Twisterdog -

I am a "person of colour" as you put it, and I know the reality. Look up some statistics, racial minorities ARE NOT financially equal to white Americans. Of course people can get out of that (my family being an example of that) and of course some caucasions are dirt poor. My point was, that the MAJORITY of middle class people are white. When you make a rule dictating that only people of certain financial means can have kids, you are inadvertantly excluding a vast number of racial minorities.

That's really great that you've done what you've done with your life, but that does not mean everyone else can or has the means to do the same. You have to deal with the reality that not everyone in the country has the same value system or experience that you do, and therefore will make different decisions. But, let me ask you, do you think that people CHOOSE to be born into impoverished families? Do you think people CHOOSE to be disadvantaged from the get go?

Do you know why we pay taxes? So we can live in a decent society. That means sometimes we have to carry the weight of others so that we can all have a higher standard of living. Why is that a problem for so many people? Do you understand that we are all connected in life, and one person's misery can affect you? If some woman is busting her butt at some dead end job because of a welfare-to-work programme, and therefore cannot afford or get child care, do you realise how likely that child is to grow up to be either a criminal or a bum?

I'm sorry, but one of MY big soap boxes is when people are so focused on their lives that they can't see the BIG PICTURE.