Question by John Lennon: Why does America have so much abundance, but poverty and crime too?
America is seemingly the most abundant nation on Earth, with some of the most proud corporations found anywhere. And it has been ranked the richest nation on Earth. But this is most certainly not a fair designation. Per capita, America lags behind other “developed” countries in terms of wealth and opportunity. Millions of children in the USA (of all races/backgrounds) have had dreams and goals and visions ranging from the reasonable to the more ambitious. The only thing really standing in their way is senseless and arbitrary “poverty”. This “poverty” is not even true poverty, but is a result of the choice to do drugs, sell drugs, booze it up, beat up the kids for no reason, and live for violence and death by whatever “parents” these children happen to be stuck with. But the real question is, what in our culture would lead these people to choose a life of crime? I believe in compassion, and there is a reason some of our prison programs (but not enough of them) have wisely chosen to focus on “rehabilitation” rather than punishment. What is the reason why this “culture of death” exists? Why do millions of people have to inherit nothing but trouble? And what is no secret is that minorities suffer the most in the land where “all men are created equal”. African Americans, immigrants, and gays are obvious examples. Even women in general are mistreated in too many cases. And the South is on average poorer than other regions.    Read more...