It’s About Making Babies!

The Heritage Foundation website, The Foundry, reports on how the failure of marriage has caused all these out-of-wedlock babies.

Most of the poverty in America can be intrinsically linked to the decline of marriage. When cash assistance programs were first introduced in society during the War on Poverty, less than ten percent of babies were born out of wedlock. For decades long, this well intentioned program had the unfortunate consequence of encouraging single women to have more children out of wedlock and penalized them if they got married or found employment. Not surprisingly, the welfare caseloads exploded and the out of wedlock birth rate steadily rose.

So what is the solution? Why did the existing laws on adultery, polygamy, and statutory rape stop being enforced? Today one popular song is about spending a summer with a 17 year old girl, drinking and having sex, and singing “sweet home alabama all summer long.” “I wish I could see that girl again.” How romantic. How honorable.

The issue is not that the institution of marriage broke down. There is no block of stone, no construct of concrete and glass, no surface of asphalt or section of forest that embodies “marriage”. Not even a book.

Marriage is a heritage of culture. The founding fathers of America mostly shared a common culture, mostly English, with other European influences. As waves of immigrants arrived in the US, that culture ruptured, abscessed around the newcomers – and eventually healed into the “melting pot” of a generally common culture. A culture that recognized family, the influence of the Christian church (in one form or another), the authority of the state and federal government, the consequences of law, and a mostly tolerant relationship with fellow citizens.

What we see when we allow children to be born out of wedlock is mostly a breakdown in culture. We are not raising our sons and daughters to embrace the culture, the faith, and the patriotism of their parents. So they do not grow to expect to raise children to serve their faith, their nation, or their community. Between government subsidies and lack of moral and cultural consensus, a child is often seen as a responsibility, or an object of affection, a duty to “law,” instead of the opportunity and responsibility to carry our traditions and beliefs into the next generation.

I see vinyl coated magnets proclaiming, “I support our troops.” I wonder how many call themselves patriots – that have not raised a child or three to serve their nation? How many proclaim a true and abiding faith, yet haven’t formed a family and raised a child or three to honor and live in that faith, in the next generation?

We take a kid, send him/her to school, tell them, “I don’t care what you want to do, you are going to college, to get a good job.” Wow. How much culture, faith, and character do you instill in your child, when you pose their life plan as “take the state’s definition of education, accrue debt, then decide what profession you will work at.” Where is the emphasis on family, when kids are forced to fend for themselves when they get to age 14-18, and the parents can’t afford to keep them any longer?

Marriage didn’t just decline. We stopped teaching each and every child to form a family, to avoid all intimate contact with those not engaged in forming a family.

Every time a couple makes a sacred, solemn vow to God and state, in front of witnesses, then has a divorce court partially unwrap that vow, we teach kids what honor and vows really mean.

We don’t need more church education in schools, we don’t need laws tracking down divorced men for child support or courts undoing the wedding but binding people to the courts. We need a consensus as a nation, that there is a reason to have babies, then teach our children that reason. That will give them the information to hold onto – that will help them pick a mate rather than a cartoon image of togetherness.

And, we could institute a form of polygamy – make every act of birth an act of marriage. Replace divorce with dissolution of marriage by reason of abandonment – and make it a felony to take any assets of any party when you abandon a marriage.

Divorce is one of the biggest contributors to people entering poverty. We have to address this cruelty, and not by beggaring “divorced” partners (that sure hasn’t worked worth anything).

Brad K Advice, Children, Dating, Rant, Society Babies, Heritage Foundation, Honor, Out of wedlock babies, Poverty, The Foundry, Vows

One of the major contributors to people becoming impoverished – is divorce. The breakup of the family.

I think a couple of things can be done. One is to teach boys and girls the character flaws to avoid when picking a mate.

Another is the notion I presented some time ago – make an act of birth an act of marriage. An unmarried woman could enter a birthing room, but at the moment her baby is born, she is married. It becomes just a matter of identifying (DNA, blood test, testimony) who the father is. End divorce, except for criminal (as in convicted) abuse or other felony conviction. Instead, permit ‘dissolution of marriage by reason of abandonment’. That is, any married adult would be permitted to walk away at any time – but they would never be allowed to take any of the assets or other resources with them – it would be a felony to try.

And, yes, a cheating spouse could well embroil the family in polygamy. A very good reason to pick a trustworthy and responsible mate.

I would also end split custody of children. This is expensive, and while it might be good for a child to maintain contact, buy legitimizing the contact we deceive the child. Besides, if Daddy wants to keep in touch with the kids, he should be man enough to be a husband to Mommy.

I know my ideas are a far cry from today, and likely offensive. But I find women marrying for a few years to establish a lucrative bundle of money, then divorcing, to be offensive. I find refusal of the states and local governments to prosecute adultery offensive. I find changing spouses because it is legally easy and common practice to be offensive. And I find splitting kids between homes to be offensive. If the state has the power to dissolve a marriage – then dissolve it. Alimony, child support, any remaining social, legal, or family contacts abuse civil and human rights.

As for ending poverty, there are two major pushes needed. The first is a need for counselors and mental health care workers to treat and rehabilitate those that need it among the poor and homeless, and counseling for those trying to adjust to being impoverished, and again on trying to escape poverty. The second is jobs. Meaningful work. This may take some creative work with minimum wage laws now that limit the ability of employers able to use those among the poor and homeless. It may take an adoption plan, where a family, an individual, a community adopts a person in need to be a resource, to report needs, to maintain personal contact. Perhaps a government work program to organize and train those able and wanting to change their circumstances. The Army and other uniformed services have played such an upward mobility role for many years, and quite successfully. But uniformed service is limited by budgets, and by age to the young – and by limits on non-high-school-graduates. The uniformed services can provide national security with a certain percentage of undereducated or those poorly adapted socially, but no more. And there is no like program for mature adults or seniors among the poor.

And I think we need to return to the concept of servants and helpers that receive room and board, two suits of clothes a year, and education through 8th grade/high school. For the affluent, instead of buying an H3, take on two or three housekeeper/cook/maid. Create a reasonable place for people again. Not as slavery, but as servants have been seen historically – a position of responsibility. Is a human that manages someone’s bath and hairdo somehow less a person – or less skilled – than someone working an automobile assembly line? How can that possibly be? In terms of industrial production, absolutely, the assembly line owner makes more money with more and better assemblers. But value of a life as a person? That can’t be. Nannies, child care providers, these should all be attractive careers for those so inclined, and well respected work.

We should be sending our children to college, and we should be studying when we can. To benefit our family, our community, and strengthen the nation. As many people with History, Music, and English majors how much their degree helped get a better job. Some do, surely. But each and every one of those students makes their community a better place, just by reason of the change in how they view the world.

I would end the ‘endless childhood’ paradigm. The expectation should be that everyone past eighth grade will be working or apprenticed – full time, or part time if still in school.

And we have to stop taxing corporations. Taxes depelete the revenues of corporations – limiting their ability to provide products and jobs. Income is taxed as stock dividends paid to the stock holders – nothing comes for free. But taxes are the poorest excuse for efficiency in providing services. Taxes must be made more uniform, not to say flat. But it is the income of the wealthy that provides money to build businesses and provide jobs. Whether the wealthy indulge in fancy cars and jewels and posh (Port Out, Starboard Home) lifestyles, or reinvest their income in businesses, their income becomes investments and spending – and creates jobs. Instead of goggling at multimillion dollar incomes, consider what impact that income will have on the local and national economy as the wealthy will manage it, and again as the government would spend taxes. Hands down, the tax revenue feeds many, many fewer people per million dollars. Tax the rich? Yes. Tax them more than a moderate portion? Might as well pick a few poor and explain, “Well, you will have to starve. So sad.”

We have to get inflation under control. Inflation eats up wages and earnings and reduces what charity and businesses and people can do to take care of the poor, and increases the burden on the poor. Prices where I eat were pretty stable for 6 years – I could get a sandwich or chicken, drink, some potato wedges for $5. Now that is $6.10, in less than a year. The short can of beanee weenee at Wal-Mart has gone from $0.58 to $0.78 since last spring. Bread, milk – it adds up.

Health care – health care is a problem. Traditionally trained and licensed doctors often go into the field for the money. Only, with Medicare and related regulations, with health care provider insurance premiums and ambulance chasing lawyers, there isn’t that much money left, the stress is even higher than it needs to be. Doctors are leaving the field, retiring younger, and the field is less attractive to prospects than before. We may need to introduce an intermediate provider that isn’t hampered by provider liability insurance or lawyers or Medicare/Medicaid. Something like lay midwives or ‘healer’ – someone with an interest and a bit of knowledge that can help those that are missed by the grand schemes for national health insurance, etc.

And we have to stop letting Democrats and others buy votes by spending tax dollars. Programs such as NASA and DARPA into research benefit the nation, with national prestige, with increased national security, and with spinoff new technologies. Welfare programs help many people – but also increases the threshold then need to achieve to escape poverty. Likewise Medicare, Medicaid.

Brad K Rant, Society Blog Action Day, family, Poverty