Katrina, and the UN

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by valkyrie

The thing is, you're looking at the situation from your own perspective. From where you sit in your cushy little life, it's easy to say what is someone's "fault" and what is an "excuse." I mean, come on -- "it was your own decision not to go to school" -- WTF? Because a 10 year old should be held accountable for not going to school when mommy doesn't make him?

Okay -- whose fault is it? Who ultimately suffers? Have you never met a self-determined 10-year-old? I see these myths debunked on an almost daily basis. My wife teaches in a school that actively recruits kids from our local failing public schools, and has an intensive program to get them to college. More than half are minorities, 3/4 of them are on free lunch programs, most come from broken families, most are first generation college, and quite a few of them have parents who are screwups/junkies/etc. These kids motivate themselves to attend a high school that can't afford to air condition itself, works their kids butts off (they offer only Advanced Placement courses), and they get into college.

Some of the kids they get require a lot of remediation because their previous schools had failed them, and they have the AVID program for that. These kids get it though. They, for the most part understand that if they want to have a better life, that's 100% on them. There are no victims.

all you have known for your entire life and you do not have the perspective of someone who has enjoyed relative privilege, such as ktsnake

By the way, these types of schools are becoming more and more common throughout the U.S. So I do know for a fact that there is a choice, and I know for a fact that there are quite a few kids that do avail themselves of these types of opportunities.

I don't know -- it's pretty clear that you've seen the worst of people who've been screwups or who've taken advantage of the system. Sometimes, there are people whose lives are SO jacked from SUCH a young age that it's nearly impossible for them to achieve the level of success you seem to think is possible.

I don't believe that's possible. I think someone has to give up before they can be a failure. I believe that we can all overcome whatever obstacle life throws in our way so long as we are physically and mentally able. I do believe that society has a duty to take care of its physically and mentally infirm. Beyond that though? I think people ought to be responsible for their own lives as much as possible. There should of course be assistance for those who want to improve their lives (student loans, job corps, remedial education programs), but otherwise, I'm not a big fan of the welfare system.

Someone else mentioned the "lazy, ignorant people" who stayed in N.O. during Katrina -- I would find it VERY hard to believe that most of the people who stayed did so because they were lazy or ignorant. If you're really poor, you don't have a car. You don't have money for bus tickets. You don't have money to pay for a hotel somewhere or to eat at restaurants or do whatever you have to do to survive after leaving home. WTF are you supposed to do?

One cannot become poor unless one decides that being too poor to own a car is okay. Living below sea level during hurricane season and not having a means of escape is very lazy/ignorant.