The words of the president
President Barack H. Obama, in his speech to an audience in Hyde Park, Ill., last week, gave notice that single parenthood with welfare is coming to an end with these words:
“And my administration will continue to work with the faith community and the private sector this year on a campaign to encourage strong parenting and fatherhood.
“Because what makes you a man is not the ability to make a child, it’s the courage to raise one.”
This means that a young boy or young adult can no longer walk away from providing not only income, but love and structure to a generation of broken families that has come to expect taxpayers to underwrite (through welfare) the cost of raising children.
Massachusetts and the western region in particular has absorbed itself in the belief that the taxpayer is here to underwrite the children conceived out of wedlock and at the convenience of two families. Assistance comes in housing under section 8, fuel supply through BCAC in Berkshire County and food stamps or a monthly debit allowance.
Pres. Obama said: “Now, that [merging two individuals into a family] starts at home. There’s no more important ingredient for success, nothing that would be more important for us reducing violence than strong, stable families – which means we should do more to promote marriage and encourage fatherhood.
“Don’t get me wrong – as the son of a single mom, who gave everything she had to raise me with the help of my grandparents, I turned out okay.
“But – no, no, but I think it’s – so we’ve got single moms out here, they’re heroic in what they’re doing and we are so proud of them.
“But at the same time, I wish I had had a father who was around and involved. Loving, supportive parents – and, by the way, that’s all kinds of parents – that includes foster parents, and that includes grandparents and extended families; it includes gay or straight parents.
“Those parents supporting kids – that’s the single most important thing. Unconditional love for your child – that makes a difference. If a child grows up with parents who have work, and have some education, and can be role models, and can teach integrity and responsibility, and discipline and delayed gratification – all those things give a child the kind of foundation that allows them to say, my future…
“I can make it what I want. And we’ve got to make sure that every child has that, and in some cases, we may have to fill the gap and the void if children don’t have that.
“So we should encourage marriage by removing the financial disincentives for couples who love one another but may find it financially disadvantageous if they get married.
“We should reform our child support laws to get more men working and engaged with their children…
“We also know, though, that there is no surer path to success in the middle class than a good education.
“And what we now know is that that has to begin in the earliest years. Study after study shows that the earlier a child starts learning, the more likely they are to succeed — the more likely they are to do well at Hyde Park Academy; the more likely they are to graduate; the more likely they are to get a good job; the more likely they are to form stable families and then be able to raise children themselves who get off to a good start.”
Times are a-changing and for not only the public good, but the good of society, perhaps forcing our young children to accept responsibility for their conduct and their own actions, thus creating a better stronger community.
The president in essence was calling for creating pride and self-worth in young people, who need direction, but also to take responsibility for their actions in the household, in the neighborhood and in the community.
For the complete speech, go to: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/02/16/remarks-president-strengthening-economy-middle-class
Posted by George C. Jordan III
on February 21, 2013. Filed under Opinion,View from the Tower.
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