One of the things Paul Ryan can tell you is that you cannot be prominent on the American political scene and discuss any issue in a serious way. Because if you do that, you are going to delve into facts and realities that the loudest voices on the scene absolutely will not allow to be discussed. And when these things are discussed, they will go absolutely bananas and try to destroy you for it.
So it is today as a result of Ryan's honest and entirely accurate observation about the culture of generational poverty, which he made on Bill Bennett's radio show. Listen to the minute-long clip, which was captured by the left-wing site ThinkProgress for the purpose of bereating him:
As you might imagine, the left is going completely bonkers over this. Congresswoman Barbara Lee jumps right in, call him racist and demanding that free speech "not be tolerated." Nancy Pelosi called his comments "shameful and wrong." Salon used the occasion to accuse the outstanding social science researcher Charles Murray of being a white supremacist. MSNBC . . . well, did what MSNBC does. If you really want to listen to 11 minutes of Al Sharpton bloviating, go nuts.
But Ryan is a) correct; and b) actually imploring those who live outside impoverished areas to get involved and help. Many people who live in the suburbs can relate to what he's saying. In my native Detroit area, most suburbanites can relate to the experience in which you occasionally drivetown for a Tiger game or a show of some sort - shaking your head at the blight as you drive in and out - but otherwise not really seeing it as your problem. Ryan is exhorting those who think that way to take an active role in solving the problem.
That's what you moonbats want to call racist?
At the same time, he addresses an uncomfortable truth about generational poverty. People born into families that have been mired in poverty for generations don't think about working because they've never had anyone model it for them. It's not what they know. They know the welfare system. They know the criminal justice system. They don't know the work world at all because for generations, no one in their family has had anything to do with it.
The problem with discussing this in a political context is that everyone is always looking for some action by the federal government to solve the problem. There is no federal solution to the generational poverty mindset. It needs to be addressed at the community level. It needs to be addressed on a spiritual level. People who think Washington is supposed to solve every problem don't like to hear that, and they really don't like it when you lay responsibility for things at the hands of the individuals involved.
But they won't admit why. They say it's because you're "blaming the victim," but the real reason is that, if people can and should solve their own problems, then you're taking away an excuse for expanding the size, scope and influence of the federal government. That is always the goal of the political class, so message of personal empowerment quickly get redefined as "blaming the victim."
Ryan is right, and if people really understood what he's saying, we would probably waste a lot less money trying to fight poverty by using assumptions about its cause that are completely wrong.
