Poverty in America

I think people need to take more ownership of the social behaviors that affect people's productivity and as an indirect result, the rates of hunger and of poverty.  It is not a coincidence that the top 10 food insecure states are all also the top 10 states violating children's rights by not only allowing paddling in schools but by dropping the ball on child abuse altogether.  When we mistreat growing people and destroy their early hopes, dreams and ambitions by beating them into compliance and despair, we also beat down their expectations of themselves and their expectations of their adult lives.

These are not indirectly related problems.  Look at StopHitting.org and find the list of the top 10 paddling states.  If we want to help combat food insecurity then we should add the task of stopping school paddling in the 20 states that still allow child assault on school grounds to our chore list.   In this day and age, there is no excuse to assault anyone of any age, we know too much now about what it does to the human spirit to allow this to continue.

Just what the blue blazes would that do?  Stopping child abuse is but one small part of the puzzle. Yes, it has potential for rippling through multiple generations, but it's neither the cause of poverty nor by any means the cause of ALL poverty nor will solving child abuse solve all poverty.  There is a LOT more at play than child abuse - for example, child abuse is often found in homes where spousal abuse is present.  Spousal abuse is often found where the abused spouse is kept from working or only allowed to work in limited jobs of the abuser's choice.  So ultimately, you're oversimplifying.  This said, actually DOING SOMETHING where child, spousal or even elder abuse DOES occur is something that isn't happening any where near adequately and really does NEED to be done.

We, as a society, desperately need to work on developing a welfare system or whatever you want to call it that WORKS.  One that recognizes ALL causes of poverty and what poverty REALLY IS - not the delusional, far below subsistence, impossible to honestly survive on, income level that's currently recognized as poverty.  The mistaken assessment of poverty in itself contributes greatly to how many women and children go without adequate food because they're unable to get adequate assistance so they CAN get enough food.  What makes me say this?  When the poverty line is off, the welfare program guidelines are off, when the guidelines are off, the assistance that's needed isn't actually available. 

We have a nation were jobs aren't available, where families are tossed aside, where assistance can't be found and then when someone goes hungry it's mysteriously the one who's hungry's fault. Just how cruel and inhumane can we get as a nation? Somehow, we forget that human rights don't just extend to political rights and freedoms - they extend to certain economic rights too, such as being able to obtain minimal food, shelter and health care without regard to why a person is unable to afford such on their own.  We can't say we're civilized when we're picking and choosing what human rights are rights.

women and children need help more and better assistance for food day care financial assistance