When was the last time 200k houses were surrounded by liqour stores and Popeye's fast food chains? Unfortunately, these areas thrive in low income places. Why? Because the state doesn't give a damn about kids living off of WIC assistance and people on Medicaid. So what controls it? Zoning laws. It isn't a simple case of "Well, that's just the way it is." People fail to realize that there are things called city plans. Did your city PLAN to have a poor schooling system? Did your city PLAN to have an area with high crime? Without a playground or recreatioal center -and stray dogs roaming around any place that does happen to have one- crime could be an attrative hobby. So what are WE doing to change these facts?
Sometimes you have to wonder, who is pulling the strings, really. Who runs things? And are we doing everything that we can to make improvements?
Is it really a coincidence that the areas with high obesity rates, high crime, poor education, and a lack of access to healthcare are also the ones without a place to buy groceries? Is it an even bigger coincidence that these same places are populated by low income families and minorities? Umm...no.
"What do you mean? That's ridiculous. I mean, who can't buy a tomatoe?"
That's actually along the lines of what a public health student said in a class a friend of mine was attending. You gotta wonder, THESE are the people who will be in charge of eliminating health disparities? There is a blind eye to social injustices in public health and other arenas. What would make anyone confident that a politician has more insight into what the community needs to live a productive life than a public health student? If you aren't properly educated in social determinants of health (where you live, your education...etc) then you're probably blind to the causal factors that affect these communities.
SN: Shout out to Morehouse School of Medicine, the leader in Community Health!
When did we decide that it was OK to let some kids succeed and set others up for failure? Not to say that a kid from a low income, minority family background can't succeed despite these factors, but when is it OK to turn a blind eye to issues staring us in the face? When they don't affect us? Well, news flash, they affect everyone.
When we let some kids harbor all of the opportunities they could ask for and steal these same opportunities away from other kids, everyone suffers. Communities with a majority of individuals with assisted living benefits are not coincidentally places of crime and poor schools. Do you really think a person who gets burglarized had their property stolen by a neighbor in perfect health, with a great education, and a steady job? It's possible, but not very likely.
When you take away opportunity, you set the whole society up for failure.
When you neglect issues surrounding healthcare, the whole community is sick.
When you remove sources of fresh fruits and vegetables, a whole generation is obese.
When you have poor schools in one area, the whole nation has poor education reports.
One community affected by high crime rates means there are other communities affected by high crime rates.
We don't live in bubbles. Investing in his kids, and her kids, means we're investing in our own kids. Improving neighborhoods across the tracks improves our own neighborhood. If we can say these issues arise out of selfishness and greed, then let's talk greedy.
Since when does it benefit an economy to have generational poverty? Mother, daughter, and grandmother, on assisted living. Excuse me, but aren't those your tax dollars paying to support them? If you want to be greedy, let's paint the picture. Allowing communities to fail brings down our economy. A lack in human capital means there are intelligent and capable people who weren't given a chance to succeed to their full potential. That means while we are short on doctors, at the same time we are stealing away the dreams of becoming the next Surgeon General from countless kids. While we are struggling in our economy, at the same time we are creating an environment that imprisons families to cyclical poverty where people rely on assisted living programs.
If people want to be greedy, at least take a look at the whole picture. Productive members of society means that we have more human capital which means our economy is stronger. Communities that are effectively drained of all resources, food deserts, and educational deserts do NOT make us money and do NOT improve our society.
I wish greedy people weren't so stupid.
No comments:
Post a Comment