The missing key
By M. Sidney Wallace
web posted May 31, 2010
One recent Sunday afternoon I happened to catch a few minutes of a local PBS Television station. The show featured about 9 or 10 citizens that live in my community. These folks each had complaints with the local, state, and federal government for not doing enough to improve life in their communities.
The well dressed panel was not wearing poverty-stricken rags handed out from a government warehouse. None of the speakers appeared to have missed any meals. All were of varying degrees of skin tones including the ACLU representative. Most spoke clear and understandable English language.
Uniformly each speaker spoke to the abuses local government was causing by its failure to make a better local society. As each spoke, they brought up numerous items such as: the mistreatment by law enforcement, poor education opportunities, disenfranchisement of convicted felons, and a litany of other items. They said that these abuses continue because the local government was not acting with enough enthusiasm for their civil and economic problems. Each speaker concluded that the government needed to do more to make circumstances fairer for their brothers and sisters.
I have lived in this community for more than sixty years. I was in college before I have the pleasure of sitting in a classroom with an individual of another race. Today, all public daycare (the public schools system) are fully integrated. There is now a minimum amount that each employer must pay to anyone they allow to work for them. Restaurants may not refuse any customers and public libraries are open to all wishing to participate. Private business may not ask any applicants his or her heritage, ethnicity or sexual proclivity. Racial slurs or ethnic jokes are grounds for dismissal.
All of these citizens repeatedly complained about how the "government" was not doing enough to make life better for their community. No one said anything about people taking responsibility for making a better life for them self.
As long as people want someone in government to make their life better, they will continue to suffer from what ails them. The solution is not more government, but personal responsibility. If you are the parent of a young person, then make them learn the small amount of information that the public school systems are providing. Tell them that when they go looking for a job, that they will have a better chance if they speak using good English grammar and complete sentences. If they want to be a professional, then they need to earn their credentials in the field they want to enter.
There is a young man running for the Florida State Senate in District 2. This young man is a very successful businessman not because of anything the government has done for him. He has built his business up from start to be one of the largest insurance agencies in the community. He earned a Masters of Business Administration degree which he paid for out of his own pocket. He has no business with any governmental agency. He has repeatedly said to me on many occasions that all he needed was an equal opportunity and he would take care of the rest. He firmly believes that government involvement in our lives is a major problem.
America was not built on government actions; however, government actions will surely cause its destruction. 
If you wish to send a comment or ask a question of Dr. Wallace please use msw@gulf1.com.