Friday, July 13, 2012
We CAN go back.
NPR reports a small but promising return to an old idea.
Needless to say, the but really should be therefore.
A few people are trying something "new":
Old idea. Before WW2 every conceivable ethnic and occupational group, including blacks, had Benevolent Societies and Lodges. The Benevolent Societies were not just social clubs. They collected regular dues and used the pooled value to make [what we now call] microloans, and to provide some degree of health insurance and old-age security. Unlike government welfare, lodges provided moral guidance along with the money; a wasteful member had to straighten up if he wanted help.
Social Security began to remove the need for the societies, then the genocidal "anti-discrimination laws" of the '50s and '60s made them semi-illegal, then LBJ's total welfare killed them off entirely. Immigrant groups like Koreans and Cubans still manage to run lodges in an informal way, which is exactly why they succeed while others fail.
We CAN go back.
It's been almost 50 years since President Lyndon Johnson declared a "War on Poverty." But today, the poverty rate in the U.S. is the highest it's been in 17 years, affecting some 46 million people.
Needless to say, the but really should be therefore.
A few people are trying something "new":
The result was the Family Independence Initiative, a nonprofit now run by Miller. Its purpose is to encourage low-income families to form small groups and help each other figure out how to get ahead.
The families meet monthly and keep journals, charting their progress on income, savings, education — all the signposts of a successful life. For this, each family gets a laptop computer and an average monthly stipend of $160. The key is that the families also get to set their own goals.
Old idea. Before WW2 every conceivable ethnic and occupational group, including blacks, had Benevolent Societies and Lodges. The Benevolent Societies were not just social clubs. They collected regular dues and used the pooled value to make [what we now call] microloans, and to provide some degree of health insurance and old-age security. Unlike government welfare, lodges provided moral guidance along with the money; a wasteful member had to straighten up if he wanted help.
Social Security began to remove the need for the societies, then the genocidal "anti-discrimination laws" of the '50s and '60s made them semi-illegal, then LBJ's total welfare killed them off entirely. Immigrant groups like Koreans and Cubans still manage to run lodges in an informal way, which is exactly why they succeed while others fail.
We CAN go back.
Labels: the broken circle
¶ 5:26 PM
