Even though poverty has always existed, the seeds of the current division between the haves and the have-nots began about 60 years ago. Ever since the government's original attempt to solve the problem of poverty with programs, court decisions and amendments, the fixes only made things worse.
The GI Bill started separating haves and have-nots with the "white flight" from decaying inner cities to new suburbs. Interstate highways paved the way for sprawl and growth while businesses on the "old highways" declined.
At the same time the Supreme Court mandated racial integration (a good thing when they banned Jim Crow laws), it struck down prayer in schools. That caused public schools to lose many good families who built their own parochial and private schools as well as home schools. Public schools used to be the pinnacle of American egalitarianism.
In the ‘60s and ‘70s, four things happened that changed America for the worse: environmentalism, overpopulation alarmism, family planning and the sexual revolution. This resulted in closed factories (also thanks to unions), a reversal of evolution (smart people limited reproduction for the first time in human history), increased STDs, more divorces, increased rush hour traffic due to more women in the labor force and more teen suicides.
Public housing projects were decaying when, under President Clinton, the government decided that "everyone should own a home" with the Fair Housing (bubble) Act. Mortgage qualifying rules were relaxed.
We know what happened next.
Also in the 1960s, entitlement programs starting with the Great Society were attempts to place a bandage on a dying body, the costs of which grew and created a hopeless dependent culture where substance abuse and unwed mothers are common.
Federal student loans were created under the assumption that "everyone should have a degree" (really because states couldn't afford to support colleges and universities due to huge Medicaid costs mandated by Washington in all 50 states). Tuition was free in California for residents until this time. Today, graduates with large loan debts cannot escape, they can't declare bankruptcy, and even their parents are obligated if the kid runs off or dies. Washington took the student loan program entirely from the banks and kept the same rules.
And some people play off the current hatred of the 1 percent to get (re-)elected.
But there is hope. It involves changing family law and using the judicial branch instead of costly entitlements.
Currently, entitlements make up the biggest portion of government spending and will only grow worse if not changed. A sliding scale medical payment/billing system based on (extended) family wealth could easily replace insurance, both public and private. Taxes could be reduced by 50 percent across all levels of government. And finally, the government should focus on urban renewal, which is better for the environment than continued sprawl. All three branches of government can still get it right.
J.D. Knee is a resident of Gainesville.
