America has become a nation that invites parasites. Can’t blame the parasites for accepting the invitation. The invitation has a name. The name is POVERTY. The name is based on a lie. Some would say that its intentions are good. If so, my comment is “America, welcome to Hell.”

First, a look at what POVERTY is and what it isn’t. It shouldn’t have anything to do with things and conveniences. What I think of are the 17million cell phones the government pays for. Many of them are for teenagers on the pretext that parents use them to know where their kids are. Bull. I think that someone in the cell phone business made a “deal” or sold the federal government a bill of goods. What comes to mind is this image which has repeated itself many times. A teenager, maybe 14 or so is talking on his cell phone. $125.00 dreadlocks. He speaks in a very loud voice about someone having sexual relations with a female parent. He looks me in the eye and speaks loudly enough to make sure I hear it.

Then there is the person at the checkout counter at the grocery store. What she is buying with her food stamp card is stuff I can’t afford. Porterhouse steak and lobster tail.

Today in America the definition of POVERTY is more of a cash register key than anything else It is not about people and families in financial distress. It is a definition of individual and family income levels. The benefits are so great that folks are motivated NOT to earn more income than qualifying amounts. The benefits can be huge. Recent reports have indicated that Federal and state agencies do not communicate with each other. Consequently, the welfare recipient may receive duplicate benefits from several agencies. And there are welfare experts on the scene to advise and instruct welfare beneficiaries how to “Maximize” their benefits.

Having said that, I am sure that some folks need and use the benefits in an appropriate way.

My observation has been that the private sector through homeless shelters and other private charities are the real “Safety Net” for the truly impoverished.

Enough angry comments. Technically what is the definition of Poverty here in America. The standard 100% poverty income level is $11,170 a year for an individual. Plus $3,960 for each additional person in the family. It’s more complicated than that but the standard will serve for our comparisons.

The Census Bureau recently published figures about income levels in other parts of the world. One figure struck me by comparison. At least 878 million people are living on $1.25 per day or less. Or less. More than 2 billion folks are living on $2.00 a day or less. Makes $11,170.00 look pretty rich, doesn’t it?

On the flip side, when ethanol tripled the price of corn and other grains, I have to wonder how many people living on less than $ 1.25 a day can no longer afford to survive.

Many people my age grew up without much money. We didn’t think about being poor. No one told us what poverty was. A good friend told me of gathering dandelion heads for a stew and taking lard sandwiches to school for lunch. “We never knew we were supposed to be poor. We had food, a warm place to live and a mother who loved us,” He said.

So, government has built a policy that motivates good people to do nothing. The same policies motivate foreigners or come here illegally.

Two different kinds of parasites. But there is a third. The American businesses that see opportunity is the sick policies of government. People who encourage their representatives to create programs ostensibly for the benefit of those in poverty. But they are the ultimate beneficiaries. Our welfare system encourages and rewards this kind of behavior. It is probably more accurate to say that our political system rewards this kind of behavior.

What is this business about some sort of a “white fly” solution to some of America’s problems?

I have tried to define the three major parasites that can be eradicated. They are; Unnecessary and bloated welfare programs, Illegal immigration and Unneeded “special interest: welfare benefits.

The solution to reducing or eliminating these three parasitic abuses is the same.

Several years ago some of my prize flower plants became attacked by white flies (the parasites) I tried spraying with insecticides several times, to no avail. A gardener friend suggested that I try something else. He said that the whiteflies were feeding on the product of some fungi that infected the plant (government money). If I were to get id of the fungus, the white flies would disappear No food.

Sure enough, I killed the fungus and in the process, got rid of the white flies.

So the white fly solution is simply to eliminate the government money the three parasites feed on. Welfare recipients will be motivated to work to eat. Illegal immigrants will go home when there is no work for them and no other rich benefits. And the special interest parasites will find legitimate ways to make a living. Jobs will be created or opened up for former welfare dependents who become productive.

Simple? Naive? Maybe. But removing the fungus (money) from the parasites has to happen if we are to solve these problems. A prerequisite may be to change the decision makers and money dispensers. Congress. Hey, Isn’t that what we’re doing right now?

Halfway home and didn’t know it!