Several states are virtually bankrupt, including California and New York, with others fast approaching that status. In Tragedies of Our Own Making, West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Richard Neely distills the insights of a lifetime spent dealing with our nation's worst social problems. "Twenty years as a judge, " he writes, "has convinced me that state government fiscal crises, deteriorating schools, declining living standards among the old blue-collar class, and our rising crime rate are all strangely interrelated." His overriding conclusion? Problems including colossal Medicaid costs, savagery in the streets, and the falling relative wage rate of half our workforce all relate to a disintegrating family structure. All public agencies - welfare, the courts, public health, education - "are crumbling under the burden of acting as a surrogate family." In presenting a brilliant fiscal analysis of social insurance predicated on personal responsibility, Neely argues that "we are going broke because we are allowing excessive losses to be triggered through carelessness. Millions of children are being born to school-age girls and to parents who will needlessly divorce, making those children uncared for and insecure. Illegitimacy and divorce are to social insurance what leaving a pot of oil on a burning stove is to fire insurance." Neely paints a vivid picture of the "actuarial limits" of our ability to rescue people from the consequences of their own actions. He offers a two-part solution to the core problems of divorce and illegitimacy. First, Neely calls for a massive, government-financed media campaign aimed at educating the public on the financial and psychological costs of divorce toadults and children. He also presents a comprehensive and politically acceptable approach to improved birth control.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A trenchant analysis of what's wrong with today's America.,
This review is from: Tragedies of Our Own Making: How Private Choices Have Created Public Bankruptcy (Hardcover)
Neely brings an informed and interesting perspective to problems of illegitimacy, crime, and welfare dependency. This book deserves to be read by everyone interested in really understanding these problems beyond the sound-bite level.
3.0 out of 5 stars
a gram of prevention,
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This review is from: Tragedies of Our Own Making: How Private Choices Have Created Public Bankruptcy (Hardcover)
Written some time ago, but relevant today. What to do with the welfare state? A call for the diffusion of contraception, so that abortion as an issue may return to its former status. Well-documented facts in a book which reads like a novel.
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Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
Significant changes in American culture emerge from mass movements, and all mass movements depend on the stories we tell one another about who we are and what goals and values are important to us. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
public bankruptcy, public day care, female labor force participation rate, substitute programs, product liability law, budget gaps Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
United States, New York, West Virginia, Los Angeles, Starrett City, Palm Beach, The Atlantic, Western Europe, Professor Belsky, The New Republic, World War, David Rivers, Jay Belsky, Washington Post, Charles Murray, Dan Quayle Was Right, New Jersey, Take Back Your Neighborhood, Wall Street Journal, Widow Smith New!
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Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Significant changes in American culture emerge from mass movements, and all mass movements depend on the stories we tell one another about who we are and what goals and values are important to us. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
public bankruptcy, public day care, female labor force participation rate, substitute programs, product liability law, budget gaps Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
United States, New York, West Virginia, Los Angeles, Starrett City, Palm Beach, The Atlantic, Western Europe, Professor Belsky, The New Republic, World War, David Rivers, Jay Belsky, Washington Post, Charles Murray, Dan Quayle Was Right, New Jersey, Take Back Your Neighborhood, Wall Street Journal, Widow Smith New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 14
books:
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2
books
cite this book:
- Index of Leading Cultural Indicators: Facts and Figures on the State of American Society by William J. Bennett on page 36, and page 112
- Take Back Your Neighborhood by Richard Neely on page 111, and page 117
- The Age of Diminished Expectations, Third Edition: U.S. Economic Policy in the 1990s by Paul Krugman on page 90, and page 93
- The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: Volumes 1-3 of 6 (Everyman's Library) by Edward Gibbon on page 63
- Abortion and Divorce in Western Law by Mary Ann Glendon on page 140
See all 14 books this book cites
- Integration or Separation?: A Strategy for Racial Equality by Roy L. Brooks on page 249, and Back Matter
- Care and Equality: Inventing a New Family Politics by Mona Harrington on page 40
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