Dear George:

My friend Ed Wayland insists that I must be wrong in my assertion that the poor are are held back more by internal factors than external conditions, and asks what makes me think so. The answer is, almost 20 years in a service industry that employs young people with poor education and poor family background. After getting to know personally hundreds of them and seeing a few advancing along the ladder of opportunity (just like those even more disadvantaged immigrants), while I see many others engaging in behavior that leads them nowhere.

These are not casual observations. I have gotten to know people in both groups on a real personal basis, been to their homes, god fathered their children, listen to their family problems. I am still in touch with quite a few ex employees, some thriving, some even have started their own business --some with my mentoring, some without, and then, some who just have gone backwards.

From this experience I have individuals stories to tell that sound stranger than fiction. But that's for another place or time. So is budgeting for a low income family. But Ed is on to something, when he suggests that I prepare a budget not only for a family on TANF, but also for one on minimum wage, since one of the complaints of the working poor is that welfare pays better than what they make. Ever wondered why the Democratic Party is not more popular with the lower rungs of the working class?

Just for the record, --because I know it will come up-- very few people these days get paid minimum wage in Charlottesville. Also for the record, there are plenty of jobs that although starting at, or near, minimum wage are not dead end jobs. Many lead to opportunities to earn from $20,000 to $35,000 and more per year. But it requires showing up regularly, learning on the job and be willing to accept responsibility. After all, this is still America, were hard work and initiative is still rewarded, even in simple basic service jobs.

I am definitely not suggesting that some form of moral guidance should simple replace material assistance. But I am afraid that material assistance alone has also failed. Nobody benefits from "keeping the poor down and preserving the status quo". Unfortunately, until we can come up with better ideas, we are just doing that.

Henry Weinschenk (electronic mail, April 12, 2000).