Free A More Perfect Union: What We the People Can Do to Reclaim Our Constitutional Liberties by Ben Carson MD, Candy Carson

more dependency in the populace, decreasing overall societal productivity and depleting the resources of the agencies providing the handouts. The taxpayer base decreases, the dependent population increases, and taxpayer money runs out. Historically, when governments have taken on the responsibility of social warfare from the cradle to the grave, societies have ended up with a small group of elites at the top who own and control everything, a rapidly vanishing middle class, and a greatly expanded dependent class.
    By creating the right kind of programs with or without government encouragement, the private sector can empower the disadvantaged members of our society and allow them to realize the American dream. The variety of programs that could be created is almost limitless, especially in a creative society like America’s.
    The good news is that we the people can be very good at taking care of one another. I recently visited a facility in Las Vegas called Opportunity Village. Its goal is to provide jobs for intellectually challenged individuals, a group usually neglected by society. At Opportunity Village these individuals have an opportunity to earn a paycheck, an achievement that contributes substantially to their self-esteem and happiness. This beautiful organization is 80 percent funded by the private sector. I couldn’t help but notice that not only did Opportunity Village bring joy and practical help to a needy population, but the work of helping others was immensely satisfying to its staff and volunteers. This organization’s private endeavors vastly improve the quality of life of all involved.
    This is just one of the many wonderful programs that exist throughout our country. When people invest their time and their money in other people within their communities, they bless their neighbors in need and improve the community as a whole. Anything the government can do to facilitate these kinds of programs, short of taking them over, will promote the general welfare.
    One helpful program would be to establish dependable day-care centers, particularly in inner cities, where 73 percent of black babies are born out of wedlock. Generally withthe arrival of the first baby, the mother’s education ceases and the child and subsequent children are plunged into a life of dependency. Dependable day-care centers would allow that mother to get her GED, associate’s degree, bachelor’s degree, or perhaps a higher degree and go on to become a self-sustaining, independent member of society who can teach her children to be independent, thus helping to break the cycle of dependency and poverty.
    Another community-based program that I have seen work facilitates the development of relationships between boys from disadvantaged single-parent homes and well-to-do businessmen. These men informally adopt boys who are clearly on a dangerous path of self-destruction and introduce them to the values found in traditional faith-based families. In many cases they pay for the private education of the youths in faith-based schools. Nearly 100 percent of those young men not only graduate from high school but also pursue higher education and become contributing members of society.
    These kinds of programs are a double win, because the chosen children and their families benefit from a new, helpful relationship while the helping family benefits from the satisfaction of providing a hand up rather than a handout. The big winner is the nation, because every child we can prevent from going down that path of self-destruction is one less person we have to be afraid of or protect our family from, one less person we have to pay for in the penal or welfare system, and one more taxpaying, productive member of society who may discover a new energy source or the cure for cancer.
    Breaking cycles of dependency, establishing cordial relationships between people of differing economic means, and reestablishing sound values and principles in our society can serve only