Editorial: The definition of insanity

During a recent meeting, I was presented with a list of the ten poorest cities in the United States; ranked based on the percentage of residents whose earnings are below poverty level.

Common sense tells you that, given a choice, people will choose to improve their condition rather than live in malaise, but, do they know the path to a better life?

If they do, are they willing to make sacrifices to achieve it?

I have personally traveled on business or pleasure to each of the worst five:

1. Detroit, MI 32.5%
2. Buffalo, NY 29.9%
3. Cincinnati, OH 27.8%
4. Cleveland, OH 27.0%
5. Miami, FL 26.9%

Although I am not surprised at the rankings or percentages of impoverished residents in these cities, the report listed only those cities whose population is greater than 250,000. In Florida, we all know smaller, rural towns where at least 30% of the community is living at or below poverty level.

The cities ranked 5th through 10th were:

5. St. Louis, MO 26.8%
7. El Paso, TX 26.4%
8. Milwaukee, WI 26.2%
9. Philadelphia, PA 25.1%
10. Newark, NJ 24.2%

What did surprise me was that the top ten cities with the highest poverty rate all share an interesting common factor.

Detroit, MI (1st on the list) hasn’t elected a Republican mayor since 1961.
Buffalo, NY (2nd) hasn’t elected a Republican mayor since 1954.
Cincinnati, OH (3rd) hasn’t elected a Republican mayor since 1984.
Cleveland, OH (4th) hasn’t elected a Republican mayor since 1989.
Miami, FL (5th) has never had a Republican mayor.
St. Louis, MO (6th) hasn’t elected a Republican mayor since 1949.
El Paso, TX (7th) has never had a Republican mayor.
Milwaukee, WI (8th) hasn’t elected a Republican mayor since 1908.
Philadelphia, PA (9th) hasn’t elected a Republican mayor since 1952.
Newark, NJ (10th) hasn’t elected a Republican mayor since 1907.

Einstein once said, ‘The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.’

It is the poor who habitually elect Democrats — yet they are still poor.

You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away people’s initiative and independence.
You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves.

William J.H. Boetcker