Are these programs for newborns signs of a new family-friendly zeitgeist?

Louis T. March

July 20, 2024 6 Reactions

Modelled on the RxKids program, Baltimore math teacher Nate Golden and colleagues formed the Maryland Child Alliance and introduced the Baltimore Baby Bonus. According to Mr Golden:

“If we’re going to spend a limited amount of money, where do you get the most bang for your buck? Research says at birth. This could literally have a lifelong impact on a kid.”

Organisers have secured enough voter signatures for the Baby Bonus to be on the ballot in November. The US Census says almost a third of Baltimore’s school-age children are below the poverty line. Baltimore is, like most US cities, majority-minority; nontaxpayers outnumber taxpayers. Thus, there is no downside for the majority to vote for yet another social welfare program.

Unlike Flint’s RxKids, the Baltimore Baby Bonus would be publicly funded. Every year, 7,000 children are born in Baltimore. At $1,000 per child, that would be an annual expenditure of approximately $7 million, about .16 percent of Baltimore’s yearly budget.

Socialism?

As with capitalism, there are various strains of socialism. There is China’s socialism of state-directed capitalism, the no-private-sector socialism of the old USSR, and the top-heavy welfare states of the West, where the cost of wealth redistribution schemes falls on the beleaguered middle class.

Americans delude themselves if they do not understand that the American system is quite “socialistic”. Expansive social welfare programs ushered in by Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, including Social Security, were decried as socialism when they were introduced.

Keep in mind that Rx Kids and the Baltimore Baby Bonus are social welfare initiatives to alleviate childhood poverty. They are not birth incentive programs. The US already has a federal tax credit for children, but that helps only taxpayers.

Countries in Europe and Asia have experimented with larger cash payments, but those programs are meant to encourage more people to have more kids, not address child poverty.

Of the two initiatives, I would put my money on Rx Kids. Why? It is a public-private partnership involving heavyweight private foundations. That means rigorous oversight. With government programs, bureaucrats are spending someone else’s money. Waste is common and full accountability lacking.

These measures will help low-income families with children. But social welfare is a double-edged sword. While it marginally alleviates poverty, it does not address the birth dearth’s underlying causes. Remember the old Chinese proverb: "Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.”

Welfare can also dull incentive to better your own lot. During LBJ’s “Great Society” in the 1960s, people on public assistance would have children just to increase their payments. Welfare fraud and families without fathers skyrocketed.

The Flint and Baltimore initiatives, while providing temporary assistance to families with babies, do nothing to address the birth dearth, which will eventually lead to social implosion and collapsing old-age pension schemes. This is a looming crisis in America, though not on the radar of the powers that be. Rather than address the root cause of not enough new people for the workforce, America has opted for the globalist quick fix: outsourcing and cheap labour immigration.

We need to abandon globalism, a pernicious ideology in which family, friends, community and country are valued solely for their economic utility. Little wonder we aren’t replacing ourselves. Completely new ways of thinking – new priorities – are essential to turn things around. The Flint and Baltimore initiatives address the consequences of rule by the “money power” by taking some of the sting out of inner-city poverty.

All the same, these initiatives are important. Why? Their purpose is to facilitate the rearing of children! That is a small yet significant indication that a new ethos, a family-friendly zeitgeist, may be aborning. That’s encouraging. Maybe that means morality for a change.

What do you make of these measures to assist poorer families? Leave a comment below.

Louis T. March has a background in government, business, and philanthropy. A former talk show host, author, and public speaker, he is a dedicated student of history and genealogy. Louis lives with his family in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

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