Enough With The Wining!

I just sat through another mind numbing "news" program about the problems with the U.S. economy and the inability of our political system to address the issues. Yeah, O.K. we all know what the problems are. Is it really helpful to anyone to carry on these endless debates in the news media about how it is just impossible to solve all our country's problems? Does this really accomplish anything? They always say they are, "addressing the issues." I think they are confusing "addressing the issues" with giving an address about the issues. If all the people who proclaim to be so concerned about the problems facing our nation, are truly concerned, wouldn't it be more productive to concentrate on proposing real workable answers to the problems, instead of endlessly wining about how we're faced with insurmountable dilemmas?

The show I was watching was about the millions of poor people in the U.S. and how companies are targeting these people for their collective wealth, estimated to be around $650 billion. Speaking as someone who comes from this group, I don't want any one's pity, I don't want any one's handouts, all I've ever wanted was the knowledge to rise above my humble beginnings. Has anyone ever seriously considered educating the poor to deal with their own problems? I do know of a few people who advocate financial education, but it has never, to my knowledge, been proposed as a solution to the generations of poverty stricken families here in our country. It is no big secret. Anyone in this country can rise above poverty if they have the desire to do so. They may not know how, but there is a simple solution to this problem as well. I personally believe that the book, "The Richest Man in Babylon" should be required reading in all our public schools. ANYONE who follows the advice set out in this simple, easy to understand book, will do well in life. And if we truly want to address economic issues in this country, then we need to start a grass roots campaign to end financial ignorance and illiteracy. In one of the parables in the above mentioned book, the King of Babylon desires that his city should become the wealthiest city in the world. So he sends for the "richest man in Babylon" and asks that he teach others his secrets to acquiring wealth and building an estate. As this wise old man in the book states, "Anything that one man knows, can be taught to another." So, if we truly desire to end poverty in this country, if we truly desire to lift the financial burdens from the poor, then welfare and social programs should only be temporary and for the poorest of the poor. Financial education should be the cornerstone of any true campaign to eliminate poverty in this country.