America’s Love Affair with Bi Polar Compassion: The Baby Boomer’s Lament
As Americans we like to take pride in the generosity we afford to humanity in times of distress. Especially, in the wake of such natural catastrophes as floods, famine, earthquakes, tsunami’s, etc. To a degree, our compassion to assist others at such times is etched upon our American ethos either by our secular humanity or by our religious beliefs. In the recent past we as Americans have been most generous in assisting Haiti and Japan in their time of need. Not to mention, fellow Americans in New Orleans. As a nation we should be proud of our charitable ways, knowing in our souls we can make the world better for the less fortunate.
Regretfully, our nation’s current long-standing depression has manifested the shortcomings and contradictory nature of our sometimes capricious and arbitrary compassion. Currently, approximately 25 to 30 percent of the American workforce is either unemployed or under-employed. Many are the long-term unemployed of the baby boom generation, now discriminated against in the workplace as well as being viewed as too old to be considered for gainful employment. The resumes of this group are impressive with their strings of degrees and executive business experience, as well as the knowledge and wisdom that comes with life’s experiences.
With a job loss come home foreclosures, evictions, loss of health benefits, repossessions, destroyed credit, as well as the myriad physical illnesses that follow such catastrophes. Unfortunately, this economic catastrophe was not a wanton act of nature, but perpetrated by the hands of an unregulated financial market, a greedy and unethical business community, inept politicians, and decades of failed economic policies. In essence, our government has denied the unemployed the liberty to find gainful employment negating their ability to pursue happiness, which in turn fails to promote their general welfare. If these sound like the words of a bleeding heart liberal, in fact they are, since these sentiments are found in our nation’s constitution.
Over the past five years far too many hard working and highly educated Americans have lost their jobs to no fault of their own. For the most part, in this time of severe distress our nation’s leaders and fellow Americans have offered little or no compassion or assistance to these suffering families. Regretfully, many of our nation’s politicians feel Americans should not offer assistance or a safety net to fellow Americans on the premise it is welfare, and it is not the government’s responsibility to offer assistance on the grounds it up to the individual to fend for themselves. Unfortunately, these are same politicians who dole out billions of tax breaks and corporate welfare to failed businesses – remember TARP. The same taxpayer who is denied a safety net is forced to finance a corporate welfare system that for the most part is responsible for their jobs being eliminated.
Unlike the cases in which natural disasters strike bringing destruction to families and property, our houses of worship along with their clergy remain silent in their words and idle in their actions to help alleviate the suffering of the close neighbors. At the same time elected politicians living the good life subsidized by the taxpayer are far too removed and insensitive to the suffering of their constituents.
Let’s not forsake the legacy of the baby boomers whose social conscience labored for the rights of minorities, women, a more honest government and the environment to name just a few. As a nation we are better off for their contributions, the benefits of which we enjoy and take for granted today. In their time of need lets us not forsake these elders and their legacy by extending to them our hands of humanity and compassion. Where else can they turn? The clergy will only offer petitions to God, asking the Almighty to do their dirty work for them, refusing to make personal sacrifices; and the politicians will be knocking on the doors of the unemployed asking for their vote to keep them in office.
Dr. Richard Cirulli is a professor of economics at a number of local colleges, a business consultant, and hosts a weekly cable show on current economic issues. He can be reached at profcirulli@optonline.net
Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.
