Community spirit flourishes

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Centrix Bank took the lead, but other local banks have jumped in to help the SHARE program raise money to provide fuel assistance to people who will not qualify under new state guidelines enacted after the federal government severely cut money for heat for the needy.

As we enter 2012, we can look at what the banks are doing as a great example of good corporate citizenship. Thanks to Paul Spiess of Amherst, chairman of the board of directors of Centrix, it’s possible that the local lending institutions will provide SHARE with $10,000 to help needy people buy fuel.

We applaud our banking neighbors and hope that other local firms, and individuals, will leap into the fray and help out. SHARE needs us all because so many people need SHARE.

As we go into 2012, we could think about what kind of nation we want to be. Long ago – it seems long ago, anyway – the first President Bush promised us “a kinder, gentler nation,” but he failed to deliver. Then President Clinton promised to feel our pain, but cracked down on welfare and gave us “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” instead of equality for everyone. The second President Bush took us into two wars and was kinder and gentler to, and felt the pain of, the wealthy.

President Obama? He promised change, but his administration cut fuel assistance.

It is as if our nation, through its merchants and its politicians, still believes that the hungry can be fed on three loaves and two fishes, and that people who are cold need only wait for their local banks, their local SHARE-type organizations, to take care of them.

That is not the kinder, gentler nation that the first President Bush promised us, and if Bill Clinton really did feel our pain, he forgot to mention it to his successors.

So, what kind of nation, what kind of state, do we want to be in 2012?

Well, The Cabinet has always believed that government has an important role in securing the well-being of its people. Recently, in Amherst, Ron Paul, who would like to be president, defined the role of government a bit more narrowly, telling local Republicans:

“ ... what we want from Washington is the protection of our liberties.”

Well, of course, but it’s hard to enjoy your liberty if you’re cold and hungry, or homeless. Politicians like Paul conveniently forget that because, after all, politicians like Paul are never cold, hungry or homeless.

Because our presidents have either not lived up to their promises, or have forgotten that they were once community organizers concerned with their communities, banks like Centrix are counted upon to step in and pick up the slack. It is wonderful that they do and because of them, many people in the Milford area will be warmer this winter.

And it is wonderful that organizations like SHARE and Wilton’s Open Cupboard Pantry exist. Because of them, many people in this region will have food and places to live.

But it is so wrong to accept poverty, homelessness, cold and hunger as mere facts of American life.

If all government does is “protect our liberties,” we are throwing to the wolves those who, for whatever reason, need help. That is just plain wrong.

Standing between them and the wolves here are SHARE, the Open Cupboard Pantry and, now, some local banks. Instead of spending millions on war, millions on bailing out big firms that give huge bonuses to executives who got us into our economic mess, perhaps we should spend some of those millions providing heat and food to Americans who would love to enjoy the liberties Ron Paul wants government to protect, but are too cold and hungry to do so.