Throwing Money at Social Problems; J. L. Payne

One can do things to others destructively, but not creatively. Creatively, one must confine him self to what he can do for others. One can do things for others materialistically by having mon ey or tools to lend or give, or goods and services to exchange; intellectually by having knowledge and understanding; spiritually by possessing insights that can be imparted to those who want them. Self-interest can best be served by minding one's own business-that is, by the process of self-perfection. It isn't that this idea has been tried and found wanting; it is that it has been tried and too often found difficult, and thus rejected. Actually, coercive meddling in other people's affairs has its origin in the rejection of self perfection. Many persons conclude that they can easily improve others in ways they refuse to attempt on themselves. This is an absurd conclusion. Thus it is that in our dealings with our fellow men, we so often try to coerce them into likenesses of our own little images instead of trying to make of our selves images that are attractive and worth emu lating. D Throwing Money at Social Problems by James L. Payne O tto von Bismarck once said that people . fond of either laws or sausages shouldn't look too closely into how they are made.

His advice applies emphatically in today's media era, where politicians are interested primarily in name recognition and TV coverage, and only secondarily in actual issues. The results, all too Political scientist James L. Payne lives in Sandpoint, Idaho. His latest book is The Culture of Spending: Why Congress Lives Beyond Our Means. often, are political programs that don't address the problem. I recently saw a good example of how such unproductive programs begin. Some local citizens concerned about homelessness in our area had called a general meeting to air the problem and possible solutions. It was quite an education listen ing to the many views. One woman reported that she had been home less because she couldn't find a motel room to rent 202 THE FREEMAN. MAY 1992 when she came to town on Labor Day weekend. One of the hobos explained their point of view. They weren't interested in going into any shelter, he said. They just wanted to be allowed to build their shacks on other people's land. The deputy sheriff reported that each time the hobo village was destroyed, with the drifters moving on, the local robbery rate declined.

Other witnesses told of battered women need ing shelter from abusive situations. Others men tioned youngsters who had run away from home. We also heard reports of families who came to the area looking for work but who had found none, and of other people who were working but whose earnings were insufficient to pay their rent. As the evening progressed, the group grew dis heartened. The audience began to realize that "homelessness" is not a single problem with an obvious solution, but a swirlof issues,too many for the mind to grasp. That's when the thinking turned to government. We need a "comprehensive pro gram," said speaker after speaker, to deal with this overwhelming problem. A state legislator-who had arrived late-agreed: She declared she was eager to work at the state capital on behalf of such a program. Welcome to boondoggleland! We had just learned that "homelessness" is an agglomeration of social, moral, and semantic issues. Now, in the name of this broad cliche, a state legislator who knows less than we do is ready to appropriate mil lions of taxpayer dollars. No wonder so many public policies end in disappointment.

The VoluntaryWay There is an alternative to this wasteful ap proach. It's the logical, natural process called vol untarism. It starts with reformers who have bro ken down complex questions into manage'able sub-problems. On the homeless issue, for exampIe, one might develop an arrangement for over flow lodging when motels are full, or another might set up a safe house for battered women. The funding for these projects is raised on a vol untary basis from local donors who are in a posi tion to evaluate the viability of the reformer's project. In this system, money isn't thrown at a problem in the hope that a solution willbe found. The pro cess operates the other way around: Until some one has a specific plan, he won't get support. Leaders can't just say that they are "concerned." They have to prove to their friends and neighbors that their solution is workable in order to attract donations and volunteers.

This voluntary problem-solving is already quite common, but we often overlook it. For example, in our community we have a specific solution to one aspect of the homeless problem in the form of the local Gospel Mission. Founded by a lay minister, Corky Kalben, just two years ago, the mission aims at helping homeless men, espe cially those with alcohol, drug, and employment problems. Corky-a builder of fiberglass boats by trade-volunteered in prison ministry and halfway house situations for many years, and he has a clear vision of how to run a shelter for these men. He believes in stipulating basic rules at the mission (no drugs or alcohol, you must take a shower, and so on), and believes the message of Jesus is the key to rehabilitation. He obtained the bulk of his early funding from one of the local churches that supported his concept, and now that he has demonstrated its viability, he receives donations and in-kind support from many indi viduals and local groups.

It's time we learned to address social problems directly, with voluntary, non-governmental meth ods. Money is getting too tight to keep dumping our policy confusions in the laps of far-off politi cians and pretending it's a solution. D BOOKS A DICTIONARYOF CONSERVATIVE AND LIBERTARIANTHOUGHT edited by Nigel Ashford and Stephen Davies Routledge,29 West35thStreet, NewYork,NY 10001-1991 303 pages - $49.95cloth Reviewed by William H. Peterson F rom American Conservatism to Austrian Economics, from the Enlightenment to Entrepreneurship, from Environment to Family, from Libertarianism to Manchester School, from Prejudice to Public Choice, from Religion to Revolution, from Totalitarianism to Utopianism, from Voluntarismto Welfare,this ref erence work supplies definitional discussionsfrom the viewpoint of conservatism, libertarianism, and classical liberalism, and does so on 91 topics of keen interest to the student of political and eco nomic thought.