It's obvious you're a good guy who really wants to see people do well. I applaud you for that.
Almost anyone can do for themselves. My wife came from a broken home where she had to take care of her sister since her mom couldn't. She didn't even meet her Dad until she was 16 years old. It was common that at least one utility or more out due to non-payment of bills. Dental care for her was her mom deciding it would be cheaper to have permanent teeth pulled if she had a cavity. She also had to endure cancer in her early 20's. No government program was going to fix all this. She had to do it herself through hard work and determination to succeed.
My wife also put herself through school and got a masters degree in education. We have busted our asses to build our lives and have something great to share. She's such an inspiring person.
All this is to say instead of giving people checks (which clearly doesn't work after over $30T being spent and no real improvement) perhaps we should try something new that doesn't involve so many handouts? The vast majority of the money you say you want to give to help others gets funneled into massive federal bureaucracies and never comes out. It just pays all the people who work there that are 100% financially invested in making sure the problem NEVER gets solved.
Elon Musk had a vision of starting a company. He was a/the pioneer in electric vehicles. His company now employs around 140,000 people. His idea now provides income, opportunity, benefits and financial stability to that many people. He gave stock options to his employees and there are a great number of millionaires at Tesla because of that. This is the quintessential American story and it should be celebrated. I don't care what he pays in taxes. He's done vastly beyond his "fair share" for Americans. But the left chooses to demonize him and that's just criminal and flat out stupid.
There are countless Americans who have done things like this but on much smaller scales and they also are part of what makes this country go. They do more for people than any government agency ever could. That people in government cast judgment on what they should pay is appalling.
Also, last thing I wanted to ask you...
You say it isn't fair that you grew up the way you did. How is it you think a check or some offering can fix that? It's just not possible. Life isn't fair and no government program or tax offering is going to fix that. I don't know if this is the case for you, but so many people who have done well for some reason feel guilty and then say I'll write a check to assuage my guilt. That's not helping anyone and all that happens is the money is wasted on people who again, want to make sure the problem never gets solved.
I appreciate that, and it’s admirable and commendable that your wife was able to overcome all that strife.
To answer your question, I don’t really think signing a check/sending money fixes any of the problems. That's far too big of an issue for any individual to address. You'd have to systemically address all of the issues that are catalysts that lead to individuals staying in/being born into poverty.
This isn't a utopia where everyone's going to be able to start off on the same base, but you have to try and level the playing field as best you can. There are countless studies that show the first 3 years of a child's life are the most important in the development of their brain. I don't have the answers to how to solve all these problems, i just know that we should be doing more to support children in need so that they can hopefully break the cycle of poverty.
It breaks my heart when i see reports about states/municipalities passing laws getting rid of free school lunch for kids in need. We're punishing children because of something no fault of their own. I'll never understand people saying it's not their responsibility to pay for other kids to eat lunch. It's usually the crowd that crows about how Christian they are and how God is needed back in schools, so the irony isn't lost on me.
Idk i went on sort of a ramble there at the end, but it's just so depressing thinking about all of this.
