scale, but there is no reason that they shouldn't work on a large scale.

There is no reason for gigantic slums to exist. Local governments only need to enforce existing building codes to clean up the mess.

I truly believe that in many cases they exist only to allow petty politicians to have a large constituency which he rewards by delivering enough bread and circuses to keep the population happy enough to re-elect him.

It has always been my experience that government "social workers", are much more concerned with finishing the paperwork than actually helping in any substantive way.

Working as a unpaid advocate, I authorized payment of moving expenses and referred them to other people and agencies which taught them how to apply for a job and handle an interview. We also provided nice cloths to, make a proper appearance, and referrals to tutors and education centers to improve basic skills.

DM said:
[...] "but we should do something for the ones who look for work rather than the ones who go to bars and spend all their money on alcohol."

BINGO!

We always provided more for people that were willing to help themselves and (gasp) refused aid to those people capable of solving their problems but unwilling to make an effort.

It wasn't always a substance abuse problem. Many people are satisfied to just "get by". Sometimes they need a push! I actually have people that moved from my district because we wouldn't help them or we weren't as "generous" as other district conferences.

Able bodied people that receive government assistance should be required to do real community service to receive pay instead of a handout.

Esther said...

Able bodied people that receive government assistance should be required to do real community service to receive pay instead of a handout.

AMEN to that! Great post, Warren. You make so much sense. I wish our politicians made half has much.

Spam sucks. Mine got so out of hand...that's why I switched to word verification. It's a pain, but not as big a pain as spam.

Warren said...

Thank you, my lady.

If I had the amount of traffic you do, I would go ahead and turn on the verification. As it is, I had a certain perverse pleasure deleting that spam.
;^)
I might turn it on yet.

Its ridicules to speak of the poor in America like they are relegated to life's of abject poverty. Too many people have shaken off poverty, turned away and never looked back.

One of the many people who the local community took in, from New Orleans, has decided to stay here permanently. She lived in NO's slums.

She said that she didn't know that she didn't "have to" live in a slum, that she had never known anything different.

Doesn't that give you pause?

Think about it! She didn't know, she had never known anything different.

Why do we put up with a system that institutionalizes being poor? Yet, that is surly what we do when we subsidize being "poor".

That's enough for now. Its a pretty big chunk and I have more to say later.

beakerkin said...

Warren

There are people up here who haven't worked in years and think its normal. Everyone including me goes through a stretch but the odds of anyone ever going back to gainful employment after a year or more off aren't good.

Always On Watch said...

So many of the government programs consign the recipients to poverty. It's a viscious cycle which kills motivation and initiative. Give those willing to work "a leg up," then back off and let them stand on their own. Not only is money saved, but also character and self-esteem (I hate that term, but it fits here) are nurtured.

The way we are going, the tax base will be exceeded by those with their hands out for help. Everyone is poorer for that kind of parasitic attitude, and when I say "poorer," I don't just mean financially.

The able-bodied need to "take hold" amd make lives for themselves. The government is a poor caregiver.

We are edging closer and closer to "from the cradle to the grave," not for the few but for the many.

Warren said...

Beak,
There are people everywhere that believe its "normal", not to work.

After they have not worked in a year, they have usually found a way to "work" the system and "get by".

I know of one that had a hernia protruding through his abdomen. As long as he had the hernia, he was "disabled", and entitled to SS Disability. They couldn't make him have it repaired, (a relatively minor operation), so he remained on disability and managed to "get by". (until they caught him making crank). But he went right back on disability as soon as he served his prison sentence.

It actually used to be worse than it is now!

Warren said...

Always,
I hate the term, self-esteem, also.

I've seen quite a few that had a self-esteem problem but the problem was usually that they had too much self-esteem. They thought that they were above taking an entry level position and working their way up.

There are people that cannot work owing to physical or mental problems. But the corruption in the system is overwhelming.

Unknown said...

i get how you get the initial number, but i have a little trouble on the outcome part.

with the numbers, i don't know how that would determine the days we get-unless the odd number gets odd days and even gets even. if this is the case, are we going by overall days (ex: 123 days) or are we going by days/month (ex: Feb 17)?

Warren said...

Samwich, there is much truth in what you say.

Warren said...

Maxim, I gather from your post that you are not an American.

Yes, we take care of our own and a great many that are not. Even people that enter our country illegally are given access to a variety of free services and health care without fear of being forced to leave the country.

Thank you for commenting.

Warren said...

Hey!
I just caught on.

Good to hear from you Elijah/Maxim!

Always On Watch said...

I've seen quite a few that had a self-esteem problem but the problem was usually that they had too much self-esteem. They thought that they were above taking an entry level position and working their way up. Yep, that's true.

In education, parents rush to their children's sense of self-esteem so that Johnny or Jenny might not ever experience failure. The usual result is an inferior education as standards are lowered to prevent any damage to ego. Then we have a pool of lazy ignoramuses, with no study skills to boot.

I noted in today's business section of the Washington Post that New Orleans is crying out for skilled laborers, specifically electricians. Unskilled laborers abound. I'm not surprised.

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