Child education, poverty and development in the recession: A crisis
This report focuses on the conditions that children live in in the US, and the effects on education and development, during this recession.
One of the things often overlooked by supporters of Randian economics is that children inherit the economic and social status of their parents. Children growing up in extreme poverty really do face severe challenges in escaping that domain, and we lose thousands and thousands of brilliant minds in every generation to malnourishment, abuse, suicide, and hopelessness.
Whatever you may think about the morality and ethics of provding welfare to adults who may be capable of taking care of themselves, who might be ‘gaming’ the system, please consider the effect it also has on the children of those parents. Please consider, when thinking about homelessness, that we have many homeless families, and many families living in cramped, crowded circumstances.
It is demonstrably, scientifically unhealthy for children to grow up in those environments. It is demonstrably bad for their cognitive development, for their ability to contribute to society later. From either an ethical or a pragmatic point of view, it makes sense for our society to contribute to the well-being of children and make sure they grow up in the best possible environment.
They have done nothing wrong, and do not deserve to suffer in poverty.
Education is a complex subject. Education is also vitally important to the future of our nation. An educated, skilled populace is an absolute must to compete in the global marketplace, and an absolute must in order to provide domestic services at home.
Please consider contacting your senators, representatives, and governors on this issue, and educate yourself about what’s happening in your state.
And, as always, fight back against the encroachment of religion into secular education.