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Fade to black – Is government leveraging homeless agencies out of business? Thursday, March, 4, 2010
Is politics the problem or the solution to homelessness? Monday, March, 1, 2010
Why do you hate in the name of God? Monday, February, 22, 2010
Cardboard is for shipping, not for housing Thursday, February, 18, 2010
Throw the bums out—RPG game re homeless should be sent back Monday, February, 15, 2010
Down-sizing affordable housing could increase the reduction of homelessness Thursday, February, 11, 2010
Down and exploited in Beverly Hills - Is TMZ.com exploiters? Monday, February, 8, 2010
Is marriage the solution to poverty or is it the cause of poverty? Saturday, February, 6, 2010
Book on homeless man and Los Angeles journalist is highlighted by Long Beach Book Week Thursday, February, 4, 2010
Why homelessness is decreasing while hunger and poverty is increasing
Monday, February, 8, 2010
Is marriage the solution to poverty or is it the cause of poverty?
I tend to look at social issues with common sense, rather than some political bias.
For example, if people have the physical and mental ability to work, should they receive public assistance for the rest of their lives? No. If a person has chronic mental or physical disabilities should they? Yes, if they have no other support.
It’s the gray area, however, where society tends to clash, sometimes brutally. Typically, it’s the extremes on both the left and the right that bait each other.
So when I read an opinion piece on Fox News supporting the position that marriage will lift people out of poverty, my stomach turns. Not because I’m some liberal communist ready to bash anything that Fox News puts out. But because I see, firsthand, the struggles that hurting families encounter.
Most single parent impoverished families are the result of bad marriages or bad relationships. Young mothers who thought their husbands would stick around to care for them and their children. To tell these mothers that they should just get married so all of their problems will be solved, is exceedingly insulting.
It’s like telling a 40-year-old life-long bachelor or bachelorette, why don’t you just get married. As if marriage is the answer to everything.
And it’s not just about “dead-beat” dads. Females in a marriage relationship can be just as toxic as the male. We are all people, with emotional scars that can affect how we relate with others.
In a perfect world, having an emotionally, economically, and physically supportive partner is definitely the ideal. Wouldn’t it be great if everyone grew up in an “Ozzie and Harriet Nelson” family? That 1950’s television sitcom of a perfect suburban family.
In reality, however, it’s not that simple.
Telling people that marriage is the answer to poverty, is in the same vein as stating that all impoverished people are lazy. It’s an ignorant perspective on poverty, because poverty and homelessness is complex. So many different factors—abuse, neglect, disabilities, to list only a few.
Raising people out of poverty means developing both a societal social safety net, along with helping people to develop healthy, supportive relationships.
Frankly, toxic relationships cause poverty, not singleness.
Posted 2010-02-19 18:21:05
When Celebrities Do Good... Tuesday, February 26, 2008
"Not In My Lobby" Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Is Immigration Increasing Poverty In America? Thursday, November 27, 2008
On This Thanksgiving Day... Friday, March 7, 2008
I’m Worried...
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