in this New York Times column for Thanksgiving.
Trust me, it is well worth the read.
He wrote it in response to those who criticized him when he recently wrote about about food stamp recipients, the uninsured and prison inmates (and he provides links to those columns in the piece).
He provides data that answers their criticism.
Much of that data will be familiar to people here.
He acknowledges the criticisms readers have offered, but given what he knows about the data then writes
So, on Thanksgiving, maybe we need a conversation about empathy for fellow humans in distress.
The power of the column comes from the conclusion, for which you will have to continue below the fold:
There are three paragraphs before the final one-sentence paragraph that lay out the heart of his argument:
As we celebrate Thanksgiving, let’s remember that the difference between being surrounded by a loving family or being homeless on the street is determined not just by our own level of virtue or self-discipline, but also by an inextricable mix of luck, biography, brain chemistry and genetics.
For those who are well-off, it may be easier to castigate the irresponsibility of the poor than to recognize that success in life is a reflection not only of enterprise and willpower, but also of random chance and early upbringing.
Low-income Americans, who actually encounter the needy in daily life, understand this complexity and respond with empathy. Researchers say that’s whythe poorest 20 percent of Americans donate more to charity, as a fraction of their incomes, than the richest 20 percent. Meet those who need help, especially children, and you become less judgmental and more compassionate.
But all that is preface to his final sentence:
And compassion isn’t a sign of weakness, but a mark of civilization.
That compassion should be part of ALL of our society, not merely left to religious and other charitable institutions. The Preamble to the Constitution lists among the purposes of founding our system of government that it is to promote the general welfare.
Welfare is well-being.
Students do not learn if their bellies ache with hunger, or their death ache with untreated dental caryes.
People who lack opportunity lack hope.
Let us not forget that compassion isn’t a sign of weakness, but a mark of civilization and if we want to consider ourselves a civilized society it is high time that we remember that, including in the making of government policy.