27. Poverty

A. How we treat the poor in our midst determines the grade we deserve as human beings. Most poor people would much rather be self-sufficient than rely on aid from the government or anyone else. Most poor people would be happy to work in any job that pays a living wage. But there are countless life circumstances that prevent people from escaping the poverty cycle. A well-funded anti-poverty program should be the centerpiece of any administration’s domestic agenda. Public housing projects can help create affordable housing for the poor to live in dignity. Substantial raises to the minimum wage, increased funding for the food stamp program, more government jobs that can help people move up the social and economic ladder—government has by far the largest role to play in alleviating poverty through these and other welfare measures. In fact, government should work not only to enable the poor to escape poverty but to raise their standard of living so as to keep up with what is presently considered the new necessities of life.

B. Poverty has been with us from time immemorial and will always be a fact of life for some people. Countless billions of dollars have been spent in the ‘war on poverty,’ but poverty rates have gone down only slightly over the past few decades. Those advocating increased government spending on poverty conveniently ignore non-economic predictors of poverty, for example a single-parent household is far more likely to be poor. We also need to accept the fact that some people who are below the poverty line freely choose their present lifestyle and could choose otherwise if they wanted to. Many others who are considered poor have supplemental, undeclared cash income, which, if known, would suggest they are not truly poor. When it comes to lifting people out of poverty, the best remedy is to foster economic prosperity, which should be the focus of any administration’s anti-poverty program. Government should also target welfare aid not broadly to all the poor but specifically as a safety net for those who are poor and can’t help themselves because of debilitating illness or injury. Private charities and other nonprofit groups have always played a vital role in addressing the needs of the poor—we must encourage their continued good work. Finally, we must learn to rely more on one another in times of need, as mutual aid goes a long way toward creating a better society. Each person should feel responsible to help his or her family members, friends, and other fellow citizens directly—not merely through government handouts that create a culture of dependency.

28. Campaign Finance

A. Anyone who wishes to support a political candidate should not be limited by the government in how much money they can legally contribute to their candidate of choice. So long as transparency is ensured by making public the contributor’s name, there is no overriding reason to limit contributions to $2,500 per candidate or, for that matter, $10,000 or even $50,000. A case can be made, perhaps, for limiting contributions to very high amounts (for example, $250,000), so that candidates are not beholden to a few very wealthy contributors. But, in general, the rights of free people—in this case, to support a political candidate of their choosing as they see fit—should not be curtailed with an arbitrary determination that contributions over $2,500 corrupt the political process. In fact, since candidates now spend many millions of dollars at every election, having a $2,500 contribution limit has the unintended consequence of forcing politicians to spend a large portion of their time in office fundraising in the pursuit of countless small donations.

B. Even with existing limits on campaign contributions, there is too much money in politics. Allowing exorbitant contributions that the vast majority of ordinary citizens would never make should not be equated with allowing more “free speech.” Raising the limits will only result in more wealthy people, lobbyists, and corporations having an even greater influence on our elected officials and the policies they set. When politicians are forced to seek smaller amounts from more people, they are more likely to work for the benefit of the average voter. Ideally, all major political office campaigns should be financed entirely by public funding and not by private contributions.

29. Popular Culture

A. Popular culture is always part of the avant-garde. Pushing the envelope, breaking taboos, calling attention to undercurrents in society—popular culture has become freer to reflect important aspects of our collective psyche. Nowadays we have a great variety of expression in popular music, film, books, etc.—enough for different people to find what they like and tune out of what they don’t like. Some people are too uptight about sexuality, and every public expression of it causes them anxiety and insecurity. The remedy for that is with the people themselves, not with popular culture. Creative people thrive best in a climate of openness and experimentation, in an environment where they are free to apply their social commentary, political ideology, and sense of aesthetics to their creations. People should be at liberty to be authentic and true to themselves—not act and speak one way in private and put on a façade in public. Humanity is messy, and our popular culture should reflect this reality.

B. Popular culture can, generally speaking, have either an uplifting effect on society, a largely neutral effect, or a degrading effect. In this day and age, popular culture has a decidedly degrading effect. By every measure—gratuitous violence in movies and video games; overt sexuality in magazine ads and MTV music videos; shallowness and stupidity on so-called reality TV shows; crude lyrics and melody-free music in popular music; and beauty-free works in art—our present popular culture has a debasing and corrosive effect on society and especially on our youth. Culture today is a pale shadow of the great cultural contributions of past decades and centuries. Even parents who try their best to shield their children from popular culture while at home are finding it difficult to cope with the onrush of unwholesome images on billboards, with schools that no longer require school uniforms or proper dress codes, with foul language spoken in public by both adults and children. This sad state of affairs has been brought about by the decline of religion in society, the decline of parental authority at home, the decline of an education system that no longer teaches students classical virtues, and the rise of commercial entertainment interests appealing to the lowest common denominator.