Dan in the JS: Poverty
I’m back in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel today, probably my last time as community columnist. Here you go:
Five thousand people throughout the massive conference room faced the stage. I listened as Robert Kiyosaki, author of “Rich Dad, Poor Dad,” spoke in full “rich man” gear: a pinstripe suit, a watch he probably had to pay interest on and wet-looking hair. Everything about him screamed, “Vote Republican.”
We had come to the Chicago Learning Annex precisely for moments like these. After Kiyosaki let some of his colleagues speak, he took the microphone. He had clearly done this before, speaking as if everyone should be taking notes. But for all of his good points about taxes and personal income, he finally reached the crux of his presentation with a single, ironic statement: “Money will never solve poverty; education will.”
The crowd broke out in applause. Oddly enough, my friends and I had to go to a slick wealth expo to hear about improving education. Sure, we were all probably like-minded and predisposed to liking anything Kiyosaki had to say; but the words still rang true.
They certainly ring true in Milwaukee, where 26% live below the poverty line and which has the eighth-highest poverty rate of big American cities. With a tip of the hat to Miller, you could think of Milwaukee as Detroit Lite.
The words ring true in Madison, which oversees a state in which the 2006 median income for whites was nearly twice that for blacks: $50,794 to $26,161, according to data from the Center on Wisconsin Strategy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. That kind of wage gap suggests a racial divide far wider than Gov. Jim Doyle or Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett would like to admit.
As a largely Democratic state, Wisconsin votes these guys into office for larger welfare, unemployment and health care programs - the kind of items that can only be legislated with, you know, one of those wacky “budget” things. These programs take aim at poverty, but that doesn’t mean they solve it or even make it better.
Many of the people who claim that money is the root of all evil and that the best things in life are free are the same people who clamor for - what else? - more government money. When it comes to their politics, save all the other stuff for the birds and bees.
For all the accusations that conservatives are cold-hearted and too staunch on personal responsibility, it never hits liberals that throwing money at the poverty problem just might not be sound policy.
In other words: If money is the problem, it can’t be the solution. When Tommy Thompson was governor, his goal was to cut welfare caseloads and to force teenage moms to earn their government assistance by going to school. Needless to say, the welfare caseloads decreased. Can I vote for Thompson even if he’s not running anymore?
You’ll notice I quoted Kiyosaki with a lowercase “e” in “education.” That’s because “Education” and “education” aren’t the same thing. While “Education” in high schools and academia is enough to eventually land a job, “education” is what yields more in life. Read books you weren’t given in school, and go out and learn from the mistakes most people are afraid to make. If the best things in life are free, you will do more to slow poverty than all the welfare checks east of Madison.
And consider voting Republican.
I didn’t write that at the end. “Consider” voting Republican? No, I issued a direct call to action! I said “vote Republican.” Why did they soften that up?
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