BethRant: HEY WHITE FOLK

HEY WHITE FOLK . . . and yeah, I’m one of you – of us, I should say.

Now that I have your attention . . .

Please read this article by an American woman physician about her ill treatment based only on the color of her skin.  Please.  Read.  It.  Please.

And when you’re tempted to argue, to disagree, to distinguish, please, please, take your fingers away from the keyboard and consider, if you will, for just a moment . . .

When you walk down a city street, have you ever noticed that the young men of color will often not look you in the eye?  Have you ever thought that maybe it’s not about them, but about you?  Have you ever considered how it must hurt them to see fear, suspicion, contempt or loathing in your eyes?  Have you?

When you sit and listen to that joke, that remark – yeah, that one – and don’t pretend you don’t know what I mean – we both know better, don’t we? – does it occur to you that in the mere listening, you and your own attitudes are being changed?  That your ‘tolerance’ for the intolerable is being built up?  That you are gradually, oh so gradually, becoming one with the one telling the joke, making the remark?  That there is a cost to us all when you are silent?

When you demand that brown people apologize for acts of terrorism around the world in order to make it clear to you that they do not agree, has it occurred to you that no one expects you to apologize for Timothy McVeigh?  For David Koresh?  For Jim Jones?  For Adolph Hitler?  For Joseph Stalin?  For the white person down the street who just broke into the house of your neighbor of color?  Did it ever even occur to you to go that neighbor and apologize for your kind?  Of course not.  Why, then, should it occur to ‘them’ to apologize to you – for something they did not do and with which they do not agree?

And to all the white women who passed by so easily, did it not occur to you not to pass by?  To stand with a sister in trouble?  To show your solidarity in rejection of this ill-treatment?

Because, you see, it isn’t just the one act that hurts so much.  That’s bad enough.  But when the privileged keep walking by as if it were our right, we reinforce the ugly.  We say it’s perfectly fine with us.  And it shouldn’t be.  But as Dr. Jilani points out from her own life experiences, unfortunately, it is.  It is fine with ‘us’.

If that does not sicken you, then I fear for us all.  A woman’s spirit was being annihilated.  And no one stopped to help.  Who taught ‘us’ that it is permissible to be so numbed, so indifferent, so afraid, perhaps, to the suffering of another happening right before our eyes that we could just walk on by as if it weren’t happening?  Shame on them.  Shame on us.

So some practical advice to the white folk:

1. Cut out the racism and the bigotry, the jokes.  Check your fears at the door and don’t make your fears someone else’s problem.  If you’re a Christian, remember that Jesus doesn’t like it.  Really.

2. Take up for other people when they’re being treated badly.  As a human being, it is your job.

3. Do not listen to the jokes and cracks.  I don’t care who's doing the telling.  Do not listen to them.  Say you will not listen to them.  If they do not stop, leave the room.

4. Stop complaining about how hard it is to be white.  It isn’t.  It’s hard to be human.

5. The Golden Rule has all kinds of applications.  Consider this: the next time you’re afraid of someone because they’re different than you, ask yourself why they might be afraid of you.  Put yourself in their shoes and act accordingly.  It is, after all, the Rule.

6. The idea that if one person of a group acts in a certain way means that they all do is just foolish.  Think not?  Well, if we’re to follow that line of thinking, every woman on the planet must hate, fear and suspect all men, because virtually every woman on the planet has been endangered at some point in her life by a man – not all men, but a man.  Does that mean no man can be trusted?  Of course not.  Does that mean you men must apologize to we women for your kind?  No.

7. It is not the job of the one suffering to explain themselves to you.  Don’t ask them to.  It hurts too much.

8. Stop thinking, acting, believing, as if we’re better than everyone else.  We’re not.  Nor are ‘they’ worse than we.  Life is not a contest and the ‘who’s better’ game is a destructive waste of time.  Consider that those you fear and hate the most are probably more like you than you can imagine – wanting simply to live in peace, provide for their families, have enough to survive.

9. Mom wasn’t wrong.  If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.

RantEnd

BethRant7: When is Enough Enough? On Begging, Biographies & Black Fridays

On Begging Every year, without fail, I receive a phone call from a student worker at an educational institution I attended, asking for alumni support (translate: money).  And every year, I have the same question: when is enough enough?

When will the school have reached enough money in hand to not ask for more?  When will its substantial (and I do mean substantial) endowments, investments, and assets be enough?  Really what I am asking is why isn’t what you have already enough?

I am usually misunderstood – while owning that the school does have a very handsome portfolio, there is always another project, a new vision, that requires more – always more.

Don’t get me wrong: I treasure my time spent there; I value the education I received; and I earnestly desire that others may have the same experience as I.  But truly, I want to know: is there a goal of money on hand that will suffice?  That will say we do not have to ask for more, because we have enough and more than enough?

On Biographies Reading my current issue of Smithsonian magazine, I run into a book review of yet another biography on General Custer.

Guidon lists 846 books dedicated in whole or in part to Custer, including McMurtry’s latest entry, the book treated in the Smithsonian review.

I am sure Custer is interesting.  But 846 books’ worth?  Really?  Hasn’t everything to be said about Custer and his ignominious place in the history of the United States been given its well-more-than obligatory 15 minutes of fame?

Aren’t 846 books more than enough to satisfy even Custer’s reputed vainglorious desire for even posthumous fame?

Can’t we move on?

Isn’t enough enough?

On Black Friday If you are ever tempted to doubt the efficacy of marketing (translate propaganda), of advertising’s impact on human behavior, behold Black Friday – best done from a distance, I have to say.

Photo from Doug's Foggiest Ideas

Watch on your television screen the melee at your local Wal-Mart.  Observe shopping turned into a competitive, full-body-contact sport.

My blog profile warned you: I am a curmudgeon.  So, in all my curmudgeonliness, here goes:

(1) It’s propaganda to say that you will find great bargains on Black Friday.  Samplings of goods on offer show that often the price is actually higher than at other times.

(2) It is one short step from a crowd to a mob.  People have actually been killed in the crush to buy.  While it would be sad if these were food lines for the hungry, at least it would be understandable.  But not this.  I keep a list in my head of stupid ways to die: ways I do not want to be the final word about me – ways that make people laugh at my idiocy, greed, or just plain foolishness.  Dying in a rush to buy the next new thing has to be in the top 10.

(3) Black Friday brings out the worst rather than the best in us.  It is as if we believe that we’re engaged in a holy battle when all we’re really doing is indulging our basest selves when we find we’re clinging to one end of a toy while another mother or father clings to the opposite end.  I wonder what Solomon would do with this one?

(4) Time is a divine gift.  I waste mine as much as the next person.  But we each must draw a line somewhere.  Here is one of mine: I will not meet my Maker and have to explain that I spent the gift given me wrestling other divine creations over something as insipid as a computer game, especially one whose content makes my Maker weep.

(5) Black Friday in the United States is the commercial kick-off to the Christmas season, what Christians refer to as Advent.  So I really (and I do mean really) want to know why my friends at Fox News, who can be counted on each and every year to claim that Christmas is being stolen by the government, make absolutely no noise at all about Christmas being stolen by capitalism.  Where is your outrage that your fellow entrepreneurs have taken the time set aside in the Christian calendar for the joyful reflection on the coming of Peace itself to earth and substituted that joy with the frenzy of acquisition?  Why aren’t you more frightened by this than by the removal of a creche from the local court house square?  Why don’t you see the X-Box sellers at Christmas as more dangerous than the ACLU?  I know I do.

RantEnd

BethRant6 - Let's End the Generational Wars

Let’s End the Generational Wars

Right here, right now.

Let’s do it.

Let’s walk away from all the political chatter that would pit oldsters against youngsters.

Let’s abandon discussions that would preserve all of my and my kind’s advantages at the expense of our children and grandchildren.

You know what I’m talking about: the suggestion that Social Security and Medicare financial challenges be ‘solved’ by keeping my benefits intact while cutting the benefits of my children and grandchildren.

I am not saying that we can ignore the financial challenges we face.

I am saying that it is wrong to seek to solve those challenges by pitting generations against each other in their respective financial stake in the provision for old age.

So here’s an idea: if (and it is a big if, especially as I do not feel I am sufficiently qualified to even know where truth lies on these issues) Social Security and/or Medicare cuts in fact must be made, let’s begin not with our young.  Let’s begin with ourselves.

We Baby Boomers have the (perhaps unfortunate) distinction of being the largest generation numerically.  That’s why our generation is referred to as ‘Boomer’s - there’s just so darned many of us.

Thus did the many pay in for the relatively few of our own parents and grandparents.

But on top of all the other issues (economic downturn, increased longevity, increased costs of care), while there are more of us, there are less of our descendants, which means less money paid into these funds by the taxpayers.

So why don’t we Boomers think about ways we could take less from these funds to help defray the overall cost?  Why don’t we think about how we might sacrifice for the benefit of those who will come after?  Why don’t we ask AARP to fight as hard for our grandchildren as it fights for us?

I know I’m on shaky ground here as many literally do not have enough to meet their expenses as it is.  And more and more, the kids and grandkids are coming back home to live, unable to find jobs themselves.

But let us never, ever forget why social financial safety nets were put in place ‘back in the day’.  They were put in place precisely because we experienced a Great Depression and millions were in the position of having no means of surviving their own old age.

The safety net is worth protecting for the generations.  And Wall Street is not the answer.  I don’t know a lot about finances and economics, but I do know this: we cannot rely upon our worst selves to save our best selves.  And unfortunately, Wall Street represent our worst selves.  The idea that young taxpayers would have no Social Security but instead would be allowed to invest their own dollars in the stock market as they see fit actually puts right back in time to the place we were that led to the creation of Social Security in the first place: the Great Depression.  When things go well with Wall Street, it feels pretty good.  But things do not always go well with Wall Street.  Ask any person preparing to retire in 2008-2010 whether they’d preferred to have a 401(k) or a traditional defined benefit pension plan.  Nothing in this life is guaranteed, but a traditional pension plan is a much more sure thing than investing.  Most of us simply do not have the interest or the expertise to invest wisely even on our own behalf.  And if we don’t have to put the money aside for our old age, history tells us that we won’t.  Finally, Wall Street continues to be a place for those with a very high tolerance for risk – with OPM (other people’s money).  Gamblers Anonymous is filled with people who thought they had a ‘sure thing’.  Wall Street is simply institutionalized gambling.  We’ve learned and relearned that lesson and still we refuse to act upon the experience we’ve gained the hard way.  12 Step programs call that kind of behavior insanity (doing the same thing over and over and expecting it to be different).  They aren’t wrong.

So here are a few very practical thoughts/suggestions for ‘we the people’:

1. For those of us with some means, stop – right now – any and all efforts to circumvent existing laws so that your savings will to go to your children when you die rather than to provide for your care right now.  It is wrong.  It is wrong to not only because it is illegal, but it is also immoral.  It is immoral to actually have money on hand to provide for your own old age but to divert that money away from your care and require your fellow citizens to pay your freight so you can leave your kids a legacy.  A lot of them (current taxpayers) have less than you do.  So how about leaving your children the legacy of duty fulfilled, honor instilled, integrity preserved?

2. Same thing with life insurance: if you have life insurance worth more than it will cost to bury you and that life insurance has cash value, consider taking some of that cash value towards your own care.

3. Treat your kids well so that they will be willing to help care for you in your old age.

4. If you have the means, give some or all of the money back.  That’s right.  You heard me.  If you have sufficient income to provide for yourself, when you file your income tax return, pay more than you owe.  We are actually allowed to donate money to the government.  So if you don’t need the Social Security, give it back.  If you can’t get past the mental stumbling block that it’s ‘your money’, then give it back once you’ve reached the point that you’re drawing out more than you put in.  Check out PPI for a proposal to codify the idea by giving retirees the ability to select a level of benefit to receive from Social Security.

5. Pay attention to your bills and Medicare benefit statements.  Read them.  If they show a service that you did not receive, call your doctor or the provider of the service to have it removed.  Mostly, it’s probably just a mistake.  But sometimes it isn’t.  If it’s fraud, do not be a part of it.  It is dishonest.  If you know someone who is defrauding Medicare, report them.  This fraud is stealing from our own children.  Who steals from their own children?  [Check out Medicare Fraud to learn how to report problems with billing.]

5. Make it clear that dealing with this problem for all the generations matters to you and your vote.  There actually have been plans submitted to Congress that would make a difference.  But Congress will not act.  The reason is simple: Congress believes and rightly so that old folks (who vote way more than young folks do) will not stand for any of it.  We have to change in order for Congress to change.  We have to let them know that we are willing to do our part.  Tell your Senator and Congressperson that you support Simpson-Bowles, which would both (a) increase the payroll tax for Social Security and (b) increase the retirement age.  Perhaps the increase in retirement age might be a temporary measure (directed specifically at we Boomers).  I don’t know if the math would justify this being an interim measure.  But the fact remains that until we voters make it clear that we demand Congress act and recognize that it will require sacrifice on our part – a sacrifice we are willing to make – nothing will change.  And it will be our fault.  Not Congress’s.  Not the President’s, whoever that person may be.  Not ‘government’s’.  Ours.

Maybe you’ve got some ideas too.  Share them.  Put them out there.  There is no ‘them’ and ‘us’ when it comes to government and it’s time we stopped acting like ‘they’re’ doing something to ‘us’.  It’s time we started behaving like grown-ups and believe and act as if economic crisis means sacrifice for everybody.  It’s time we stopped allowing our politicians to pit us against our children.  It’s time we cared about what happens to all of us and not just to me.  It’s time we acted like we are the solution to our problems.  In fact, it’s past time.

BethRant4: E-N-O-U-G-H

Enough.

I will say it again.

Enough!

Enough!  Enough!  Enough!

Stop it!

Right now!

I mean it!

Go to your room if you can’t speak nicely to others!

Enough!

For all you Twitterheads who hide behind made-up not-so-clever handles and all you blog responders doing the same – enough already with the ugliness.

I’ve had it with each and every one of you.

Your insults are not even creative.

They’re not only mean; they’re demeaning.

You’re demeaning me as well as you because we are fellow human beings.

And I, for one, have had it with each and every one of you.

People on the Left call for the death, murder or suicide of Ann Romney.  Red Alert

Really?

Shame on you!

In what universe is that kind of talk acceptable?

I really want to know.

What world do you inhabit where it is acceptable to speak such vitriol and violence?

And to those on the Right, before you get too smug, here is but a small sampling of insults your kind hurled at  Michele Obama after her speech last night:  Enslavers (does the racial context escape you?) . . . ugliest First Lady . . . Godless . . . “the first cow” . . . not even minimally attractive . . . patron of Wal-Mart at 3 a.m. . . . The Blaze

And there have been death threats against Mrs. Obama as well.

This is not acceptable.  And I do not care one whit about your free speech rights.  Reality and facts matter.  Your diatribes, unfortunately, matter too.  They matter not because our opinions are important; rather, they matter because you are lobbing mini-WMD and like all WMD, they land where they will and do great and unforeseen damage.

Our president is not a Nazi.  And you are not living under occupation.  Trust me on this – you would know if you were – well, your family would – because you would be dead.

Mr. Romney is not a people-hating robot.  He, like you, is a human being.  He, like you, has wonderful and not-so-wonderful traits.  Unlike you, however, he had the guts to enter the political arena and actually apply for the job of president instead of calling out from the cheap seats.*

The women who loved and married and have made a life with these men are not antichrists, demonic, nor do they suck the air out of your lungs simply because they draw breath on the same planet with you.  They are people.

Disagree with their ideas, their political stances?  Sure.  Even passionately.

But please trust me on this: you reveal far more about yourselves than you ever will about them with the things you say.  Comments about a female public figure’s appearance, body type, clothing, and so forth, reveal a deep-rooted sexism.  (Think not?  When was the last time you wondered how much Paul Ryan’s tie cost?)  And when it comes to some of the things said about Mrs. Obama, the racism is overt.  As a woman, I can assure you fellows that there is not one single woman on the planet who cares even a little bit about your preference for certain types of butts.  Not one.  So do us all a favor and keep it to yourselves, won’t you?

And maybe your family and friends agree with you.  Maybe.  Or maybe at least some of them are just too polite or too frightened to tell you what they really think.  Here’s the thing: racism isn’t just wrong; it’s foolish.  It prevents you from seeing the good and worth and contributions of people who can actually make your life better.  It causes you to be afraid when there is no cause to be.  It blinds you to reality.  And it turns you into a bully.  And nobody wants to hang out with a bully.  Nobody – not even other bullies.

Finally, if you dump out so much outrage over nonsense (and yes, what Mrs. Obama or Mrs. Romney wear and how they look in it, disagreeing with the fact that they both love their husbands and have the job of giving them public tribute, or that their story is not your story, is nonsense), what will you have left for the things that really and truly matter?  And we have serious issues facing us that really matter – things like whether our foreign policy should be driven by an us-first worldview or not; whether drone strikes that kill civilians can continue while we claim to be a just and good society; whether using more than our fair share of the world’s resources is something we can change (we already know we should); whether Mr. Obama’s vision of government or Mr. Romney’s makes the most sense for economic survival; whether we can come together as a nation over anything other than devastating crisis?

So here’s a thought: before you put fingers to keyboard, pause for just a moment and pretend that everything you write will appear in your own local newspaper with your picture beside it and that your children and family and co-workers and fellow church members (not to mention God, who already knows what you’re up to anyway) will all see it and know it was you doing the talking.  Will you be proud of what you said?  Will you stand by it?  Or will you have to explain it away, “Daddy was jut blowing off steam, honey.  He didn’t really want Mrs. Romney to die.  He doesn’t really hate black people.”

As a fellow human being, your hatred shames me and your anonymity disgusts me.

RantEnd



________________
*Just so we’re clear: yes, that was an insult.  I am not saying that we cannot or should not engage in fierce and even strident debate.  Demonization of our opposition, however, is (1) ridiculous (that is, it makes the one doing it look like an idiot); (2) a waste of time and energy; (3) demeaning to our public discourse; and (4) destructive of our civilization.  Yes – it’s destructive.  Every word we speak has consequence.  Do you really think that Michelle Obama and Ann Romney aren’t human beings with feelings?  Ann Romney has MS.  Do you think the stress of the campaign, let alone the stress of your hurtful and frightening remarks has no impact on her and those who love her?  And Michelle Obama still has two young children at home.  Do you think they don’t hear what you say?  Or wonder why people hate the mother they love so much?  Do you think your children would be proud of you for what you’re saying?  Or would they be frightened that Mommy or Daddy could be so violent against a stranger?  And perhaps even worry about what you might do to them if you get mad?  Words matter.

BethRant3: Who Cares About Paul Ryan’s Bod?

It’s official.  Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin is Mitt Romney’s running mate.  And it’s also ‘official’ that Paul Ryan is considered to have a hot bod by Fox Nation, is described as ‘super-fit’ by the New York Daily News, in answer to the question of whether Mr. Ryan’s biceps are getting more attention than his budget.  Well, apparently, at least by the New York Daily News.  That's just a mini-sample of the 277,000,000 hits you'll get on Google for the words "Paul Ryan hot bod".  Contrast that with the mere 65,000,000 hits for the words "Paul Ryan economics" (Mr. Ryan is known politically for his economic plans for the country).

I am sick and tired of the nonsense that passes for news.  I couldn’t get away from Mr. Ryan’s physique without turning off the television and refusing to read any national newspapers.

The last election cycle, I actually stopped watching Chris Matthews out of disgust at his show's open sexism in the treatment of Hilary Clinton.  Whether for her or against her, watching Chris Matthews (liberal) and Ann Coulter (conservative) giggle like school girls over whether Mrs. Clinton’s calves are fat or not, whether she should wear one strand of pearls or two and tut-tutting over the cleavage shot captured by C-SPAN in their from-the-galleries downward camera angle frustrated and offended me almost beyond words.

If (and it’s a huge and very sarcastic if) there is anything positive in this similar treatment of Mr. Ryan, I suppose it’s that we have now devolved as a nation to the point where men are objectified as much as women.  (Well, we all know that isn’t even a little bit true, but I trust my point is taken).

For the record, if anyone should care even a little bit,

(1) I do not care, not even a little, what Mr. Ryan’s percentage of body fat is.  I understand why he would care; but I do not.
(2) I do not care, not even a little bit, what workout regimen Mr. Ryan uses.  And I am still bemused that the interviewer of Mr. Ryan’s trainer (well, actually the trainer for all of Congress – yes, they apparently have a professional trainer for the Congressional fitness center [and yes, they’ve got their own fitness center]) asked cooing questions about Mr. Ryan’s workout regimen and didn’t even bother to raise the question of how much it costs the taxpayers to assure that Mr. Ryan and others in Congress remain physically fit.
(3) I do not wish to see photographs of Mr. Ryan’s physique.  Unfortunately, searching the web for an informal count of stories about policy versus stories about physique, I was treated to the image of Paul Ryan shirtless.  I don’t know how many ways to get this point across, but here it is put another way: Running for the office of President or Vice President is not a beauty pageant.  

Please, please, please, people of the United States, can we please grow up?  Can we please get down to the very serious business of picking our next elected officials?  Can we please stop caring about the unimportant?  Can we please stop being distracted by the silly baubles others put before us and pay real attention to the real issues?

If all we ever do is look at the cover, we will never bother to read the book.  And trust me on this: what’s inside the book matters way, way more than the cover.  Everyone in the world, including those who are running, understand that far better than we seem to.

RantEnd

BethRant2 - Getting There on Your Own

Click on the link for an introduction to the concept of the BethRant.

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President Obama spoke recently in Roanoke, Virginia.  I have not seen the transcript of his speech.  For purposes of this rant, I will presume Mr. Limbaugh’s quote is accurate.  Taking Mr. Limbaugh’s version, the President made the following statement:

There are a lot of wealthy, successful Americans who agree with me — because they want to give something back.  They know they didn’t — look, if you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own.  You didn’t get there on your own.  I’m always struck by people who think, well, it must be because I was just so smart.  There are a lot of smart people out there.  It must be because I worked harder than everybody else.  Let me tell you something — there are a whole bunch of hardworking people out there.  The Blaze

The quote that seems to have bothered Mr. Limbaugh so is the line, “you didn’t get there on your own”.

From this simple statement – that even the wealthy did not spring preternaturally from the forehead of some unsuspecting god – Mr. Limbaugh concludes that Mr. Obama:

• hates America
• is a radical
• is trying to “dismantle the American dream”
• is engaging in Marxist classism (whatever that means - didn’t Marx ‘preach’ the elimination of class?)
• is demonstrating contempt for the country (interesting - even if true, Obama’s ‘contempt’ was for the wealthy, which Limbaugh conflates with the country itself - wow - I never knew being rich was being American while being poor was being something else - who’s the classist now, Mr. Limbaugh?)
• is ruthless
• is a despiser of America
• is a despiser of the way America was founded
• is a despiser of the way America became great (I’m guessing Mr. Limbaugh means we became great because the Carnegies, and not the Debs, made us that way)

Are you kidding me?

Apparently not.

At least not according to my own FB page, wherein a series of RNC (Republican National Committee) ads show a series of photos of entrepreneurs with Mr. Obama laughing superimposed on the picture, with the tag line, “You didn’t build that”, RNC FB page,  a clear link to Mr. Limbaugh’s screed.

The fact is that Mr. Obama did not say “you didn’t build that”, even according to Rush Limbaugh.

The fact is that Mr. Obama did say, “you didn’t do it alone”.

The fact is that no sane person would argue with that.

Christian sane people presumptively say that all that they do, they do with the aid, assistance, and intervention of the divine, hence do they never act alone.

Religious and non-religious sane people universally thank their moms when they finally make it on television in a sporting event – an obvious observation that they would not even be present on the planet but for the actions of at least two other people – their parents.

Business owners routinely tell their employees, “we couldn’t have done it without you”.  I always believed them.  Was I being naive?

Here’s the thing: what on earth is so very threatening about the concept of recognizing that we are an interdependent species?  What do we lose by acknowledging that we need each other?  I really and truly wish I understood that one.

I don’t know if it would make me a better person, but I’m betting if I understood I’d be a way better pastor.

But for the love of whatever you hold dear to, would you – my friends and family and neighbors and fellow citizens – all of you – just stop this nonsense.

Disagree with the guy if you’re of a mind to.

But spare me, you, and the rest of us the ridiculousness of pseudo-analysis that would take one construct and turn it into another.  You betray a lack of persuasiveness when you stoop to saying down is up.

RantEnd

BethRant1 - If the Irish Can Do It, So Can You

Facts matter.  And a professor at a respected university ought to know that.  But apparently, when Dr. Walter E. Williams wears the substitute-for-Rush-Limbaugh hat, he takes off his professorial robes.

Dr. Williams subbed for Rush Limbaugh yesterday.  I know because I listened to the show as I drove the mountains between West Virginia and Virginia.

During the time I listened, Dr. Williams touched on health care, gun ownership, social security, and a myriad of other topics of interest to his listeners, including poverty and welfare.

Dr. Williams' views are not mine, but they are his, and as such, I have no quarrel with the man.  But when it comes to facts, well, as my friend Anita is fond of saying, “the facts do not care” if we agree or not.

Hence do I introduce BethRant – a way to alert those reading that this is just that – my own rant against someone I think has gotten ‘it’ wrong and ought to know better.  Be warned: BethRants are political.  Of course, I think everything is political, but hey, that’s just me.

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When the poor Irish fled the Potato Famine and arrived in New York with just the clothes on their backs, did they get food stamps? If not, how did they make it? -Dr. Williams

Well, Dr. Williams, they didn’t.  The poorest of the poor could not afford to emigrate in the first place Watertown Daily Times, so they starved to death in Ireland - more than a million of them.  Then they died on the ships coming over – so many died that the ships were referred to as ‘coffin ships’.  Then they died in quarantine once they got here.  One expert estimates that more than a third of those on ships for Canada died en route or in quarantine. Constitutional Rights Foundation

Thus, those left to actually enter the Americas were the healthiest, the most physically fit, and those with the most resources.  It was survival of the fittest at its ugliest.  But even that wasn't enough.

In Boston, cholera was rampant among the new immigrants and sixty per cent of Irish children born in Boston during that time didn’t live to see their sixth birthday.  Adults lived on average just six years after arriving from Ireland.  Infant mortality was equally high in New York City. History Place

If one is to make the case that public welfare is not only not the business of government, but also is not necessary, when pointing to historical precedent, it is self-evident that the precedent must apply.  The fact is that the Irish immigrant experience to the Americas is not a case-in-point for Dr. Williams’ proposition that welfare is not necessary for the survival of the poor.  The Irish immigrant experience actually proves the opposite: absent any coordinated effort at assistance to those without food, they will die.  Some will die quickly of starvation and more will die slowly of malnutrition, disease, and the ground-swell of social ills that prey on those too weak to defend themselves against the onslaught.

But we know this, don’t we?

So why do we keep insisting that it isn’t true?

The only reason I can come up with is self-interest – greedy self-interest that requires a number of things in order to alleviate myself from my human obligation to help:

(1) I see myself as a good and moral person – absent this self-perception, the self-deception would not be necessary: I could simply say what’s mine is mine and too bad for you and be done with it.

(2) I must see my neighbor in dire need as someone who has brought their misfortune upon themselves – for if they did not bring this upon themselves somehow, if they are simply an innocent victim of circumstance, my good and moral heart would be stirred to step in and help.

(3) I must see history as proving my point – precedent, what’s been done before, has great persuasive value.  If it was good enough for the ancestors, so the saying goes . . . Of course, historical facts to the contrary can be awfully inconvenient to such an approach.  

And thus do I say, shame on you, Dr. Williams.  You are an economist by training and experience.  You should know better than most that poverty is a systemic thing much more than it is the narrative of any one individual and that systems gather power and wealth and resources unto themselves, loathe to share, especially with those in no position to bargain.

Does that mean the poor, as individuals or as a class, have no ability or no opportunity to alter their circumstances?  Of course not.  But let us not pretend that they enter the playing field with anything approaching an equal chance to you and I, who ate our fill last night.

So please, make your case against the modern welfare state somewhere other than on the backs of dead Irish immigrants -- they simply aren't strong enough to support your position.

RantEnd



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Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Dr. Walter E. Williams holds a B.A. in economics from California State University, Los Angeles, and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in economics from UCLA. He also holds a Doctor of Humane Letters from Virginia Union University and Grove City College, Doctor of Laws from Washington and Jefferson College and Doctor Honoris Causa en Ciencias Sociales from Universidad Francisco Marroquin, in Guatemala, where he is also Professor Honorario. Dr. Williams has served on the faculty of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, as John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics, since 1980; from 1995 to 2001, he served as department chairman. He has also served on the faculties of Los Angeles City College, California State University Los Angeles, and Temple University in Philadelphia, and Grove City College, Grove City, Pa.  George Mason University