7.29.2007 | Feeling guilty, are we?

Nothing endures like white guilt. When the blacks living in poverty rioted back in the late 1960s, thence was reinforced the need for a war. We're always having wars; wars in name but not in effect. The so-called war on poverty is the classic example: we declare "war," we throw money at the problem, we feel guilty when that doesn't work.

The latest foray into white guilt is in today's WaPo Outlook section, one of the national headquarters for liberal white guilt. This time, it's the fortieth, yes, four-zero year anniversary of the 1967 Detroit riots. The article, by a member of the academy, has a classically guilt-inspiring title: The Fire Last Time.

The article's thesis? Nothing of any substance has changed. The solution? More money thrown down the well. More excuses made for people who won't help themselves. More white guilt. Here's a good sample:

Then, in the late 1970s and '80s, the national commitment to the urban poor unraveled, destroyed by a furious white backlash and a resurgent conservatism that vilified big government and sanctified the free market. With that shift in American politics, hope gave way to neglect. It has been 30 years since the federal government really invested in America's inner cities. The only time anyone talks about segregation is when the Supreme Court prohibits another school district from employing the mildest of racial remedies. The welfare state has been eviscerated, not expanded. Even progressives prefer to focus more on the needs of the middle class than on the burdens of the poor.

And on the streets of Detroit and in other urban cores, life grows inexorably grimmer.

This idiotarian from the academy is telling us that we need more government, more racial set-asides ("racial remedies" in liberal-speak), and, drum-roll if you please, maestro, an expanded welfare state. All of which haven't served to come close to solving the actual problem: individuals taking responsibility for their own education and securing their own future. Individuals not waiting for a handout -- that wait never ends.

Here's a better idea: remember how some of learned how to swim. We jumped off the deep end into a pond or a swimming pool, and swam. Or sank, in which case the clever among us would have checked just to ensure that there was somebody standing by to rescue us. But, for the most part, me and my buds didn't need rescuing. We just jumped in and did the dog paddle.

I have sympathy for the poor; having grown up in that condition. And, yes, we all need a helping hand now and again. But if our basic needs are provided, gratis, with nothing expected in return, we get fat and lazy. And never learn to fend for ourselves. This is the real lesson of the riots of 40 years ago: to end poverty, we have to do it ourselves. With help along the way, but that's the means -- not the ends.

A lesson which has yet to be learned by our liberalati.