Get Government out of Welfare Now! An Interview with Star Parker

"I know firsthand about welfare and welfare dependency because of my own life, living seven years in and out," says Star Parker, founder and president of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education (CURE).

Parker, also a syndicated columnist, explains what she thinks are the actual steps out of poverty and why our government should have no role in welfare in America.

Started as part of the Lyndon Johnson's Great Society in the 1960s, the War on Poverty has been anything but effective, according to Parker. "This whole notion that we should even have a 'war on poverty' dismisses the fact that individuals have a role in their own lives," she says.

Parker sat down with Reason.tv's Tracy Oppenheimer to talk about her own experiences with the welfare system, and how she wants to reform it, even beyond the historic changes to welfare in the 1990s.

About 8 minutes. Shot by Paul Detrick, Zach Weissmueller, and Sharif Matar; edited by Oppenheimer.

Go to reason.tv for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel for automatic notifications when new material goes live.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Star Parker
• Welfare Reform
• Reason.tv
• Reason.com
• Reason Foundation
• CURE

[Schmauey]

I commend Star Parker for speaking out on this issue. As a young adult in the mid-90's, I thought the welfare "system" helped people down on their luck and brought them into the working world in a couple years- Until I read a book entitled "The Tyranny of Kindness" by Theresa Funiciello. I would encourage anyone interested in "helping people" through welfare read this book.

[blarg76]

@reader1321 You are the worst person I've encountered today. Also, try spelling your racial epithets correctly.

[TheCaliCapitalist]

This woman had no problem taking welfare to get back on her feet. To be honest very rarely do see a real conservative who actually pulled themselves up by their boot straps. It's extremely rare, they all have had some form of help on their way up. She is a hypocrite.

[cyborganic99]

i would be for charity tax credits in place of wellfare. Im left leaning but i can say that wellfare does make people more dependent. I know people who dont want to get a full time job because they are scared of losing their check. Now the Retirement and minimum wage issue i totally disagree. social security has actually been pretty successful for retirees and without a minimum wage, the compitition for work would cause wages to plummit and i doubt we'd see much change in prices.

[shade1978x]

I was right there with her until all of that "instill a moral compass through religion". Yeah, we don't need that garbage. Social engineering through faith-based initiatives is as bad as social engineering through bureaucracy.

[carryclass]

poverty is caused by poeple making horrible life management decisions, such as having more children than they can afford to support. public policy cant change that. the rich do not cause poverty, taxing them will not cure poverty. personal responsibility is the answer.

[managarm1349]

yes cause what ever the government sets out to do works so flawlessly. war on drugs, war on terrorism, no child left behind, lets make some more poor people now

[crazypants88]

@thedutchman01 No itdidn't. This is factual, even in business magazines at the time before the final days of free markets people were clamoring for less competition. Not because the consumer was being hurt, it was because there's huge profit potential in cartelizing markets. The only viable way to cartelize a free market is for it not be free anymore.

The prison system in the US is not a free market and private doesn't equal free market.

[thedutchman01]

@crazypants88

No. The free market really did fail. Back during the idustrial revolution. In Europe we noticed, total free markets benefit the rich too much.

That is why governments started regulating it.

Socialism is nothing more then the recognistion that free markets cannot do eveything. And that some things should be done by the government.

Perfect example. Prisons. In the US those are private organisations that make a profit. In Europe we find that idea abhorrent.

[crazypants88]

@thedutchman01 The free market didn't fail, the reason it isn't around anymore is because politically connected people profit immensely from preventing or making it harder for competition to come about.