17 Choosing a Future
National programs aimed at helping the poor often have more limitations and negative consequences than commonly believed. Although there is a strong moral obligation to assist the poor, past reforms have frequently harmed the industrious poor while failing to address the needs of the least responsible. It is unjust to impose rules that encourage harmful behaviors among young people. Change in public perception may lead to improvements in education and welfare, focusing more on academic achievement and middle-class values. If current behaviors stem from a rational understanding of dysfunctional rules, these rules must be changed for a brighter future. Three proposals are suggested: one for education, one for public welfare, and one for civil rights, to effectively tackle these issues.
A Proposal for Social Policy and Race
Reforming American social policy is difficult because of the ongoing race issue, which has been ignored since 1964. There are two important ideas that conflict: equal treatment and a fair shake. Equal treatment means everyone should follow the same rules and not receive special advantages, while a fair shake means everyone should have a fair chance to succeed. This conflict creates discomfort because it feels wrong when a black child is denied opportunities due to past injustices, but it also seems unfair when a less qualified black job applicant is chosen over a more qualified white applicant.
Before the 1960s, racial policy was simple; it focused on treating people without considering their race. But after the 1960s, the approach shifted to helping black people catch up, which led to new kinds of racism that were more harmful than the previous ones. The current black underclass is held back because they are treated differently based on their race. Instead of promoting true equality, a new form of condescension emerged, with some white people feeling that they need to help the black poor while ignoring their responsibilities.
The proposal is to eliminate any laws or decisions that give different treatment based on race. The goal is to return to the idea that race should not be a reason to treat someone differently, ensuring fairness in social policies for everyone.
A Proposal for Education
Every five-year-old deserves a good education, which can help change their future. The goal is to create an educational system that effectively supports poor and disadvantaged children without compromising the interests of other students. A major change proposed is to provide completely free education from preschool to graduate degrees, removing financial barriers. However, simply making education free does not address quality or accessibility.
A more impactful reform is the introduction of a voucher system, which gives parents of school-aged children the ability to choose where to send their kids for education. This system allows parents to select schools that hold high expectations and offer accountability. Active and involved parents, particularly from disadvantaged backgrounds, often seek better educational opportunities for their children, similar to more affluent families. Providing vouchers empowers these parents to make informed decisions, potentially leading to equal test scores across different racial backgrounds.
However, some students still face challenges due to lack of support from home. Many come underprepared for school, lacking early developmental stimulation and sometimes believing they cannot succeed. To help these children, schools need to create an environment that feels different from their neighborhoods. Testing is implemented for entry into courses, ensuring that students can handle the work if they try. Teachers are given authority to maintain discipline, focusing on teaching motivated students, while allowing re-enrollment after failures.
As students take courses and experience small successes, they learn important lessons about effort, success, failure, and the value of preparing well. These lessons are crucial, especially for disadvantaged students who often feel that failure is inevitable. The system aims to help students confront and manage failure, turning it into a learning experience rather than a source of discouragement.
Ultimately, while not every student will immediately thrive under this new system, there is promise that some will respond positively to the changes and gain valuable educational experiences that were previously unavailable to them.
A Proposal for Public Welfare
The proposal suggests a new way to improve welfare that could help a lot of unemployed people and their families. It claims that this program could turn many young, unemployed individuals into steady workers earning enough to live on. It would also reduce the number of babies born to single teenage girls, decrease family breakups, and help poor families improve their social status. These changes could positively affect millions of people and achieve results that past social programs have not accomplished since they started in 1965.
The idea is to completely get rid of the federal welfare system for working-age people, which includes several assistance programs like AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children), Medicaid, Food Stamps, and unemployment benefits. This means people would have to rely only on finding jobs, getting help from family and friends, or using locally funded services. This approach is compared to cutting a difficult knot instead of trying to untie it.
This proposal might create strong feelings, both for and against it, but it is important to think about how life would change for people in this new society. Most of the population would not be affected at all because many in the middle and working classes live without using social welfare benefits. Some people might notice small changes in their income that don’t impact their quality of life. However, others would face major adjustments, such as young adults moving back in with their parents and single teenage mothers depending on their parents for support. People who lose their jobs would need to use their savings until they find new work. These changes would disrupt how families normally function.
Parents might start pushing their adult children to find jobs, especially single mothers who really need their children's help. As economic pressure increases, some teenagers who were not ready to work might find that they can take low-paying jobs if they have no other choice. Over time, many could gain skills from these jobs and eventually find better-paying work.
The proposal also points out that hardworking families, like responsible fathers and diligent single mothers, should receive recognition for their efforts. These families have often been looked down upon despite their sacrifices to provide for their children. As dependence on welfare decreases, these individuals may regain their status and respect in their communities.
While changing the welfare system significantly raises concerns, local services would be in place to support those in need. In this new setup, community organizations would have more resources to help poor people, using local donations and taxes, rather than relying on federal support. This could help ensure that assistance is more suited to the needs of each community.
Despite these local services, some people might still struggle without any government assistance, such as teenage mothers or those who have been unemployed for a long time. In response to this, reinstating unemployment insurance could provide temporary help to people who have lost their jobs, allowing them time to search for new work.
The hardest group to assist would be those who have been jobless for a long time without any family support or access to local services. The traditional welfare system would not meet their needs, but local systems might provide the help people truly need, especially for those willing to work hard and improve their situations.
Overall, this proposal raises important questions about what could happen to people left without support. The main goal is to encourage people to be independent instead of dependent. The idea is that while some individuals might not receive full support, a focus on promoting personal responsibility and community help could lead to better opportunities for children. Rather than keeping people in a cycle of welfare dependence, the plan aims to create a society that values hard work and self-reliance.
The Ideal of Opportunity
The idea of opportunity focuses on giving individuals the chance to succeed based on their own merits, rather than ensuring equal outcomes for everyone. It recognizes that some people naturally excel and deserve greater rewards. The role of social policy should be to create an environment where those with talent can shine. Society should allow individuals to self-select their paths, giving them the chance to prove themselves without punishment for failure, only a lack of rewards if they do not succeed. There are many talented individuals in disadvantaged communities who could thrive if given proper opportunities, and existing institutions can help support those efforts. However, current government policies often hinder these opportunities rather than facilitate them.
Escapism
There is a belief that significant changes to social policy are unlikely in the near future. The current system seems to prefer maintaining a status quo, even if it results in increased suffering, rather than implementing partial solutions that address some problems. People often feel better when they contribute financially to social programs, as it gives them a sense of doing their part, regardless of actual outcomes. The real challenge for reform lies in facing the discomfort of accepting that not everyone can be helped, rather than in the pain it may cause those benefiting from the system.
National programs aimed at helping the poor often have more limitations and negative consequences than commonly believed. Although there is a strong moral obligation to assist the poor, past reforms have frequently harmed the industrious poor while failing to address the needs of the least responsible. It is unjust to impose rules that encourage harmful behaviors among young people. Change in public perception may lead to improvements in education and welfare, focusing more on academic achievement and middle-class values. If current behaviors stem from a rational understanding of dysfunctional rules, these rules must be changed for a brighter future. Three proposals are suggested: one for education, one for public welfare, and one for civil rights, to effectively tackle these issues.
A Proposal for Social Policy and Race
Reforming American social policy is difficult because of the ongoing race issue, which has been ignored since 1964. There are two important ideas that conflict: equal treatment and a fair shake. Equal treatment means everyone should follow the same rules and not receive special advantages, while a fair shake means everyone should have a fair chance to succeed. This conflict creates discomfort because it feels wrong when a black child is denied opportunities due to past injustices, but it also seems unfair when a less qualified black job applicant is chosen over a more qualified white applicant.
Before the 1960s, racial policy was simple; it focused on treating people without considering their race. But after the 1960s, the approach shifted to helping black people catch up, which led to new kinds of racism that were more harmful than the previous ones. The current black underclass is held back because they are treated differently based on their race. Instead of promoting true equality, a new form of condescension emerged, with some white people feeling that they need to help the black poor while ignoring their responsibilities.
The proposal is to eliminate any laws or decisions that give different treatment based on race. The goal is to return to the idea that race should not be a reason to treat someone differently, ensuring fairness in social policies for everyone.
A Proposal for Education
Every five-year-old deserves a good education, which can help change their future. The goal is to create an educational system that effectively supports poor and disadvantaged children without compromising the interests of other students. A major change proposed is to provide completely free education from preschool to graduate degrees, removing financial barriers. However, simply making education free does not address quality or accessibility.
A more impactful reform is the introduction of a voucher system, which gives parents of school-aged children the ability to choose where to send their kids for education. This system allows parents to select schools that hold high expectations and offer accountability. Active and involved parents, particularly from disadvantaged backgrounds, often seek better educational opportunities for their children, similar to more affluent families. Providing vouchers empowers these parents to make informed decisions, potentially leading to equal test scores across different racial backgrounds.
However, some students still face challenges due to lack of support from home. Many come underprepared for school, lacking early developmental stimulation and sometimes believing they cannot succeed. To help these children, schools need to create an environment that feels different from their neighborhoods. Testing is implemented for entry into courses, ensuring that students can handle the work if they try. Teachers are given authority to maintain discipline, focusing on teaching motivated students, while allowing re-enrollment after failures.
As students take courses and experience small successes, they learn important lessons about effort, success, failure, and the value of preparing well. These lessons are crucial, especially for disadvantaged students who often feel that failure is inevitable. The system aims to help students confront and manage failure, turning it into a learning experience rather than a source of discouragement.
Ultimately, while not every student will immediately thrive under this new system, there is promise that some will respond positively to the changes and gain valuable educational experiences that were previously unavailable to them.
A Proposal for Public Welfare
The proposal suggests a new way to improve welfare that could help a lot of unemployed people and their families. It claims that this program could turn many young, unemployed individuals into steady workers earning enough to live on. It would also reduce the number of babies born to single teenage girls, decrease family breakups, and help poor families improve their social status. These changes could positively affect millions of people and achieve results that past social programs have not accomplished since they started in 1965.
The idea is to completely get rid of the federal welfare system for working-age people, which includes several assistance programs like AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children), Medicaid, Food Stamps, and unemployment benefits. This means people would have to rely only on finding jobs, getting help from family and friends, or using locally funded services. This approach is compared to cutting a difficult knot instead of trying to untie it.
This proposal might create strong feelings, both for and against it, but it is important to think about how life would change for people in this new society. Most of the population would not be affected at all because many in the middle and working classes live without using social welfare benefits. Some people might notice small changes in their income that don’t impact their quality of life. However, others would face major adjustments, such as young adults moving back in with their parents and single teenage mothers depending on their parents for support. People who lose their jobs would need to use their savings until they find new work. These changes would disrupt how families normally function.
Parents might start pushing their adult children to find jobs, especially single mothers who really need their children's help. As economic pressure increases, some teenagers who were not ready to work might find that they can take low-paying jobs if they have no other choice. Over time, many could gain skills from these jobs and eventually find better-paying work.
The proposal also points out that hardworking families, like responsible fathers and diligent single mothers, should receive recognition for their efforts. These families have often been looked down upon despite their sacrifices to provide for their children. As dependence on welfare decreases, these individuals may regain their status and respect in their communities.
While changing the welfare system significantly raises concerns, local services would be in place to support those in need. In this new setup, community organizations would have more resources to help poor people, using local donations and taxes, rather than relying on federal support. This could help ensure that assistance is more suited to the needs of each community.
Despite these local services, some people might still struggle without any government assistance, such as teenage mothers or those who have been unemployed for a long time. In response to this, reinstating unemployment insurance could provide temporary help to people who have lost their jobs, allowing them time to search for new work.
The hardest group to assist would be those who have been jobless for a long time without any family support or access to local services. The traditional welfare system would not meet their needs, but local systems might provide the help people truly need, especially for those willing to work hard and improve their situations.
Overall, this proposal raises important questions about what could happen to people left without support. The main goal is to encourage people to be independent instead of dependent. The idea is that while some individuals might not receive full support, a focus on promoting personal responsibility and community help could lead to better opportunities for children. Rather than keeping people in a cycle of welfare dependence, the plan aims to create a society that values hard work and self-reliance.
The Ideal of Opportunity
The idea of opportunity focuses on giving individuals the chance to succeed based on their own merits, rather than ensuring equal outcomes for everyone. It recognizes that some people naturally excel and deserve greater rewards. The role of social policy should be to create an environment where those with talent can shine. Society should allow individuals to self-select their paths, giving them the chance to prove themselves without punishment for failure, only a lack of rewards if they do not succeed. There are many talented individuals in disadvantaged communities who could thrive if given proper opportunities, and existing institutions can help support those efforts. However, current government policies often hinder these opportunities rather than facilitate them.
Escapism
There is a belief that significant changes to social policy are unlikely in the near future. The current system seems to prefer maintaining a status quo, even if it results in increased suffering, rather than implementing partial solutions that address some problems. People often feel better when they contribute financially to social programs, as it gives them a sense of doing their part, regardless of actual outcomes. The real challenge for reform lies in facing the discomfort of accepting that not everyone can be helped, rather than in the pain it may cause those benefiting from the system.