The Hidden Poor

"Hop on in - the water's fine..."

Something amazing is happening to our country. It is change. Not the type of change we were promised in 2008. This change which is subtle, yet profound. It is so quiet, many don't even notice it. But it is happening. We are becoming a poorer people. In resources, in character, in morality, in innovation, in education. Because this has been happening so slowly, many have not noticed. We are the frogs in the water, waiting for it to boil.

The other night on the news, one of the commenters said with our President as disinterested and disengaged as he is, he puts the nation at risk. I could not agree more - and I am not just talking about our national security. Our nation is sinking. It is sinking in debt, in malaise, in lack of hope. Who cares? Not many in power it seems. We get quite a bit of talk, quite a bit of prideful rhetoric, but very few real solutions. Meanwhile, our ship of state is listing, and listing badly.

I would like to set the record straight about one thing. As we continue to wrestle with food assistance in the form of the yet to be settled Farm Bill, we do have a growing hunger problem in this country. This is the naked truth. The fact our President is not more alarmed about this critical issue is simply amazing. Oh, we can continue to keep throwing money at it in the form of our out of control SNAP Program. But nobody is asking the most basic of questions - why? Why are so many in the land of plenty, hungry?

We have become so dependent on our government solving even the most simple problems, we are now preparing for food riots or a bull rush on food shelves. Why? It seems we have forgotten how to be our Brother's Keeper. We now need an uncle - Uncle Sam, to take care of us. With the temporary SNAP increase of $36 a month for a family of four coming to an end, some think that all hell is going break loose in food nutrition. Rather than coming up with solutions (like why so many of us ARE on food assistance) which would make the Founder's proud, we are instead preparing for food riots.

Compared to many countries in the world, we are still a very young country. We have accomplished quite a bit in the 2 1/2 centuries we have been around. However, it is way to early to die young. Our best could truly be yet to come. We need to put government back in the box it was always intended to be in. We need to care for each other. We need to start liking each other once again - even if we strongly disagree.

Our country cannot afford to lose anymore wealth which comes from resources, character or heritage.  We have too many hidden poor, and the number is growing. We are better than this. We are not frogs in boiling water. We need to WAKE UP! If our leadership is lacking, we need to let them know! We need to change them. This is our country, paid for in full, by the blood, the sacrifice and the treasure of those who have gone before us. We owe them, and those to follow us, no less.