Posted by
DecoNservAtiVE on Thursday, October 01, 2009 3:22:51 PM
To Reduce Gangs and Gang Violence....
Reduce "entitlements" to ZERO.
One of the reasons, in my opinion, that crime in our "inner" cities is so bad is that the "Welfare State" rewards bad behavior.
In Mississippi we have many casinos. When do these casinos make their most money? At the first of the month with the distribution of "welfare" checks.
If there were no "welfare", no SSI, no food stamps, what would happen? More people would be required to work (or they would starve). There would be less demand for the importation of foreign workers.
I agree completely but I also understand the plight of the citizenry here and in many inner cities. There are very few "adequate" services. It's not for lack of funding contrary to popular belief but instead a multitude of waste, fraud and abuse. The answer is not to flood the market with money but to get out those who abuse and misuse the system. Benjamin Franklin said the best way to help the poor is to make being poor unattractive (paraphrased for today's lingo) and I believe that must be done. Do I sympathize with the poor? Absolutely, in many cases.
In fact, I'm working on a non-profit to cure many of the ills I mentioned in this post. It's designed to help those who NEED help and to direct those who NEED guidance. It's designed to teach the young how to grow up with the principled strength that our founders had and to give them the courage to rise above the fray (and hopefully deter them from beating each other to death with railroad ties). It's going to replace ACORN and provide an alternative location for the homeless, the disenfranchised and the hungry.
At the same time it's going to be a resource center for anyone looking for any kind of assistance. From job placement/job training to housing and subsistence as well as counseling in many areas this organization will help the people who need the help. This organization will also advocate for individual property rights while demanding that the city of Wilmington take action on condemned properties. No longer will caved in roofs be the sore sight seen from our city buildings. No more will the inner city residents be trapped in a city of garbage and filth. Our water and sewage systems need over hauls and not the band-aid fixes the city feels it can muster. We will demand that these problems be addressed and work to fix them. We won't stop there. The streets of Wilmington aren't safe after dark. The city (or more precisely a group of concerned citizens) have formed an escort service for city workers to make it safer to walk to their cars at night but that's not a fix. Once again it's a band-aid. They do an excellent job and I applaud them but we must do more.
This non-profit will address those issues by working with the local churches to hold block vigils once a week. It will also reach out the communities where gangs have become the norm and where people feel little hope coming their way. We'll offer them access to local faith based groups and give them a positive message to carry forward into a life outside of the criminal element. We'll provide them a way out and leg up while ensuring that THEIR will pulls them out of their poverty and criminal activities.
We'll show that Wilmington and by extension the rest of Delaware is a state worth a look by more than just banks and financial companies. We'll invite new manufacturing businesses to remodel, rebuild and reestablish a manufacturing industry in Delaware. How? We'll work with the government and new high tech companies working in many different fields including alternative energy, semiconductors, and the auto industry. We'll fight to reduce the union stranglehold on our state and reinvigorate the workforce. We'll fight for the rights of our workers while protecting the hard earned profits of our business community.
At the same time, Delaware has become a so-called "Blue State Haven" for financial institutions and is one of the corporate capitals of the world thanks to our kind business laws. We're not proposing we eliminate those but instead that we ask those corporations who benefit so much from our legal system (Delaware's Chancery Courts are renowned in the business world) and from out low taxes/fees. We'll be asking those companies headquartered or squatting here to contribute to the community. At the same time the citizens will be asked to cover their share as well. This does not necessarily mean a rise in taxes but instead a shifting of the direction of the funds from government pockets to where it belongs, the people.