The only solution to the rash of single parenthood and abortion rates is Reparations?
Mm'k.
OR...'we' could just move locations, entirely. Check this out: We could build a big a** ark -- and sail to Africa!
We don't need the chinese, like they had in that movie, 2012. We have the Mexicans. They work fast and on the cheap. So, I'm thinking...$3.50/day. No healthcare. No dental...BUT - they can sleep in my man's garage FOR 'FREE'. It's a 2-car garage, so...that's pretty space-y and if we need more?
Hey, that's why God created 'PODS'.
...and, actually, we do have a pool...
PLUS, we're gonna have A&W Rootbeer, candy and wine-coolers for the kiddies. It's great. Just let me know when you guys want to do this. Get the Mexicans...and I'll start draining the pool and shredding newspaper for their 'pallets'. (I figure it's a lot cheaper than hay).
*sigh*
Well...at least you're not one of these idiots trying to literally justify the problem out of existence.
'Oh, 'out of wedlock' births are a good thing...because it came from Africa'.
Nonsense like that. Then, 'So...how do you ladies feel about polygamy?" Of course, they have no issue with it. It benefits them and that appears to be all that they care about. As if fatherless children weren't enough.
Now, the men have invited us to 'share' them.
Dare I dream?
I saw the question posed in the women's forum and shook my head.
'We were wondering how you ladies felt about it...'
How do I feel about it?
Uh...eww...?
ANYWAY --
********
On the subject of out of wedlock births, abortion, Aids?
Here's what ACTUALLY works: A little personal accountability AND knowledge. You must give people the knowledge to choose and then encourage them to take the reigns. To evaluate a situation and USE THEIR BRAINS to make proper life decisions.
For instance, when schools ramped up the Teen Preggo Campaign, including sex ed/condom use/abstainance in the 90's, teen pregnancies dropped like a stone in water. The black teen pregnancy rate dropped by nearly 40%.
(Google, if you must. Not Wiki. It's not a reputable source.)
This is great.
..and no one to board a ship or claim a state or anything.
On another note, I think that somewhere along the line, 'black culture' became confused with 'street culture' and a host of other 'backwardsness' and negatives in the minds of too many. This is a cultural issue. (not biological, i.e., inherent, in case any misunderstand.)
Begging the govt for sh*t isn't going to help and all the handouts in the creation won't save the group if the 'group mentality' is too f*cked up to use the tools correctly...AND IT IS.
Sure, individuals will always do well.
*I* and *mine* will always do well. Well, I mean...OF COURSE! *laugh*
The same cannot be said for the group, as a whole.
SERIOUS change - a SERIOUS shift in thinking - must take place and it has to begin at the individual level. I'm sorry. One person cannot do all the work. A handful of people cannot bear the load by themselves. That's not how it's done. MLK did not start that movement by himself. Rosa Parks wasn't the first to remain seated.
A Movement existed because of the individual effort on the part of the many.
The sooner that people can get this through their thick heads, the better off we will be as a 'group'...because, I'm gotta tell you: All of this reparations talk and 'Let's whine to the govt for crap' crap is a really, really bad idea.
If you want to help black folks: Encourage SELF-RELIANCE. The time for entitlements and entitlement complexes is at an end.
When/if the poo really hits the fan and the govt ever has to forcibly yank the teat out of anyone's mouth, a whole heap of folks are going to be a**ed out in America.
Hell, perhaps that's what we need. As a nation. As a race of people. Some mf's are dead weight. The rest simply need to be forced to get their sh*t together. Best way to do that is to apply pressure.
*shrug*
SO ----
I am a black woman and I can say that my friends and I are actually NOT 16 times more likely to die from AIDS. There's a very good reason for that, to. For instance, we:
- Don't ***** around with 'losers', first and foremost.
- practice safe sex, i.e., abstain/condoms
- have common sense...and common-sense is idiot-proof.
So...no, it bears no relevance.
What exactly do you think a statistic is? A black cloud that randomly attaches and floats over the heads of some individuals...'just because'?
These statistics are tied to risk factors. Remove the factors and the statistic will cease to apply. Nothing is set in stone.
I wonder...is it too much to ask that BLACK MALES AND FEMALES, firstly, be responsible for themselves, their life choices and for those that they ALLOW into their lives? This is why some cannot improve. Stuck in blame-mode. Stagnant and 'helpless'.
'Oh, I'm a welfare queen and I knew that he was a loser when I met him but I'm a gullible idiot and loved-ed-ed him. Plus, I have daddy issues. I'm codependent and I have a strong need to feel loved and will put up with anything just to have some kind of man in my life. So, despite better judgment, I allowed myself to be suckered into believing his lies. It's my baby-daddy's fault that he won't marry me, won't act like a man and I birthed more children then I could reasonably support.'
'I sell drugs and run the streets. I also have mommy issues and that's why I can't keep my dumb a** out of jail. But, when I'm not in jail or breaking the law, I spend ALL my time dropping sperm and creating 'stray babies'. I can't help it. Or, maybe I could. I could do better but I don't really want to because, I have prefer the easy path to one of hard work and diligence. Besides, it's a trap, so, why NOT underachieve? I'm a black male with no options. A 'product of my environment'."
...and, in the end, these reasons are nothing but excuses. Everyone has a sob-story...but everyone doesn't allow what has occured to dictate their future. There is no single event in the life-span that can determine such a thing.
I could be preaching to the wrong crowd in here, I'm sure, but, people with ideas like yours do not help the 'problem'.
...because you're not addressing it.
'Well, what we need are some form of reparations..."
Yeah, right. Good luck fighting the Native Americans - who have ancestral rights - for control of the territory and wrestling taxpayers away from their property. You did factor THEM into your contingency plan, I'm sure.
(You DO have a contingency plan, right?)
You're scapegoating for individuals whose problems are DIRECTLY related to 'personal deficiencies. All of this coddling merely prevents folks who need to take a good in-depth look and face their shortcomings head-on if they're ever going to improve their circumstances.
Govt isn't their problem. Racism isn't the problem.
They are their problem.
It IS common freakin' sense and if people - which does include you, if it applies - can't see that, then they're entirely too d*mned stupid to be taken seriously...indeed, 'to function'.
I wish that I could go into how this very attitude relates to maladaptive attributional patterns and academic performance issues within black children
(where black children tend to associate outside factors, i.e., racism, discrimination, etc.. to personal success and achievement as opposed to concepts like hard work, diligence, et... When outcomes are based on internal features? A change in behavior is considered. The individual will work harder or study harder. When it isn't? When they attribute what happens to them to factors beyond their control, it will only reduce the individual's feelings of personal responsibility for success and failure)
...but I don't have time right now.
I will just say that THIS is a huge problem within the black community, imo.
Too many 'black folks' are either forever putting down and telling other black folks what they 'can't' do OR they're refusing to hold themselves and each other accountable, preferring to blame outside sources and drawing never-ending parallels in a whopping mish-mash of perspectives from the 'depressingly historically black historical perspective', intellectual gymnastics and psycho-babble bullsh*t that effectively removes culpability on behalf of the individual.
It needs to stop.
***********
I've always wondered why it is, with our history, that so many black folks continue to look to the government for solutions...believing that government is the solution...seeking outside help for INTERNAL community issues.
I mean, really...?
You think that 'reparations' are a cure-all for our problems? Yeah...I'm so sure that this'll just fix everthing...much like sealing a crack in the Hoover Dam with Elmer's Glue. Or, using a band-aid to cover a gaping abdominal wound.
**********
The differences between black and white (in relation to the topic, healthcare issues) are entirely socio-economic.
For instance, the infant mortality rate is higher in the black community BECAUSE of the lack of education AND the fact that black mothers tend to significantly more likely to be living in poverty and, consequently, close to 40% are less likely to rec'v prenatal care (vs, let's say, white women at 20%).
Black mothers are also less likely breast feed. I know. I thought that fact a bit odd. Breast feeding is encouraged among the hospital attendants, is it not? Perhaps it's related to employment? I don't know.
Anyway - the lack of prenatal care directly leads to high infant mortality rates.
A solution to the problem? We educate the ladies on the benefits of breast-feeding and why it is superior to formula. We go about making prenatal appointments and such available to low-income households (b/c single-parent female led households tend to be low-income). Perhaps providing transportation or free bus passes to healthcare appts, I guess.
Now, I am no fan of social programs...
This is a black board, so, odds are good that I'm in a den of Obama-lovin' leftists. *laugh*
Still, I am a happy little (libertarian) conservative.
Fiscally conservative; Socially...indifferent.
So, not just any conservative. The BEST kind of conservative!
However, I do it for the kids. I understand that children born on the lower end of the socio-economic scale enter 'the race of life' with their legs chopped off at the knee.
A truly free-market could never thrive, as we all know. Of it could - but...a lot of people would be a**ed out. *laugh*
Pure economies don't exist. Balance is necessary.
...and we MUST implement a certain degree of 'socialist' policies to protect those who are so easily left behind:
Namely, the aged, the disabled/infirm and the young.
Bottomline? Can't punish a child because their parent(s) is a dumba**. Children cannot help their upbringing. They're innocents.
...and life hovering on the poverty line affects them emotionally, physically and psychologically. It's worth mentioning that, even with W.I.C (Women, Infants and Children), many children are STILL undernourished. They are eating but they're diets are still deficient. Makes sense. I mean, what are they allowed to each with that stuff? Meat, cheese and Milk?
That's not too nutritious.
...and yes, even mild undernutrion can affect cognitive development.
Overall, there is a hike in female-led single parent homes across the board. 'Our' numbers are high,but, it really is a societal problem.
Abortion? I would not know the stats. I have no opinion on abortion. However, it not a means to an end. It is not birth control, either.
Bringing these numbers down can be done with information AND making birth control more affordable ESPECIALLY in low-income communities.
I'm not talking about a Pill...I'm talking IUD.
Plug these heffas up!
It would help if the males got in on this, instead of leaving birth control up to the woman.
Just something to take into consideration...considering that most pregnancies came about through 'birth control failure'.
No birth control is 100% effective.
A pediatric patient sneezed in my face. I caught Strep throat. I was on penicillin! Thing is, I was pregnant and did not know - nor was I informed -- that anti-biotics could negate birth control. Unfortunately, I'm very active and I used to perform xrays/cts and I believe that this caused me to spontaneously abort.
Yet, I've met 2 other females like myself who experienced this.
It happens.
... please make yourself at home ... 