With all the debate recently for amending the United States Constitution in favor of certain issues and/or those constituencies, perhaps a more appropriate amendment should guarantee each citizen of the United States the right to food, clothing, shelter and medical care. Poverty is defined as the condition of being poor or lacking the necessary means of support to live or meet needs.
Today we read of enormous corporate tax breaks, outsourcing of jobs overseas and outrageous salaries “earned” by athletes/entertainers. More recently came the revelation of the billions of dollars spent by the U.S. on two wars. In the meantime, the number of those in poverty continues to increase. The Old Testament of the Bible often makes references to the promised land flowing with milk and honey. All one has to do in this country is take a trip to the grocery story or department store and bear witness to the fact that if anywhere was close to exhibiting the characteristics of “the promised land,” this country is it. Yet somehow we are still unable to meet the four basic needs every citizen has. Some would argue that this proposal is an extension of socialism/communism. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Socialism/communism is a political or economic theory in which community members own all property, resources, and the means of production, and control the distribution of goods. No one is suggesting the replacement of capitalism; an economic system in which the means of production and distribution are privately owned, and prices are chiefly determined by open competition in a free market.
What is being suggested is that in this land of surplus “milk and honey,” there is absolutely no reason why the four basic needs of every U.S. citizen cannot be met. Some would argue that food stamps, thrift stores, public housing and Medicaid already meet these needs, but in the words of President John F. Kennedy, “this country is divided between those who have never had it so good and those who know we can do better”.
I think we can do better.
Resolved, it shall be the right of every United States citizen (in order to further guarantee the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness) to receive food, clothing, shelter and medical care that is adequate to meet their basic needs.
As for the Farm Bill…
The US Farm Bill currently being considered by the United States Congress is a multi-billion dollar, farm subsidy bill renewed every five years.
The bill first became law in 1933 as a means of preventing farmers from taking a loss on their annual production of crops corn, wheat, cotton, rice and soybeans. The government paid farmers the difference between what they sold and what it cost to produce. At the time it was a brilliant means of “priming the pump” so that farmers could be temporarily shielded from the effects of the Great Depression on their industry.
Today’s Farm Bill is a clear example of a government program being continued way beyond its original intention. Essentially, the government now pays farmers to under-produce crops in order to charge higher prices. Adding to the controversy is that it gives two-thirds of the subsidy to the top 10 percent of farmers. As with most government programs, bureaucratic self-perpetuation has allowed for this subsidy to become corrupted.
Not surprisingly, the government has it backwards. Why not let the farmers produce as much crops as possible, sell what they can on the world market, and give their surplus to the poor? Whatever they don’t sell, the government should pay them for and distribute it among those in poverty. In a world facing a food crisis never before seen in the history of humankind, we should never halt the production of food under any circumstances.
Joe Bialek
Cleveland, Ohio
