Television news broadcasts have been showing us a lot of pictures of homeless and hungry people this season.
Those of us who have a comfortable place to live and plenty to eat should be reminded that there are people in America who do not. The thing that bothers me about these broadcasts is the suggestion that it`s my fault.
I`m not speaking here of people who are poor and hungry because, through no fault of their own, they have become unemployed or because they are sick or elderly. I am speaking of people who have never tried to contribute anything to society.
Television doesn`t say so in so many words, but the news broadcasts usually leave me with the feeling that it`s my fault, your fault, the city`s fault, the state`s fault, the federal government`s fault or the fault of that anonymous monster, The System.
I don`t want you to think I`m cold, cruel and heartless, but sometimes, as I watch these people on television, I can`t help thinking it`s their own fault.
Recently on ”60 Minutes,” Ed Bradley interviewed a woman living under terrible circumstances in a New York City hotel room. Various government agencies were paying the hotel owners $2,000 a month for her filthy, roach-infested room. Bradley`s story was about the inefficiency of government and the greed of the welfare hotel owners. It was a good story, but there were some additional questions I`d like to have asked the woman.
First: ”Madam, why do you keep having children when you have no husband and can`t take care of the children you already have?”
Second: ”Wouldn`t this room be a better place for your children to live in if you spent 10 minutes a day cleaning it, no matter how evil the management may be?”
Third: ”Could you give us exact details of what you spent your last welfare check on?”
The last question would be to myself.
It seems obvious that we have to take care of people who can`t or won`t take care of themselves no matter who or what they are.
People, no matter how poor or screwed up, ought to be made aware that they are responsible for themselves, too. If they can`t take care of themselves, we help them. If they won`t take care of themselves, we still help them–but we don`t have to like it.
It seems as if more effort has to be put into making irresponsible people feel responsible for themselves. We don`t mind helping to feed or house genuinely poor people, but when it is apparent that they`re never going to be any better off or any happier no matter how much help they get, I feel ill at ease. I don`t like anyone being less happy than I am, but if they`re less happy because it`s their own fault, the best way to help them is to make them understand their problem.
Most of us don`t resent welfare or charity because we pay for it. We resent it because it doesn`t seem to do any good. People who give to charity and taxpayers who see their money go to welfare want some personal
satisfaction. We want to know that what we gave wasn`t wasted. We want to know that it helped make someone`s life less desperate, less unhappy. That doesn`t make it our fault.
