Ian I think you are lost in the American
dream and should consider waking up a
bit. I know that sounds harsh, but
everyone can not make it big here... and
many die horrible poverty filled lives trying.
The huge income gaps between sending
children to equestrian elementary
schools and sending kids off to drug and
crime infested under funded schools
should let us all know that something is
terribly wrong with this picture.

If you look at the statistics found in this
and many other Soc classes the real
America begins to come into focus
behind the legislative facade. I am not
interested in hearing one in a million
stories. I am interested in hearing that
the common practice of low income
mothers leaving the hospital soon after
the birth of a child has changed because
they can stay at the hospital for at least a
day because the government is paying for
it.

If you do some out of country study, you
will notice our country is primitive in how it
cares for its families. Many countries in
Europe (Switzerland as an example) have
many policies that acknowledge that the
care for families in all income levels of a
society is a care for the society as a
whole. If we can spend money on military
defense we need to spend money on
taking care of families through health
care, child care, domestic violence, etc.

Our country must begin to look at the
family as a social issue instead of a
privatized issue. We look at the struggles
of a single father or low income family as
their individual struggle, but it is actually a
struggle that our whole country needs to
take responsibility for. Our society does
not look at taking care of our next
generation with the same importance as
we do business or military. There is
something seriously wrong with that.

The media and popular view is to look at
family problems as personal or private
issues, but they are societal issues.
Once our citizens begin to understand
that the issue is not "so and so could not
get out, or didn't try hard enough" but "our
system does not give so and so the
opportunity to get out" we will begin to
come to a starting point of a beneficial
and healthy society for our country.