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The Wright Perspective℠
Social Commentary from the C-Suite to Main Street℠
A Blog by Gary Wright II
Trailer Park Syndrome
Friday, April 13th, 2012
Please note: The term "Trailer Park Syndrome" is only a metaphor.
We have a war on drugs, a war on terrorism, but why no war on poverty? Poverty fuels crime, depression, and drug use. It also chases positive role models out of the poverty-stricken areas, which makes it even harder for people to rise above it. This is the basis of "Trailer Park Syndrome."
It takes a lot of hard work (and sometimes luck) to get out of the ghetto, so it should be no surprise that once successful, people have no desire to move back to the ghetto. The few role models that live in the hood leave a leadership vacuum whenever they leave. The only people kids see as successful in the hood are gangsters and drug dealers. Why should they stay in school and get a good job when you can make so much more money by standing on the corner dealing drugs?
I'm from a poor family in Alabama and I have witnessed poverty first-hand (hell, I still witness it today). It is hard to break the self-feeding monster of "Trailer Park Syndrome." Those living in the trailer park have little choice but to marry others in the same trailer park. It becomes a vicious cycle and it causes people to do drastic things as they desperately try to claw their way out of the trailer park.
There is plenty of wealth in this country. Enough to eliminate poverty. I find it distressing that we spend billions of dollars destroying a foreign country, when we could spend a fraction of that money to eliminate poverty in our own country.
The wealthy, who happen to own and control our Congress, fight hard against this proposal. I'm not suggesting that they give up their wealth. I just think the money being mispent now, could go a long way to eliminate poverty. This doesn't just help the poor, it helps our entire country.
I hope that each of you will register and vote in the next election. It is true that our vote doesn't always count (see the American Blackout DVD for proof) but we can't make it easy for them. In Australia, every citizen is required by law to vote or they face a fine. I wish we could have the same law in the United States, but the powers that be will never allow it. It doesn't matter to me if you vote the same way I do, I just want you to vote for whoever you think is best for our country. Congress is the inverse of a trailer park, and we've got to move both of them back towards the center.
Best regards,
-- Gary Wright II