What do we Do?

Most adults can understand that a child is not responsible for his starting point.

At some point, the child must be expected to be able to think for himself. Then, he can begin to shape his future.

But, what if that child is constantly taught that the world is against him, and that there is no hope for him? Is his failure really his fault? What if that child tries to better himself, but then all of his contacts attack him for trying?

...

What we must do is find ways to combat these cultures of failure. We must support and protect all of the children who seek a better life.

How do we do that? I don't know.

 

Despite all the lip service, society doesn't care about children so it can never be fixed because "broken" adults keep the system (ie. mental illness, incarceration, homelessness) going which keep countless people employed.

 

First, you need a realistic premise. Alcohol, drugs and violence are what plague children's lives, not being told the world is against them.

 

First, combat single parenthood. When people have the morals to stay together as a family, then you'll see an improvement.

 

Of course, this is true. Those single parents grew up under the influences, that I outlined.
How do we combat the negative influences, in our society, that results in single parenthood?

 

Sometimes having parents stay together is the worst thing in the world for kids. Drunk fathers, parents constantly fighting or resenting the kids. It happens. There are no easy, one size fits all solutions.

 

What causes the use of alcohol, drugs, and violence?

There are people, who live happy and successful lives. Do alcohol, drugs, and violence not exist in the world that they inhabit?

Is it random chance that some succomb to these things, or is it a product of their training?

 

Too much work. Everything good and decent is too much work.

 

Don't get divorced. It starts at home.

But there is more that can be done beyond our front doors. Get into politics and start dismantle the weapon of mass destruction - welfare. Be a politician who actually cares enough to do right by the people.

 

It's not random, it's bad parenting. Or to be more specific, insanely lazy and disinterested parenting.

 

That cartoonishly simplistic argument?

When someone says divorce is a bad idea, are you being so blistering literal that you think it means "choose a crap partner and/or trash your marriage via bad behaviour"?

In case the answer is 'yes', I'll offer my services free of charge: It doesn't mean anything of the sort. It means - and you might want to write this down - "choose your partner very carefully, and never let your marriage fall into disrepair".

 

I’ve looked in on the forum several times today and it’s just depressed me. Your posts in this thread tonight have cheered me up by restoring a little lost faith in humanity. Excellent advice and analysis.

 

America is one of the only developed countries with an underclass (i.e. exhibiting zero social mobility) which is easily empirically tested. Despite that reality, we get right wing obsessive blame game. This, more usually than not, descends into vapid advertising of their support for patriarchy and racial prejudice.

In a society characterised by individualism they might have a point. However, given class divides in the US, that is extraordinarily naive. Individualism becomes a mere soundbite to demand the reproduction of economic inefficiency. See, for example, the concept of a low skilled equilibrium. A right winger blames the individual and blubbers a poorly crafted version of supply side economics. The individual low skilled worker is.blamed for their (lack of) career choice. Empirical evidence, however, confirms that it is demand-led, with employers seeking out exploitative relations in the neoliberal ****storm.

And children? Britain offers a good case study. As confirmed by Luxembourg Income Study data, it was the only country that competes with the US 'number 1' status. It had the highest child poverty. The neoliberal response was typically focused on maintaining the physical efficiency of welfare recipients. Poorly paid employment could only provide a solution. Unsurprisingly, the focus needed to be on deriving equality of opportunity. Widening participation into secondary and tertiary education became funded. However, ultimately that can only be sufficiently delivered by promoting equity. Its really not surprising that countries which have coerced greater inequalities engineer the greatest social ills. Ironically, right wingers then use those ills to demand that those inequalities continue. And we get another round of blame gaming...

 

Pish tosh. All it takes is parental dedication to education and work ethic, to elevate young people out of poverty. How in heck do you think generations of Asian diaspora have ended up as wealthy as they have, irregardless of the politics and economies of the time and place?

 

I already know your acceptance of supply side economics, despite its complete inconsistency with the economic evidence (as mentioned in my post). Unless you add anything, you're effectively just feeding the right wing trolls.

 

Oh, I didn’t realize that we were taking a vacation from reality in our posts. Please show me this magical land where people stay the same from the day they marry and rainbows fly out their butts. Where everyone has perfect mental health every year after they are married. Where addictions never develop over time just because one is married. Where everyone is satisfied with their lives in an unchanging fashion.

 

Children give up trying not because they are told that the world is against them, but rather when they experience daily, for many years, the lack of opportunity.

My son is 15. For years, he was dreaming about becoming a NFL player. He is now realizing that it is just not realistic, so he is slowly letting go of the dream. I never told him he couldn't be in the NFL. However, if he doesn't get to the NFL, he'll still have plenty opportunity to excel in life.

Now, for a kid growing up in a poor neighborhood to a single parent, who is absent 90% of the time because they have to work two minimum wage jobs to keep the family afloat, the dream of going to college may be as far removed from reality as my son's dream to be a NFL star. Once they see that reality, they give up.

That's the lack of opportunity I am talking about.

 

Gotta disagree, sorry. It's a huge factor that can't be brushed aside.

Not discounting the rest of the list either, but having the right (or wrong) mental approach it critical.

 

Even the worst performing school in the worst neighborhood has a valedictorian.

There is an escape for most of those that want one and are willing to put forth the effort. Also, yes we can do better for those that do, but fail anyway when circumstances overwhelm them.

The issue really isn't that group, they aren't the problem.

I do agree with the OP.

The culture of failure is a serious problem.

 

She lives in a fantasy land. She thinks because her marriage is allegedly great that everyone's marriage should be great. Rational people knew this isn't a reality.

 

An inability to deal with the negative influences in life. They are an escape from reality for weak people.

Not directly. I have employed a couple of alcoholics in the past, not knowing they were alcoholics. They couldn't do the job without quitting their addiction and they were too weak to quit. I believe both would have been effective employees without the alcohol in their lives. Both had to be terminated.

See my first sentence.

 

You can't answer can you .. bless your heart!

Want to try again? How are the Asian diaspora able to secure success irregardless of the economies and politics of the time and place?

 

You're claiming such a place exists? Well that's weird. It's probably wiser to accept the reality that some adults make very bad choices (in relation to partner choice and the welfare of the marriage), and are thus entirely responsible for the impact of those choices.

Because you know, that's what this is about. Holding your feet to the fire til you acknowledge that all of it is freely made choice. It's no one else's problem or responsibility, least of all Govt and the tax payer.

 

That's not lack of opportunity .. the opportunities are still there. What you're talking about is crap parenting, nothing else.

I've known quite a few 'poor' women who were single mothers and did an amazing job of ensuring their kids were educated out of poverty. Every one of them gave up their free time (and I mean ALL of it, including getting a full 8 hours sleep) and spare resources in the interests of their kids. No social life, no partying, no leisure, no new clothes, no boyfriends, etc .. nothing at all until the youngest had graduated high school with solid marks. One in particular would rise at 5am every morning to sit with her kids for two hours while they studied, then she'd start work at the factory at 7.30am. She'd come home, feed the kids, clean the house, and sacrifice another two hours for evening study session. Weekends were spent at public library (which was more conducive to serious study than the home), cleaning, and bulk prepping meals for the week. Both kids are medical professionals today.

If you're working 80 hours a week in your three jobs, then you need to sacrifice something in your schedule to ensure your kids are educated. People not willing to make that sacrifice is the problem, not the poverty.

 

As I said, you are merely attempting to feed right wing trolls. Part of that is always sowing racial discord. Perhaps I've underestimated just how right wing you really are?

Lets look at the evidence. First, it is possible to refer to cultural capital and how that engineers human capital differences. However, that can only be understood within the confines of class conflict. For example, a clear distinction exists with Ivy League universities. Back in 2015, although Asian-Americans only represented 6% of the U.S. population, they secured about a fifth of new Ivy League places.

Is this somehow a remarkable socioeconomic achievement and supportive of the supply economics snakebite? Unsprisingly, not. Empirical evidence merely shows selection bias in the data. Performance is higher as Asian immigrants have been skewed towards the highly educated. This allows the children of these immigrants to operate outside the shackles of domestic class inequalities.

But what sbout second generation immigrants? Do we continue to see perceived overperformance? Nope. Asian variables largely drop out. We are back into the world of institutionalised discrimination. Thus, compared to their white counterparts, Asians generally underform in terms of professional attainment outcomes: wage, promotion and leadership roles.

So we are left with just one fact from you. You are using race to peddle right wing myth. Tut tut in your predictability!