Compassionate Conservatism Now

Food for Thought

 Compassionate Conservatism Now

"Compassion is the keen awareness 

of the interdependence of all things."

— Thomas Merton

Reaching out to the poor is both morally correct and politically astute for the next administration as it prepares to take over.  American Black, Hispanic, and other minority voters have already shown their willingness to listen to both sides; this window may not be open for long.  It is time for the rebirth of compassionate conservatism.  Prior misdirected attempts at anti-poverty programs failed to repair the broken base on which they tried to build and have yielded mediocre results at best.  A new anti-poverty agenda should focus on economic development, social order and cohesiveness, and educational effectiveness.  

Following the old axiom that a good job is the best anti-poverty program, the government at all levels must be ready to subsidize for-profit employment initiatives run by major companies and free-market entrepreneurs.  The poor must be made to understand that the only way out of poverty is employment achievement in a meritocratic environment.  By the same token, American well-to-do social-level citizens must understand that we have an obligation to provide secure neighborhoods and schools for the poor, not violent gangs and corrupt police cabals.  Concerning the gangs, we have Marines and Army Rangers, and for corrupt police cabals, we have lie detectors.  

Law and order efforts must increase police diversity and even the use of community-based auxiliary forces.  Nevertheless, street gangs must be confronted and expelled.  Most importantly, incarceration patterns and welfare program structures must be revamped to encourage greater paternal participation in family formation.  As conditions improve, so will the educational system's success, especially when competition and parental choice are introduced.  Education, combined with individual responsibility, is the ultimate anti-poverty remedy.

So, when candidates ask the poor: “What do you have to lose?”  The answer will be another loss of faith in the American system if the new administration proves to be, for them, more of the same.

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