Last year in the wake of the chaos of post-Katrina New Orleans I wrote an article focusing on the "culture of dependence" that has gripped a significant portion of our population. More on that in an upcoming post.
I was reminded of the dangers inherent in systemic dependency when I read about last week’s tragedy in Chicago. An apartment fire claimed the lives of 6 children, all members of the same family. The mother and three children escaped the flames; the father and a tenth child were not at home at the time. The fire may have been caused by candles that were being used to light the apartment; the electricity had been shut off months ago.
This is an unimaginable calamity for all involved. Analyzing the event does nothing to lessen the tragedy or disrespect the victims. Indeed, asking questions and analyzing causes is standard procedure in accident investigations. And after reading a news report in the Chicago Sun-Times , I had a number of questions to go along with my sympathy. The Sun-Times article reports the facts, but dances deftly around certain salient issues:
- The article begins: "They came from Mexico for a better life, but surviving in Chicago was a struggle for the ever-expanding Ramirez family." The universe is "ever-expanding," mindlessly following rules of astrophysics. A family expands through design or poor planning, not mindless physical laws. Why the passive sentence construction to describe a very active process? And what family in Chicago would not struggle with 10 kids?
- The parents came to Chicago from Mexico. What is their immigration status? It is not mentioned, of course.
- The mother, in this country for at least 15 years, had not learned English. How did she expect to earn enough to support a large family, or help her children in school?
- What were the Ramirez’ expectations of even a marginally self-supportive life given their earning power and 10 children?
- The article states: "But finances were apparently still so tight …" Is that a joke? How much would a family have to earn, with 10 kids, for finances to not be tight?
- What are the zoning regulations in Chicago? Can a family of 12 legally rent a 3-bedroom apartment?
- A school principal is quoted saying: "And they were able to overcome a lot of the problems they had in their environment." No, sir, it was not their environment that had problems, it was their actions. How can we ever solve problems if we fail to properly identify the root cause of those problems?
- From the article: "Unemployment was simply not an option." Does this mean that the parents needed to earn income? That’s true of most of us. Or, does it meant that they could not apply for unemployment assistance because of immigration status?
- The article makes clear that the Ramirez family received a lot of assistance, and that the children volunteered and/or worked with community organizations and worked hard in school. But the bottom line is that these parents created a economically inviable unit. They were dependent upon community and government agencies to make ends meet due not to circumstances beyond their control, but to actions well within their control.
- From the article: "Neighbors of the Ramirezes said the family had run extension cords to hallway electrical sockets…" In other words, they clearly violated city codes and tried to have others pick up the tab for the basic needs they could not provide for themselves.
- The piece ends with: "Eight minor maintenance violations were found on the second inspection [of the apartment building] — the annual city inspection — according to Moore’s office. There is a hearing on the infractions scheduled later this month." I doubt that even Trump Towers could undergo a city inspection without a few "minor maintenance violations." Concluding the piece with a reference to the landlord seems a deliberate attempt at obfuscation.
At the risk of sounding cruel, having 10 children with no possible means of properly supporting them is, to me, a form of child abuse. Especially in today’s urban setting, supporting that many offspring would require far more resources than most of us could reasonably expect to earn. The Ramirez family, like countless others across the country, created a situation in which they were necessarily dependent on government and charity to meet their basic needs. This story is sad on many levels, not least of which is the sometimes deadly consequences of becoming part of our growing “culture of dependence.”
