“Woefully Pathetic”

I see that there are some citizens that could care less about others. For the record, I am not naïve to think that they were not always among us in America, but they used to have a standard. They used to direct their discontent and apathy towards adults only, but now, not even the children are spared.

We reside in a society where some believe providing a quality education for all youth is not an important issue as we witness entire school districts placed on probation and threatened with losing accreditation. To add insult to the proverbial “down for the count,” school breakfast and lunch programs for students--the "only" meal many of them receive--is getting the axe.

So much for the "charitable spirit."

As layoffs of law enforcement, fire fighters, teachers, and the de-funding of social service programs continue to mount, and IOU’s are replaced with more IOU’s many of our elected officials at the city, state, and federal levels stand pat and complain that the "Foreigner from Kenya occupying the White House is the sole cause."

When did America become a nation of "pass the buck"?

We continue to wail about the rise of the wayward youth and the violent behaviors that appear to have enveloped them like a warm place in the sun, all the while treating them like a 2nd class population by revoking every opportunity that would allow them to flourish. Have you ever met an illiterate, hungry, and angry youth at midnight?

The fact of the matter is we could eradicate child poverty and illiteracy if we wanted to. America is capable of dismantling the cradle-to-prison pipeline, including full funding of Head Start Programs, making sure that children can read by the fourth grade, and eradicating child poverty by 2015. However, all of this boils down to a lack of commitment by our society. Let's hypothesize for a moment. Had the tax cuts for the top 1% richest Americans been repealed, it would have yielded a $57 billion surplus. To put it in perspective, the wars in Afghanistan/Iraq has cost over $450 billion through 2007, which amounts to about $100 billion a year. There is plenty of money for wars, but America lacks the compassion and the will to assists its most vulnerable poor--its children.

Conversely, 500 years from now our Republic will be judged by the way we effectively and most importantly, humanely address the needs of our children. Sadly, as of 2011, America’s treatment of children is woefully pathetic. Today is our opportunity to finally create an environment that will provide every youth with an equal chance to succeed.



"Progressives will bring balance to the Republic."
Anthony P. Johnson