Quite.But it has to be said that the political principle of socialists is to define "poor" in such a way that 51% of the voters will be given the illusion that socialist government will benefit them - and that there is no morality higher than vote for their immediate interest. Socialists constantly harp on the short run - as John Maynard Keynes put it, "In the long run we are all dead" - but the experience of mature people is that "the long run" comes up on us before we know it.
The truth is, of course, that decisions must be made in view not only of our own immediate interest but - as the preamble the the Constitution of the United States puts it, the objective is "to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity" (emphasis added). Who now would arouse themselves to debate over the various interpretations of that old document - if not for the fact that the "posterity" of which its authors spoke recognize in our current circumstances the fruits of their concern for us, and recognize a concommitant obligation to also nurture in ourselves the commitment to preserve "the blessings of liberty" for our own posterity?
Note well, our children are not "our posterity" - at least not yet. Our children are here-and-now, and are included in "us" rather than in "our posterity." So when you hear a Hillary Clinton wax eloquent about "the children," remember that there is a higher form of concern for "posterity" than only whatever will benefit them as children. You do not benefit "posterity" by doing something "for the children" at the expense of their future ability to do things which will benefit their children when they grow up. And you especially do not secure "the blessings of liberty" to ourselves or our posterity by reducing adults in the here-and-now to the status of children to be tended by the government. No matter in whose name you do it.
Wednesday 2 Mar 2005
Ken Shirley
Press Releases -- Treaty of Waitangi & Maori Affairs
(view HTML version at: http://www.act.org.nz/item.jsp?id=26690 )
ACT MP Ken Shirley today said the Minister for Social Development and Employment did well to duck and dive answering his question in parliament today on the number of beneficiaries enrolled in Te Wananga o Aotearoa's Mahi Ora course.
"Mr Maharey couldn't spit out the answer but we know the number of beneficiaries in the Mahi Ora course in 2003 alone was probably about 13,000. We also know that every student on this free level-two correspondence course got a free cellphone. What's more, government funding for the Mahi Ora programme in 2003 amounted to $38.2 million."
Mr Shirley said it wasn't difficult working out the number of beneficiaries in the Mahi Ora course. Ministry of Education official figures showed that a total of 25,939 students were enrolled in the programme in 2003. In the same year, the wananga was reported as estimating that half of those enrolled in the course were indeed beneficiaries.
"We don't have a problem with beneficiaries being referred by Work and Income into courses. However it is outrageous that the Minister can't tell us how many beneficiaries have gone into wananga courses.
"Unsurprisingly he has no trouble talking up falling Maori unemployment. That's because the Labour Government has used wananga to hide real Maori unemployment figures.
"No ones believes that because there are 13,000 beneficiaries in a Mahi Ora course, real Maori unemployment dramatically reduces. No jobs have been filled. All that has changed is that the Government funds them as students not beneficiaries. Subsequently, the Household Labour Force Survey statistics look more favourable.
"Huge enrolments in Mahi Ora courses have been more of a help in reducing Maori unemployment than Labour's anti-growth policies. No wonder the Government's been keen to shovel money at the wananga for so long, and no wonder Mr Maharey's keen to hide just how many students are actually disguised unemployed," said Mr Shirley.