Tragedies of Our Own Making: How Private Choices Have Created Public Bankruptcy

by Richard Neely

Several states are virtually bankrupt, including California and New York, with others fast approaching that status. In Tragedies of Our Own Making, West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Richard Neely distills the insights of a lifetime spent dealing with our nation's worst social problems. "Twenty years as a judge," he writes, "has convinced me that state government fiscal crises, deteriorating schools, declining living standards among the old blue-collar class, and our rising crime rate are all strangely interrelated."
His overriding conclusion? Problems including colossal Medicaid costs, savagery in the streets, and the falling relative wage rate of half our workforce all relate to a disintegrating family structure. All public agencies - welfare, the courts, public health, education - "are crumbling under the burden of acting as a surrogate family."
In presenting a brilliant fiscal analysis of social insurance predicated on personal responsibility, Neely argues that "we are going broke because we are allowing excessive losses to be triggered through carelessness. Millions of children are being born to school-age girls and to parents who will needlessly divorce, making those children uncared for and insecure. Illegitimacy and divorce are to social insurance what leaving a pot of oil on a burning stove is to fire insurance."
Neely paints a vivid picture of the "actuarial limits" of our ability to rescue people from the consequences of their own actions. He offers a two-part solution to the core problems of divorce and illegitimacy. First, Neely calls for a massive, government-financed media campaign aimed at educating the public on the financial and psychological costs of divorce to adults and children. He also presents a comprehensive and politically acceptable approach to improved birth control.

192 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1994

About the author

Richard Forlani Neely was a justice and chief justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals from 1973 to 1995. He wrote regularly for national publications such as The Atlantic Monthly, The New Republic, and The Wall Street Journal. Neely's scholarly work usually involved the sociology of courts. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard...]

Reviews

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

The main contention of this book is that so much of the welfare
costs of our country comes from broken families and/or children being
born out of wedlock. And even if you are a liberal or a conservative
you need to consider that fact. And this is so much of the welfare
costs in this country however much you try to cut them and deal with
the situation.

The book is incredibly well written and interesting.

Of the 30 books that I think that all conservatives should read,
I would put this in the top 3 of all those books.

I think that the reason this particular author--and this book-- is
not as well known as some others is that Richard Neely never
became a conservative columnist nor did he ever really appear
as a conservative speaker on TV and/or radio.

I really hope that this book becomes better known in conservative
circles.