Gov. Haley Barbour was in Tupelo on Dec. 7 speaking to an audience in the convention center. I quote him below from this speech, with astounding facts that we all know but for some reason just don’t seem to get:

“If we had more intact families led by two parents; if we had fewer children born to teenage girls; if parents required their children to take advantage of the education we offer them, and, in fact, supported their kids’ and their schools; and if everyone who can work, did work or at least tried to get a job; I assure you every problem and shortcoming we have as a state will get better … far better,” he said.

“I fear families … or more accurately, many mothers don’t send their children to school and make sure they graduate because those parents don’t expect their children to have to work to feed themselves and their families in the future.

“Another critical factor in negative health statistics is our high rate of illegitimacy. Our state ranks near the worst for children born to teenaged girls and the data is emphatically clear that children born out of wedlock, with no father at home helping raise them, suffer dramatically higher levels of poverty, drug addition, incarceration, premature death.  They have lower birth weights, worse infant mortality rates and smaller chances of finishing high school.”

No one can help us but ourselves. The government, schools, more political correctness, zero tolerance, etc, etc will all fail.

“I’m from the government, and I’m here to help you,” were the scariest words Ronald Reagan said he knew.

I have always felt that the churches would be far better vehicles of welfare than the government. I say that because people seem to respect and believe their pastors above all others. If a youngster is determined to quit school or have a baby, the pastor could do more than anyone else to deter it. If the churches were responsible for handing out welfare to idle people, someone in the congregation would quickly find a job for them I will assure you. If a person then refuses the job offer or quits the church, no more handouts.

We have all tried, for whatever reason, to be ridiculously nice to everyone else. This just ain’t working. The time has come, I fear, for some tough love.

 

Ed Field

Natchez