A decent provision for the poor is the true test of civilization.
Samuel Johnson
Orion's Cold Fire
All the Secrets of the Universe and Some Really Important Stuff Too!
All the Secrets of the Universe and Some Really Important Stuff Too!
A decent provision for the poor is the true test of civilization.
Samuel Johnson
Because few of us could live with the prospect of the poor starving and dying on the streets, most would agree with the quote. The problem lies in the interpretation of the word, “decent”.
Would “decent” imply creating a system that eternally perpetuates the poor under the guise of help?
In Johnson’s day the parish poor house was probably a more manageable problem than fifty thousand homeless addicts occupying Los Angeles. That feels more like an invading army.
I was thinking more of the teeming millions of welfare recipients who haven’t held a job in three generations.
Everything in our society is upside down. We punish the hard working and cater to the lazy and criminal. That leads me to hope it’s all about to come crashing down. Or am I too optimistic?