Saving The Family Saving America

by Ron Spangler

With everything that is going wrong in the world today it is no wonder families are breaking apart. We have become a society more dependent on government than at any time in history. Starting in the 60's with welfare, people began raising entire generations on the backs of working taxpayers. It was better off for some families to draw government checks than it was to work for a living. It didn't take long for people to figure out that if there was no father or husband in the house a family could receive a check from the government. In fact, the way the system was set up it encouraged women to raise their children without the father being present in the home.

Children living under these conditions saw no incentive in working for a living if they could raise a family that was supported by the government. It was much easier to stay home receive a monthly check, food stamps, WIC, and live in subsidized housing than work eight to ten hours a day and maybe receive less in the end. The father didn't have to be completely out of the picture, he just couldn't work or if he did the parents should not be married or better still the father didn't live in the same house. Children growing up saw this as a way of life. The only drawback, there was s stigma placed on families living off welfare from the very same people that cried out the loudest for government to give a helping hand to the less fortunate.

It was and is a noble cause, helping the less fortunate in America. When the helping hand helps so much that it destroys families or encourages families to rely on a government system instead of the family, it has gone too far and is no longer a noble act. Churches, charities, and other private organizations in America have always been far better at providing assistance for people in need better than the government. It is easy for some to scam the welfare system and receive money, food stamps, housing and a education if this is how you want to live your life. All you have to do is be willing to live a life according to the rules of the welfare department. Never mind that these rules and the criteria that decided who should receive welfare was designed to discourage a normal family environment. It was better to stay single and raise four kids than it was to be married and both parents work to raise those kids.

Most of the time families that grew up under these conditions did not join in normal family or community activities. Kids grew up without a father in the home and had little discipline in their lives. The stigma of being on welfare meant you stayed within the community that fit into the life you were living. This helped to create more and more slum areas in every city in America. The hypocrisy of the rich and middle class that said the government must provide welfare to the poor but looked down on the poor as less important did more harm than good. They sent the message to some that if you stay in your own little part of the world the government will always take care of you. They also sent the message because you are poor the rest of the world owes you a better life. These messages resonated and the young started to look for better ways to fit in within their own communities and to make money without working for the man.

Without the family discipline and the normal community activities to help guide the younger generation, kids started looking for the things the rich kids were flaunting on TV, movies, and colleges. Growing up with the idea that society owes them some kids developed the attitude they could take what they wanted or if they replaced their family with a gang, then they could have everything they wanted.

Gangs have been around forever in some form or another. Some are a joke while others are dangerous and must be dealt with by authorities. If kids do not have the family, community, or some form of religion to teach them right from wrong and to be self reliant, then the kid will be easy pray for the more dangerous gang in their community. Families that have some form of faith in god country and family and believes they can succeed in life if they work hard will be the families that saves America from destruction.

During the 90's there was a call for welfare reform. A lot of people were taken off welfare and put to work. Families started to stay together and even church attendance around the country increased. The economy picked up and more and more people were buying homes. Unfortunately the gangs had taken a firm hold in most of the major cities around the country. Making money from drugs, extortion, prostitution and weapons was easier than working for a living and for some it felt like they had power or had more control of their lives. Living in the gang they saw nothing wrong with taking what they wanted or if need be killing to get what they wanted. When it comes to gang attitude nothing has changed.

Today the economy is faltering and people are out of work. Families are falling apart and kids are turning to the gangs for support. America is facing one of the most dangerous periods to face her since WWII. We are not only under the threat of another Great Depression, we are at war and also worried about terrorist attacking our cities. Americans are divided on the direction the government is headed and feel we are not being listened to. As a society we have only one option if we want to save America.

We as a people must unite as a family and as Americans. We must work on keeping our families together. We must teach our children the basics of life and right from wrong. We must teach them to be self reliant and explain that nothing in life comes free. We must teach them to have faith in god, faith in family and the how important it is to support their country. We must unite with other families and authorities to stop the gang violence in our cities.And we must unite as Americans to let the government know the direction we want them to take America.

If we believe the government is getting too big, if we don't want government health care, if we believe Iran must be stopped at all cost from getting a nuclear bomb, if we believe stopping the Taliban and Al Qaeda from returning to Afghanistan, if we believe it is time for the government to stop the spending frenzy, then together we must write, call and email our Senators and Congress. We must tell them we are American families united to save America.

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