ShareThisSix years ago I wrote a book called "Uncle Sam's Plantation." I wrote the book to tell my own story of what I saw living inside the welfare state and my own transformation out of it.
I said in that book that indeed there are two Americas. A poor America on socialism and a wealthy America on capitalism.
I talked about government programs like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (JOBS), Emergency Assistance to Needy Families with Children (EANF), Section 8 Housing, and Food Stamps.
A vast sea of perhaps well intentioned government programs, all initially set into motion in the 1960's, that were going to lift the nation's poor out of poverty.
A benevolent Uncle Sam welcomed mostly poor black Americans onto the government plantation. Those who accepted the invitation switched mindsets from "How do I take care of myself?" to "What do I have to do to stay on the plantation?"
Instead of solving economic problems, government welfare socialism created monstrous moral and spiritual problems. The kind of problems that are inevitable when individuals turn responsibility for their lives over to others.
The legacy of American socialism is our blighted inner cities, dysfunctional inner city schools, and broken black families.
Through God's grace, I found my way out. It was then that I understood what freedom meant and how great this country is.
I had the privilege of working on welfare reform in 1996, passed by a Republican congress and signed into law by a Democrat president. A few years after enactment, welfare roles were down fifty percent.
I thought we were on the road to moving socialism out of our poor black communities and replacing it with wealth producing American capitalism.
But, incredibly, we are going in the opposite direction.
Instead of poor America on socialism becoming more like rich American on capitalism, rich America on capitalism is becoming like poor America on socialism.
Uncle Sam has welcomed our banks onto the plantation and they have said, "Thank you, Suh."
Now, instead of thinking about what creative things need to be done to serve customers, they are thinking about what they have to tell Massah in order to get their cash.
There is some kind of irony that this is all happening under our first black president on the 200th anniversary of the birthday of Abraham Lincoln.
Worse, socialism seems to be the element of our new young president. And maybe even more troubling, our corporate executives seem happy to move onto the plantation.
In an op-ed on the opinion page of the Washington Post, Mr. Obama is clear that the goal of his trillion dollar spending plan is much more than short term economic stimulus.
"This plan is more than a prescription for short-term spending-it's a strategy for America's long-term growth and opportunity in areas such as renewable energy, health care, and education."
Perhaps more incredibly, Obama seems to think that government taking over an economy is a new idea. Or that massive growth in government can take place "with unprecedented transparency and accountability."
Yes, sir, we heard it from Jimmy Carter when he created the Department of Energy, the Synfuels Corporation, and the Department of Education.
Or how about the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 -- The War on Poverty -- which President Johnson said "...does not merely expand old programs or improve what is already being done. It charts a new course. It strikes at the causes, not just the consequences of poverty."
Trillions of dollars later, black poverty is the same. But black families are not, with triple the incidence of single parent homes and out of wedlock births.
It's not complicated. Americans can accept Barack Obama's invitation to move onto the plantation. Or they can choose personal responsibility and freedom.
Does anyone really need to think about what the choice should be?
(Star Parker is an author and president of CURE, Coalition on Urban Renewal and Education (www.urbancure.org). She can be reached at parker@urbancure.org.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)
COLUMN
Right on, Star!
Right on, Star!
How Refreshing
How refreshing - With so much BS and spin going on, it is refreshing to hear, no see, someone articulate common sense based on what makes this country so special. It is maddening to see what is happening in our Golden (now Rusty) state of CA. If truly 51% of the population of the country pay's no taxes, then the course back to this common sense "you are responsible for you" may be impossible to re acquire.
Married 24 years
3 Kids who will be good citizens
Mortgage is paid up
Credit Cards are being paid down
No bankruptcy, no hand outs, no looking for someone else to solve my problems, no blaming someone else for my issues.
This is exactly what the
This is exactly what the stimulus package and TARP fund is all about.Reducing the American dream to a Nanny state which will control all aspects of our life ie.education(government hates home schoolers),what we eat(NYC transfats,Chicago goose liver pate ban),how much we can earn,the cars we drive,gun ownership.Glenn Beck needs to have you on his show on a regular basis.
Not everyene drinks the Kool-Aid
A very credible authentic expression by Parker
Personlly believed all the liberal progressive tripe for most of my life (I started my career as a federal auditor - very liberal, totally absorbed the kool-aid from college professors - but if taxpayers saw what really went on there would be a revolution - kind of like as a cook in the kitchen where you would never eat at the restaurant that was really abusing its patrons). Once thought the NYTimes was credible/great until I just got sick of reading the political opinions of the sportswriters shoved down my throat every national election cycle - then began to critically examine its poor editing, wordiness, faux intellectuality & outright self-serving bias - won't even read a free copy anymore .... and here in metro NYC they are desperate to get some momentum going on this front. Woke up after I repeatedly saw the hypocrisy & double standards at work that locked up my objective mind (never ever understood racism nor did any of my family - yeah, we did real serious civil rights stuff in the early 60s when there was real racism at work - mainly in the Democratic Party - but for GOP and Sen Ev Dirksen, the 60s civil rts legislation never passes > what journalist or historian will ever inform you of this > no one? ... and to this day the most secretly racist discriminatory people I know are typically liberals ala the soft bigotry of low expectations .... and Prez 44 is their fantasy of salving their consciences). I vote primarily GOP more recently mainly as the lesser of 2 evils & there are more folks there that walk the talk on principle versus liberal Democrats. Blue Dog Dems are a much more credible bunch as they understand the realities of life much better. Finally, to show my former liberal credentials, I was an intern for Cong Rangel (really nice charming guy actually although it looks like he has become totally corrupt & fake .... 16+ years of blatant tax misreporting, etc), voted for G McGovern & J Carter before Reagan woke me up out of my 'progressive' stupor.
small minded.
this is quite possibly the most small minded thing i have read in weeks. one of the major reasons we are in dilemma right now is labor flight due to globalisation. this manifests itself through the moving of manufacturing jobs to china and the h1b visa. the us has remained a consumer culture but it no longer produces anything of value. long term this can only be remedied by wage equity, which is something i doubt you support, or new industry.
this is actually a brilliant observation on the part of the president. shoring up our schools by making teachers wages competitive to the private sector isnt socialism its common sense. with respect to the financial crisis i would love to hear your solution to the current crisis.
do i think deficit spending is a good idea? not at all. nor do i think obama has a good team of economists neither geithner nor volker saw this coming. on the other hand people like nouriel roubinin and peter schiff had been predicting this but they are essentially being ignored. back to the topic though, you casting your experience on the welfare roles as a microcosm of the meltdown of the global economy is laughably simple minded. if you want to have a clue i suggest you check paul kedroskys blog and in the interim stop playing armchair economist it just looks bad.
small minded
"Chris" -your diatribe is typical left wing denial of facts. Argue if you must, but deny your impulse to vent without addressing the subject matter. It not only looks bad, it establishes you as an easy and deserving target. I accuse you of responding with intent to demean rather than enlighten, thereby avoiding the need to cogently disagree.
parker on welfare???
I would like to know exactly WHEN parker was on welfare? From what year to what year? How exactly did she get off welfare? Was it before or after the welfare reform act of 1996.?? Do the readers know what a hypocrite she is? She had four abortions and has been arrested for shoplifting too.
She probably didnt even know who Barack Obama was at the time that she wrote "UNCLE SAMS plantation"
Get off your high horse, STar, you are a bigger sinner than most on welfare anyway!!!!
Reply
Typical liberal attack, attack the person, and then no one will believe the message. Bad thing about it is that when we come out of these self imposed black ages most of these liberal idiots will be singing a different tune. But wait, they will still blame it on Bush.
Go President Obama! I hope
Go President Obama! I hope he is successful with his spending programs. I am glad he is our president and I am glad I voted for him. I support him all the way.
The Inevitability of Socialism?
What a shame that such a well written insightful and astute piece had to be spoiled by blatant political partisanship and demagoguery. If Star is going to enter the world of political pundits she will need to develop a greater understanding of American history which is far more relevant than just her own experience.
thanks
Thank you very much very nice article
Great information! Very useful for me. Thanks a lot.
The idea is awesome. Congrats.