Brookfield Basics

I have thought about this subject for a while but always managed to find a reason to avoid it. But recent events locally and nationally have forced this issue to the forefront.

The local issues relative to gangs and violent behavior are apparent to anyone who has followed the news in the last few weeks. Nationally, a summit meeting was held in Los Angeles this month, which was attended by international law enforcement authorities. The subject of the meeting was the problem of violent street gangs. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa declared the problem of gangs to be the primary cause of murder and violent crime in his city, and that they were a plague of "international proportions". He went on to say that the major contributing cause of gangs continued to be "lack of opportunity and poverty".

So why should we fortunate ones living in Brookfield and Elm Grove concern ourselves about gangs? I already mentioned recent local events, and any perusal of the local news that goes beyond the sound-bite level gives us plenty of reason to understand that we had better be concerned about this issue.

Here is where I will stop stating the obvious and begin addressing more controversial topics. It is time for America's leaders to start talking about the PRIMARY cause of gangs, namely: the dissolution of the family in American society. Leaders from all walks of life should be talking about it. It should be talked about in our Churches, in our businesses, in our private civic organizations, in our national, state, and local levels of government, and yes, in our schools.

I am not denying economic conditions play a part in this problem - they most obviously do. And we all need to be about the business of supporting some charitable agency or organization that effectively addresses this. One such organization doing a phenomenal job in our own backyard is the Milwaukee Rescue Mission. But until we summon the courage to identify and PUBLICLY TALK ABOUT the primary reason, we will continue to be ineffective.

It is my belief that the dissolution of the family is the largest social ill in America today. I have had the opportunity to write and speak about this matter at some length in the last year, and have yet to encounter any significant disagreement on this point. Gangs are nothing more than organized bodies of young men resulting from the fact that there is no other meaningful structure in their lives. Our youth, and in particular young boys and men, need structure. If there is no structure in their home they will find it elsewhere. One needs no University degree in sociology or psychology to understand this.

Now here is where things get difficult. Mr. Villaraigosa is right; the problem of gangs is an international one, and as such, it crosses all borders of race, ethnicity, and class. There are African-American gangs, Mexican gangs, Euro-gangs, Asian gangs, and white gangs. But it would simply be inaccurate to ignore the fact that, while gangs exist everywhere, they exist most prominently and dangerously in America's large urban settings. It is too easy to say this entire problem is the result of economic deprivation. That would mean that ALL poor people, regardless of where they live gravitate to gangs. This is not the case. It is in fact young men from parentless homes, and in particular from fatherless homes, that are the fodder for gang recruiting and training.

Please note I am not talking about cases of separation where one or both parents maintain contact with and involvement in the lives of their children. And I am not talking about the heroic examples of single moms or dads who raise children of grit and character against almost overwhelming odds. What I am talking about are entire masses of young urban men of all ethnicities, who are only too happy to impregnate a woman and then disappear. I am talking about kids who are raised with no authority figure present at any point in their lives. I am talking about kids who are, quite literally, alone. Such a scenario is a sure recipe for disaster, and we should not be surprised when alternative forms of the family such as street gangs, rise up to take the place of the traditional family.

Now it might be a fair criticism of me to say that you think I am being too "comfortable", too "middle-class", too "suburban", and let's just go ahead and say it, too "white" in my outlook; and if you make that criticism I say to you, "fair enough". But for those who do, I wish I had the opportunity to introduce you to the 23 year old MPS teacher I had a long discussion with a few weeks ago. This fine young man is white, but he is also ear-ringed, nose-ringed, and about as "un-suburban" as you can get. As far as I am concerned he is a modern day hero. I write about the effects of the implosion of the family. He described to me how he sees it and lives it, and how he wages war against the devastating cultural affects of i

The Elmbrook Education Foundation is sponsoring its Annual Bowling Ball on Saturday, March 17 from 6:30 PM to Midnight. It will be held at the New Berlin Entertainment Center (formerly Kuglitsch's), located at 1600 West Cleveland Avenue, in between Calhoun and Moorland Roads.

The E.E.F. is a private group of citizens whose existence goes back to the late 1950's and whose purpose is to support the students and programs of the Elmbrook Schools. It does so by raising money via private donations, business contributions, and fund raising events. Funds raised by the Foundation are disbursed in the form of grants to our eleven schools and scholarships for our students. The grants are for the purchase of materials and/or equipment; a recent example of which was $800 for the purchase of some mathematics software for special education students at Swanson Elementary. The scholarships are awarded directly to deserving students who exhibit outstanding performance in the area of academics, leadership and service to both their schools and the community. Since its inception, the E.E.F. has given out over $750,000 dollars in scholarships to over eight hundred students.

The Bowling Ball is a major fund-raiser for the Foundation and is a repeat of last year's greatly successful event in Menomonee Falls. This year's Ball will feature refreshments, a buffet dinner, bowling, blackjack, silent auctions, live auctions, and more. It's a terrific way to celebrate St. Patrick's Day and the advent of spring, all while supporting a great cause right in our own back yard.

Dress is casual and the environment is low key and fun.

For more information on the Bowling Ball (complete with pictures from last year's event, how to purchase tickets, etc.) and also for information on the terrific work of the Foundation in general, please see its web site:

http://www.elmbrookeducationfoundation.com


Thanks - and have a ball.

Martin Luther King gave many impassioned speeches during his heroic battles in the Civil Rights movement of the 1960's. The most famous of these is known as the "I Have a Dream" speech, given in Washington DC.

Sadly, one of the least remembered lines from King's superb oratory is, "I have a dream - that one day my children will be judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character".

During the two-week hype-a-thon that is the fortnight between the NFL Conference Championship games and the Super Bowl, much was made about the fact that Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith were the first two African-American coaches to lead their teams to the Super Bowl. This certainly stands as a historic achievement. But after the avalanche of coverage and stories about this, and after it had been analyzed and evaluated from every conceivable angle, an interesting dynamic began to emerge.

Slowly but surely, the story began to turn away form the obvious fact that these two men are African-Americans, and began to focus on the fact that Dungy and Smith are men of tremendous CHARACTER. It was the quiet but steadfast strength of character possessed by these two men that inexorably drew the gaze of the cameras and the queries of the reporters away from the "race story" and on to the "character story". In particular the story focused on Dungy. This was due I think to the fact that he has been on the stage of national consciousness far longer than Smith, and also perhaps because of the tremendous outpouring of sympathy and support for him over the loss of his son just over a year ago.

So many things stand out about Dungy. Foremost is the testimony of his players, one of whom said simply, "I'd follow him to the gates of hell". As I observed him on the sidelines during the playoffs, when he finally claimed his profession's ultimate prize; I was struck by how much the SAME in victory he was as in so many seasons of heart-breaking defeat. Whether Dungy stands on the edge of triumph or disaster we know not, for we see only the same calm, intrepid spirit. We could see his refusal to give in to the relentless maw of media hype and coverage, which demands that today's coaches become "stars" right along with the players. We could see his insistence that, while wanting very badly to win, it was more important to him that his team conducted itself with dignity and class. This was the prize he sought more than the Lombardi Trophy.

A couple of days after The Colts won the Super Bowl, my son Carson and I watched an interview with Dungy. I was again struck by how much the SAME he was in victory as he was in defeat. I marveled at how grounded he remained as he stood in the eye of the triple storm of fame, victory, and wealth. I wondered if as a young man he had read Rudyard Kipling's classic poem IF, for surely Dungy has learned to treat the "two imposters of triumph and disaster just the same".

Carson is seven, and having picked up on the story of Dungy, he asked me a question. He said, "Dad, Tony Dungy is a great role model for African-Americans, isn't he"?

"No buddy" I said. "He's a great role model for all of us".

Last Sunday morning my wife and I were surprised by a phone call at 6 AM. The caller ID told us it was her brother, and Barb was instantly scared into full consciousness by the thought that it might be news of her father’s passing.

On the contrary; it was good news. Her brother Jim was calling to say he was on his way to the hospital, driving through a western Michigan blizzard to receive a kidney transplant. Jim has polysistic kidney disease, a hereditary affliction that took their mother nearly twenty years ago. Two years ago he had one kidney removed, and has been on dialysis three times a week ever since.

Our initial joy in learning that a “matched” kidney was available was tempered by what Jim told us next. The kidney came from one of his life-long friends, who had suffered an aneurysm and died suddenly just one day prior. Barb knew this man well, and has fond memories of him going back to her earliest childhood days. She grew up hanging out with her older brother and this man, watching them play sports together, watching them grow up and go off to college, and missing them when they were gone.

The deceased’s widow called Jim to tell him of the loss of her husband, and then to inform him that she wanted Jim to received one of her husband’s kidneys. Though standing at the extreme crisis in her life, she chose to exhibit equally extreme grace and love to someone else.

So our exultation was tempered with sadness, and with the wonder of God’s economy. Our own kids asked us some tough questions: “How do we celebrate Uncle Jimmy’s blessing while simultaneously grieving for the dead man’s family”? “Can we go to his funeral and say thank you to his family”? Great questions - and we are still having those discussions with our kids, trying to answer them as best we can.

On this same Sunday, Tony Dungy of the Indianapolis Colts won the Super Bowl; a prize he claims he owes largely to God. But who amongst us doubts that Dungy wouldn’t give it back in an instant, if in return, he could have his son back, standing next to him on the sidelines.

I don’t pretend to understand God’s economy, or how He determines who gets what, and when, and why; and conversely, who does not. I just try and accept it and trust in it. And I try (emphasis on try) to be as ready to show gratitude for the mercies we receive, as I am at being challenging of the tougher things that come our way.

The issue of water is heating up and will continue to do so in the coming years. This, along with our dysfunctional system of funding the unsustainable benefit programs for our State and public sector employees, will be two of our largest pubic policy issues in the coming years.

As is typical with enormous issues that touch every one of us, this question of water will get volatile. Amongst all the debate, one thing I don’t hear anyone talking about is CONSERVATION. We are using far more water than we need to, and I believe this is something we would all agree with when we stop to think about it. The long-term implications of over-using a commodity, particularly a commodity whose supply we cannot impact, are not encouraging.

We Americans are a wasteful people; and few areas better demonstrate this than our use of water. Everywhere we turn - in our homes, our yards, in our schools, in our public facilities, when we go out to eat, the wanton waste of water is as ubiquitous as it is obvious.

In my view, the reason we waste so much water is that we don’t respect it. And the reason we don’t respect it is because it has always been plentiful and cheap. Until we understand that water is a precious and finite natural resource, we will not curb our use of it. The answer may in part involve officials carving out massive regional agreements, which seek to maintain by political force the same obscene amounts of water that we say we need. But I believe the answer needs to include letting the market operate.

The market has a way of reducing consumption of valuable things. People will begin to be conscious of water when the cost of it is allowed to freely fluctuate relative to its supply. We may not be comfortable with allowing market forces to regulate things that we come to view as “rights: things like water and health care. But the market cares little about our “rights”; it operates according to its own laws. The primary solution to the problems of water supply and health care are to let market driven consumerism operate. I’ll be writing soon about needed health care reform.

Of all these laws of the market the most inexorable one is that of supply and demand, which dictates that any commodity existing in great abundance will have little value. For most of our lives, this has been true of water. The problem is that it no longer exists in great abundance, but we continue to use it as if it does. This is a dynamic that is sure to perpetuate the problem rather than solve it. Anytime we allow legislation to regulate a commodity instead of the market prices will be distorted, resources misallocated, and long-term supply will be jeopardized. Just look at what is happening with the price of corn, and all the negative and unforeseen consequences that is beginning to have across several industries, because politicians FORCED an ethanol based fuel program on us; a program that the market would never have chosen or supported. The law of supply and demand is as true for water as it is for oil or corn or the value of labor.

The answer to our water problem is to let the pricing mechanism reflect its real value. Then we will learn to respect it, use less of it, and do our part in ensuring its viable supply.