Scrooge is the new Uncle Sam
by digby
The New York Times published the first of a series of investigative pieces on the poor people on New York City yesterday. It's a harrowing tale and one that would make any decent person cringe in shame that such poverty, especially among children, could exist in the wealthiest city in the wealthiest country on the planet. It's right out of Charles Dickens.
But the New York Post editorial board is not composed of decent people:
Begin with the family at the center of this story. The mother, father and eight kids aren't really homeless at all. True, they live in housing meant for "homeless families." But their 540-square-foot unit gives them a solid roof over their heads, in addition to city-provided meals and services.
[...]
Yes, the family's housing has problems, including mice and reports of sexual assaults and other crimes. But the Times and Elliott, like much of the liberal establishment, seem to think it's the city's job to provide comfortable lives to outrageously irresponsible parents. In this case, that's a couple with a long history of drug problems and difficulty holding jobs.
Something's wrong with that picture.
If the city is at fault here, it might well be for having been too generous -- providing so much that neither the father nor mother seems much inclined to provide for their kids. That would be a story worth reading.
Here's a little story for these jerks:
Something very ugly has happened to American society in these last few years. It's not that there haven't always been people who thought the poor brought it on themselves. But agitating to throw these children into even worse circumstances was considered sociopathic. Which it is. Seriously, until fairly recently openly espousing this attitude toward the poor was very much frowned upon (in polite society at least.) We've reverted to a Victorian culture in which the wealthy, in order to justify their greed, gluttony and avarice, decided they no longer have to even pretend to care about anything but themselves. It's sick.
This calls for some Colbert therapy: