As we stand at the crossroads of a nation in need, we’re faced with a stark reality: our welfare system, designed to uplift, has inadvertently ensnared millions in a cycle of dependency. The poverty trap, a labyrinth of well-intentioned but…
The San Francisco Human Services Agency held the grand opening of the District 10 Community Market last week. The market provides free to low-cost food and social service resources for eligible residents in specified low-income and high-crime areas. The Human…
Some people claim they don’t exist. Others want to ignore them. In reality, there are thousands of kidnapped children forced to beg each day from sunrise to sunset for their gang masters’ profits in India. Who is the Beggar Mafia?…
SACRAMENTO — President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address was mostly about political posturing (and proving that he was still alive and kicking) rather than policy, but one of the few granular policy areas he touched on involved something…
SACRAMENTO — The best way to avoid a life of poverty is to develop work skills that are marketable. That seems pretty obvious. Although I’m financially dependent on the companies that pay me, my job security stems not from whatever…
As I survey the few friends I have left as I enter into old age, I see some who are in misery and some who are in pretty good shape psychologically and emotionally. There are many differences between them, and…
I love Thanksgiving. It’s the best American holiday — besting July 4, if only because the celebrations don’t scare the dog. Usually. Thanksgiving is universal. No matter the religion or creed, all people can express gratitude for their blessings. It…
As I wrote in my previous essay, one of the most profound and deeply damaging impacts of President Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society was the destruction of the family for the poor — and especially for poor African Americans. This defines…
SACRAMENTO — Since COVID-19 emerged as a public-health threat in 2019, the federal and state governments have embraced a wide range of policies that were designed to “protect” us but instead have unleashed a fury of unintended — but easily…
