Am I My Brother's Keeper?

Stereotypes are a real time saver, aren't they?  For a good chuckle, check out the article on The Onion, entitled "Stereotypes Are a Real Time-Saver."  But aren't they?  I mean, they jump us right ahead to whatever we WANT to believe about categorized groups of individuals.  So convenient.  So nice.

Stereotypes like, "Only Democrats care about poor people and doing whatever we can to raise them up.  And Republicans care only about money, and stepping on the heads of the poor to get ahead."  It feels really good to demonize others.  Really builds up the self-esteem.

"No thanks - don't need to hear any evidence to the contrary.  I'm good with my misguided assumptions."

So let me set something straight:  Democrats do not care one iota more about the poor than Republicans do.  They DO - though - have very different ideas of HOW to help the poor.  One says "Our government should use our taxes to help the poor" and the other says, "We are all personally responsible to help the poor."

That said, both sides have good intentions, just very different perspectives:

• Good Democrat argument:  If the government is not providing programs, how can you be assured that people will help as much as they should?  Many of the rich are greedy and will not help those less fortunate.
• Good Republican argument:  Why should we trust the government to do what we should do?  Who says the government can handle this efficiently?  History and many current government programs have proven that they simply can't.

Both are correct, to an extent.  So, we have a conundrum, don't we?

And to exacerbate the situation, just providing entitlements has created dependency in many cases, and an ultimate lack of motivation to get up and out.  Not in all cases, but in too many.  However, this is normal human behavior - the long-term recipients of free help can't be blamed for a desire to be paid for doing nothing anymore than a child can be blamed for being a spoiled brat when the parents have been giving them everything they ask for and expecting nothing in return.  I'm not comparing the less fortunate with spoiled brats - not my point.  But certainly the same concept.  It's learned behavior.  If you take away motivation to improve oneself and ones situation, why do you expect a light at the end of the tunnel?

So, let's drop this "Democrats are the party of the poor" nonsense.  "Democrats are the party of the 'free stuff' given out by a government that is so far in debt, no one can wrap their head around it"?  Absolutely.  Republicans, on the whole, care just as much.  There is greed, yes.  But don't fool yourself - that exists on both sides.  It's a human flaw, not a political thing.

Call to action:  Give whenever you can.  If you have extra - give.  Get out of your bubble.  Step out of your comfort zone.  Do something.  But DON'T ask our highly inefficient federal government to do what WE - as fellow humans - are called to do.

We ARE our brother's keeper.  Time to step up and stop expecting the next guy (or President) to swoop in and save the day.