European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 30, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Monday december 30, 1991 the stars and stripes a Page 13commentaryernest b. Furgurson reason triumphs again in a Century of conflict a decade ago our Century already seemed to be history a no new entry could possibly compare with the colossal people and events of its first 50 years. In All Many a recorded time on Earth very few moments came close to the great conflicts Between Good and evil through which we and our parents had lived. I say a a Good carefully with reservations. In fact some qualification also is needed for the historic evils of the 20th Century. Briefly by comparison with what they replaced there were even redeeming features to the two forces we categorize roughly As fascism and communism. Which was worse Adolf hitlers National socialism sprang from the anguish of a Germany Defeated humiliated and economically crushed after world War i. The fact that it improved the existence of suffering millions is Worth a Short footnote. But that is lost in the horrors of nazism which for pure insane intensity of evil has never been approached in human history. True communism has never yet been achieved. The erstwhile soviet Union never claimed that it had reached that purported Utopia it was a socialist state its banners urging workers a Forward to the Victory of communism a and for lifting the masses out of one kind of serfdom it too deserves some credit. But it turned out to be a hoax. It re placed one kind of serfdom with another t made hundreds of millions of people prisoners in their own country. And because it lasted not a dozen years but three fourths of the Century in scale it exceeds even Hitler ism As the greatest evil of modern history. If we rate the great men of the cent a a their effect on the world for Good or a we automatically put Hitler and Josef Sta in at the head of the list with Mao tse Tung close behind. Heroes Are More numerous they led against evils wider spread. They include Ellen Goodman it men of peace like Mohandas Gandhi Albert Einstein and Martin Luther King or. It took a Long time to finish off the evil of communism. Those who contributed to its eventual collapse Are Many with Winston Churchill hairy Truman John Kennedy Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan among them. So Are Alexander Solzhenitsyn Andrei Sakharov and thousands of thousands of resisters who died with their bravery unrecorded. A in truth what its enforcers Call communism still survives. It still squats upon the masses of China North Korea and Cuba. But those Are like the arms of a once fearsome octopus whose heart is dead. Its heart was in the Kremlin the fortress so recently occupied by the last defender of the communist state the same Man who ultimately did it in. Mikhail Gorbachev did not mean for his reforms to become revolution. He thought that by lifting repression from the soviet Union and Eastern Europe he could inspire the people to make socialism work. He could not imagine the Power of what he had turned Loose and it ran on beyond him. What Gorbachev did took real courage both moral and physical. Earlier leaders in his country had been banished or executed for heresy far less Radical. He had a Way of looking directly into the eyes of his challengers As Well As the people to whom he gave Freedom. That stubbornness led to mistakes his worst May have been at the news conference when he returned to Moscow after. The coup. A questioner gave him the of v 7 port Unity to disavow the Faith that had. T,.�?T brought his Homeland decades of grief but he could not do it. He blinked a and at that moment history passed him by. But it will not forget him. C the Baltimore Sun Quot we Husnu. Mca hic <jw99f fighting poverty must extend past holidays the poor were with us again last week. They made their seasonal appearance As people Down on their Luck and worthy of help. They filled the quota of Christmas Day stories from soup kitchens and shelters. They were the subject of toy Ana food drives. And even in hard times they were the objects of generosity. But soon things will be Back to Normal. Any Day now in state Legislatures and in election year rhetoric we will Start up the rancorous arguments about poverty again. We wont be talking about Charity then. The topic will be welfare. Consider How differently these words resonate in our minds the poor and welfare clients the neediest and Ardc mothers Charity and general Relief. In the waning Days before Christmas one newspaper even ran a report about the deep cuts in Aid to the poor right above their annual Christmas plea a a do not forget the few noticed the irony. So before the last Christmas ornament is packed away it must be acknowledged there is virtually no support left for this welfare system. You done to have to be David Duke to see that or say that. This fall when unemployment Money started to run out the benefits were extended by popular demand. But there was no such outcry in the 40 states that Cut or froze benefits to Ardc families or in the 14 states that Cut half a million people from general assistance. In most places there was ringing or grudging approval. In the current recession drama there Are two sets of villains. One is the ceo with his million Dollar Bonus and Laid off workers. The other is the welfare recipient. Only one of these can feel the Public whip. Blame it on hard times blame it on welfare stereo j their own Fame ters at Home. As the care More re need As David types blame it on Middle class frustration. The current welfare system pits the struggling Middle class against the poor the working poor against the welfare poor. If it had been designed with the express purpose of fostering class resentment it could t have done a better Job. Today As More women work to Kee lies afloat fewer want to pay for Mot More working families go without Hea sent medicaid for the non working. Ellwood a Public policy professor at Harvard is Quick to say a everyone resents the welfare even a or especially a those who Are on it. A welfare creates conundrums a says Ellwood. A on the one hand we want to raise welfare because the kids Are poor and its Tough. On the other hand we want to lower it because we done to want to encourage dependency. We want to help single Parent families but not encourage their formation. We want to target programs to the truly needy but not stigmatize them As the truly this year the a a conundrums gave Rise to taxpayer protests. But next year will be a time of full tilt change his Patchwork welfare system cannot truly be we will either go Down a vindictive route slashing and burning or Well pursue saner More humane alternatives. What would alternatives to welfare look like Ellwood suggests two ways of looking at programs that Deal with poverty while making peace Between the Middle class and poor. The first idea he states quite simply a if you work you be As it is now work does no to always the disincentives Are not just Low wages but the Cost of child care and health care. To make work pay we need Universal health care child care and some level of income support like the refundable tax credit proposed by the National commission on children. The second principle for any viable alternative to welfare a one Parent cannot be expected to do the Job of today two Parent Middle class families feel stretched trying to work and take care of their children. Single poor parents Are often overwhelmed. Some done to even try. At the very least for the Sake of equity and economics these families should have a More effective child support enforcement program to collect Money from the absent Parent. Some of these programs Are costly although it is often said and absolutely True that they Are less burdensome than allowing another generation of children to grow up in poverty and dependency. Others Are controversial although far less so than welfare. If we Are angry enough of course welfare can become the Willie Horton of 1992. But if we care enough about children the poorest of our poor this is the time to Start seriously building an alternative. It is the year to prove that our concern with poverty is More than a seasonal affect disorder. C the Barton glob the opinions expressed in the columns and cartoons on this Page represent those of the authors and Are in no Way to be considered As representing the views of the stars and stripes or the United states government
