Dear Source:
I read recently that a study revealed that about 35% of our children are living in poverty. Can you really fathom that reality, and it appears to be real, the study was done scientifically, I understand. The United States of America, presently the richest and most powerful country in the world, having a colony with that statistic of juvenile poverty is most shameful. I believe that fact reflects on our society as a whole. We have developed a culture of liberty, which some people confuse with licentiousness. The two words have one thing in common, they both begin with the letter L, but that is as far as I perceive any similarity. We have become a very permissive society, we permit almost anything, and we seek to justify all kinds of unconventional behavior. We have derided the traditional value system and replaced it with an "anything goes attitude". Then we naively wonder why are our youth are out of control, when we ourselves are out control. We refuse to pass on the positive teachings we have received, granted some were a little extreme or erroneous, but that not withstanding it produced honorable personalities.
I have stated before, and I would repeat herein, we need a moral re-armament. We need to restore basic moral values and prudent public behavior. We need have reflected in our media our values, not necessarily religious values but moral values. There is a set of values that we can identify as universal; we can find them in most civilized societies. To have a class-less society is a myth it is not realistic. It is normal to have a class system in any society, what some may call the 'pecking order". While we may all have the same rights, we are not all equal, intrinsically or otherwise. What we should be striving for in our society is the promotion of Justice and Love. If we promote love, we will be more compassionate with the less fortunate and be tolerant with the intellectually handicapped. The strong should help the weak, and the weak could be more loyal to their benefactors.
We are not all the same; it was never intended to be. Just look at nature and the laws that govern it and we can learn quite a bit, if we are not too arrogant and pretend our knowledge is better or greater than that of nature. Some persons start out life with certain physical or mental handicap. Some develop handicap due to illness or physical accidents. We should be compassionate with those persons and help them to be as productive as they possible can be, in spite of their handicap. Then there are those who due to some mental deficiency or malady cannot function well in society and they become a kind of outcast. When they become a threat to themselves and others, we may end up institutionalizing them. There is a segment in our society that we call "homeless" because they do not have a fixed conventional dwelling place. Many are in that state by their own choosing, they choose to drop out of conventional society and live an unconventional life style.
We have young innocent ones, being brought into this world by the irresponsible actions of others, their parents. These individuals are offspring of irresponsible persons who did not prepare for their arrival in this world and fail to provide for them after they arrive in this world. I am referring to irresponsible and neglectful parents that cause children to live in poverty. They are laws on the books that address neglectful parents or guardians, but they are randomly enforced if at all. Enforcement of the laws is the responsibility of the society through their law enforcement agencies. If members of our society become so slack and neglectful, that they allow the law enforcement agencies to get away with not carrying out their duties, they would be the ones to blame for the present state of affairs. We must decide what kind of society we want. Whether we are going to uphold our standard or allow a "free for all" in our society. We must decide whether we want an orderly and moral society or a mediocre society or worst a completely depraved society. We must decide which direction we as a society should go, the choice is ours.
We can decide if we want an orderly society, a moral society where love and justice prevail. Where we respect and enforce our own laws. We as a host population should require all immigrants, new comers to subscribe to our moral standard and laws or be deported. We must take a stand and stop making excuses for not doing what is our responsibility to do. We have to be vigilante and diligent with our representatives in government to ensure that they carry out our mandate of protecting our society from extraneous and dangerous influences. Persons who cause or bring children into this world without preparing for them and after the children are born fail to supply for their needs are to be considered criminally negligent and should be brought before a court of justice to answer for their irresponsible and neglectful behavior of putting children at risk in our society. By enforcing our laws, we would pressure irresponsible members of our society to behave more responsibly if only to avoid the penalty the laws impose.
The persons charged with neglect of children or of endangering, the welfare of minors might not need to be incarcerated when there are several alternatives to incarceration. Community service is one of the most productive in conjunction with probation; the electronic bracelet is another option. If the children are removed from the home for their safety, the parents should be required to support them financially wherever they are placed. This situation with our children is very serious and our society bears a lot of the responsibility for its growth to this epidemic proportion. It takes proper leadership and collective will to arrest this social malady and to improve the live of our children. We are empowered by law as a society to correct what needs to be corrected and to protect those who are most vulnerable. May Allah-God our Creator give us the wisdom and the courage to do what is required to improve the quality of life for all in our society.
J J. Estemac
St. Thomas
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