Re: Poverty youth ( Was: Age and violence stats)

From: Ralph Lewis (rlewis@csulb.edu)
Date: Wed Jul 01 1998 - 14:39:03 MDT


What has not been mentioned is the welfare system is a poverty generating
system. All liberal and conservative approaches are wrong as they reinforce
anti-work behavior patterns. I see this every day even at the University
level and can't comprehend how bad it must be in the K-12 system. Martin
Haberman identified the key issues in his "Unemployment Training" in Phi
Beta Kappan
(March 1997).

The key values of the welfare system are:

it's not your fault

nowness -- learning by sound byte

showing up --all you need to do is show up and not be disruptive and you get a B

teachers are responsible for my success-- if I fail it is your fault

excuses -- if you have a good excuses you are not responsible

noncooperation

lack of respect for others

belief that authority is always out to get them

you can 'mess up" as much as you want and will be given another chance

explain success by luck, chance etc.-- not their own effort

require RELEVANCE for any thing they do

lack of purpose

failure to stay on task

ignorance of rules is a way to circumvent them

lack of investment in the school (social) system

Best Ralph

At 05:25 PM 7/1/98 GMT, you wrote:
>On Wed, 1 Jul 1998 12:21:41 EDT, you wrote:
>
>>
>>In a message dated 6/30/98 5:19:37 PM, retroman wrote:
>>
>>>There is also the factor that crime tends to be higher in welfare states that
>>>limit support to males beyond childhood. Once the boys grow up and can't live
>>off
>>>the welfare trough, which they have been raised to beleive they are
>>'entitled'
>>>to, they certainly are pissed.
>>
>>
>> Look, "they" are far more than childishly "pissed".
>> What "they" are is - untrained, uneducated, unskilled and illiterate - we are
>>talking seriously unempowered, unfed, molested, ill-clothed, peer-pressured
>>into gangs (don't even get me started on that) and 99% possiblity of drug use
>>and arrests by about fifteen.
>>
>> Unprepared - by the Darwinistic environement they sum up from - to do much
>>good for themselves.
>>
>> Many choose crime OVER welfare, not because "they" were rejected by it - more
>>likely because 1) they are suicidial or 2) they have too much indiginous
>>pride to eat out of the gov'ts piggy "trough".
>>
>
>Actually here in America the welfare state is primarily set up for the
>single mother. A single, young male has a very hard time getting
>welfare
>
>
Ralph Lewis, Professor of Management and Human Resources
College of Business
California State University, Long Beach
Long Beach, California
rlewis@csulb.edu http://www.csulb.edu/~rlewis



This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Fri Nov 01 2002 - 14:49:15 MST