Kindness is powerful. Kindness is always the answer. Yet, there are opposing beliefs on this. For example,
You’re facilitating the problem if you give an animal or a person ample food supply. They will reproduce, especially ones that don’t think too much further than that.” Gov. Mark Sanford
Sanford is not alone in this tough love approach. I am not saying that tough love is never the answer. However, it is an easy answer and they are almost always wrong.
I was at the checkout line where a lady bought things with her food stamp card and then had a separate pile of items she was paying with cash. Between her and I, was a big burly guy.
This was before work, and I was in a hurry. So I was thinking bad thoughts about this woman ahead of me. When she came up short on cash, I thought, okay, here we go. That redneck guy is going to give her hell. I relished the thought.
Instead he held out the two dollars and said, I got it. Don’t worry about it.
For two dollars, that guy got to feel a hundred dollars with of good. The woman was appreciative. She got to feel kindness and I got to see goodness/
Kindness is powerful.
Kindness can transform. Yes, it can be taken advantage of, but it makes me think of poverty in the United States. How our country can provide support and help out the disadvantaged.
We see problems and blame welfare. Perhaps, though it is not the welfare. Getting something for free, is not creating problems. Perhaps it is our duplicitous nature. Half of us, want to provide assistance and some of us then judge. We call people lazy and bad.
I simply think it possible that our judging is causing the problems. How do poor people and especially those people of color react when they hear them labeled and called welfare queens.. Perhaps that is what they are reacting to.
That’s the problem in my opinion. We give with one hand and slap faces with the other. How would you react. Thankful for the assistance or angry and hurt from the other?
Kindness is powerful. It could transform our country.
Put safeguards in assistance, require effort on the recipients, and reward people for getting past it.
But first, quiet the judging and the anger. Begin there.
Thomas Cannon Author 