by Smitty
Reading Lefties can be a source of sad amusement. Curtis Valentine at PuffHo has a piece trying to find the ointment on the economic fly. Here is a bit of introductory text for flavor:
Over the past twenty-five years, the exorbitant increase in the American standard of living has had an inverse affect on our tendencies to borrow and share. With millions of Americans enjoying a flourishing economy, the idea of Keeping up with the Jones’ was given new meaning and the term community development was reserved for poor neighborhoods filled with America’s underprivileged.
For all the Americans migrating to major cities and the immigrants arriving on our shores over the past century, this sense of community was the expectation not the exception. The recent age of overconsumption has caused the middle class to become less dependent on one another creating a level of independence that altered the traditional idea of community as we all envisioned it.
But then there is this:
With all the talk about preserving the institution of marriage and strengthening the American family, there has been little discussion about creating communities and institutions that can act as a support system or safety net for the families in times of need. The need is even more pronounced in single-parent homes that depend on extended family members, friends, and neighbors for emotional and financial support.
OK, Curtis, you managed to say “institution of marriage”. You almost uttered a word to describe where such an event occurs; a church, or a synagogue, or even a mosque maybe? See, those are safety nets not only when in need, but even more importantly, before the need arises.
You can generalize to “community of faith”, if you’re fretting an attack for proselytizing. But the statistical truth since the Great Society is that your social programs are a cure worse than the disease.
Socially, as politically, our task is to revive the mostly valuable traditions that the country is founded upon, and tell the Curtis crowd to talk to the hand.
