Hating Government Welfare

Racism or Self-reliance Advocacy?

For political people who do not like me delving into history, please have some patience with me as I will get to the point.

Here I tie history to the discussion of Governor Pillen’s refusing Federal food funds. When the question is asked: What caused the Civil War? And if someone merely says “Slavery”, they have demonstrated how lazy their mind is. They may as well have said, “The Civil War was caused by men shooting at each other.” These answers are essentially identical in lacking useful information, yet many, many, many academics in our colleges and universities are dumbing down students with such simplifications, instead of fostering intellectual growth.

A proper response would be: “The Civil War was caused by Abolitionists who became radicalized by John C. Fremont’s failed Presidential campaign of 1856, a campaign which would have limited the expansion of slavery, which resulted in other sectional interests being pushed into conflict.” Or, simply: sectionalism. But the academics can’t accept such an approach and do not want details. Thus, people are raised with a distortion of not only history but end up with bad public policies.

The United States did not initially fathom the assistance former slaves needed. Eventually, the problem was addressed (https://www.britannica.com/topic/Freedmens-Bureau). However, a habit was created to assume government would always and must give handouts and food assistance. This created more political opportunities for people to be exploited.  For many Black Americans, as well as their Progressive allies, they cannot see or imagine why government should not give out food assistance. This is why former Senator Ernie Chambers made a plea to Governor Pillen (https://kearneyhub.com/news/local/ernie-chambers-others-plead-for-pillen-to-accept-summer-food-aid-for-nebraska-children/article_3ca31f68-a607-11ee-b650-3f61b8898c57.html). Image below provides sage advice.

I realize many Black Americans do not like these types of connections. Shelby Steele, in his book, White Guilt, explained how such matters become interpreted by White people causes stress. Framing issues as a matter of race are going to create yet another problem.

However, A’Jamal Byndon, Chair of Movement in Omaha for Racial Equity (MORE) had a response on the Federal food aid which displayed a substantial culture difference. While focusing on race, he stated: “When I was teaching the only academic poverty course at the University of Nebraska about fifteen years ago, I was shocked to learn about the number of rural whites who qualified for public assistance but refused to partake of such services because of the stigma and embarrassment of public assistance.”

A large problem here is merely casting European Americans as “white”. There are cultures, full of ideas, shaped by experience. People should store food in case of disruptive events. Every culture does some level of food storage, but the Europeans in America had to take it to a new level or starve as the winters are much harsher compared to European winters (https://www.rushlimbaugh.com/daily/2019/11/27/the-real-story-of-thanksgiving/). This is why Mormons adopted a mandate for long-term storage of food (https://uspreppers.com/how-to-prep-like-a-mormon/).

From canning to freezing food, there are lots of ways to store food for the long term. Today, you can flat out buy large packages of it (https://www.mypatriotsupply.com/collections/long-term-food-storage/products/1-year-emergency-food-supply-2-000-calories-day). Some go further and learn new talents to survive (https://blogs.cornell.edu/learning/what-is-survivalism-and-why-does-it-matter/).

Rural and religious communities not only keep food for their family but to help others when misfortune arrives. By sharing food, communities knew what problems existed in their communities and could address them. If you are going hungry and unable to obtain assistance from the community, something is perceived wrong with you. Today, however, in urban areas, this type of culture is mostly gone and has been replaced by a “Starbucks and Hot Pocket” style economy. The urban cultures are full of people who would be alarmed by chicken bones being in chicken. The urban culture just presumes food will be there instantly in a box no matter what. So when disaster strikes, in dependency, they assume government will feed them. This allows politicians to exploit the situation and offer free food.

In most urban areas, what food is given out is now largely done without restrictions or worse: by mere government checks. This means there is no connection between dire need, versus badgering, for food. The connection with community is lost. With such loss, crime and other bad behaviors set in. Churches lose connection with their neighbors and close their doors. The end result is people become even more dependent on government. Best way to address hunger is to reconnect communities, make people self-sufficient and encourage them to help their neighbors.