The King's speech
The King's speech
Far-right propagandist Ben Shapiro recently denounced school lunch programs as being ineffective in dealing with the issue of child hunger in the United States. It was a profoundly ignorant statement.
No child should go hungry in the United States of America in 2023. When they do, the results are disastrous.
Ted Lieu’s response was spot on, but there’s a better one. It came 53 years ago from Elvis Presley, who said that this was his favorite song he ever recorded.
People, don't you understand
The child needs a helping hand
Or he'll grow to be an angry young man some day
Take a look at you and me
Are we too blind to see?
Do we simply turn our heads
And look the other way
This is a beautiful song. This rendition features the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. I saw this the other day for the first time, and was struck by its ephemeral beauty. There can be no better rebuttal to Ben Shapiro’s idiocy than this royal response from the King:
Elvis singing “The Ghetto” has always touched my heart. As a child in the 1950’s my mentally ill mother rarely thought to feed me, Dad in military, not home. Got to Kindergarten 15 pounds underweight age 5, only my knees were round. The Chicago Public School fed me breakfast and lunch, gave me speech therapy (I was an unintelligible stutterer), took me to doctor when I needed it and educated me. I am now a retired Critical Care Nurse (ICU/CCU). I think I was a good investment. Think of all the talent, intelligence, and creativity we loose by not investing in all of our children. Yes, they are our children and the future for out country. You cannot think when you are hungry. You cannot learn when your stomach is hurting from hunger.
If we are this rich country, why is there a single child hungry? There is no acceptable excuse.
I heard on a radio program that Shapiro recommended contacting Child Protective Services if someone knows of a child whose nutritional needs are not being met at at home. Isn’t there already a shortage of foster families? Where would all of these children go? The more we can support low income families with SNAP or other programs to provide nutritious foods for families, the better the outcomes for the children.