If we could solve poverty we could solve a lot of problems in society. Most of the problems we associate with race really have to do with poverty. Educated people usually find a way to sustain themselves and make a living. Uneducated people are more prone to find illegal ways to make a living. But we need to go farther back and say why do people shun education, to spend the rest of their lives living hand to mouth? If we take that step back, we come to the basic family structure and that is the crux of the problem.
I want those of you who are educated and seemingly making a good living, to think about how your family and your peers encouraged you and mentored you as you grew up and went through the education process. Left to your own means, you would not be where you are today.
So I ask the question. How do we somehow intervene in this process of having family's be more responsible for the well-being of their offspring, as it pertains to education. Poverty begets poverty and for many of these families with illiterate children it's becoming a way of life. What government interaction we do see, seems to be focused on taking over the chore of raising these kids for these people. Something that just exasperates the problem.
My grandfather told me, "When you raise your son, you raise your son's son. If you fail in that process you will fail generations to come." We need to, as families, encourage others, brothers, sisters, even neighbors to do their jobs as parents and educate their kids. No government intrusion will work. Just common sense caring for each other and a way back to the basic way of living life.
Mike Holst
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Crosslake
