Tonight in Wichita, author and columnist Star Parker will deliver a lecture titled “Breaking the Cycle of Poverty: From Entitlement to Empowerment.”
I spoke by telephone with Parker and asked her to give Wichitans a preview of the topics she’ll address tonight. One topic she will address is the notion that people do not have the ability to control their own lives. There are some that believe that other forces keep people from being able to live free, she said.
Also, Parker will look at political freedom and its role in enabling people to live free. Then, she’ll examine the steps out of poverty, including self-government, work ethic, education, saving and investing, and charities, and whose role it is to provide these.
A recent article in the Sunflower, the WSU student newspaper, criticized her visit to the campus. Parker said “In a free society, we have free speech. For too long, we’ve only allowed on our universities one side of the case to be made. It is healthy for students to hear both sides.”
She said that her personal experience, having lived on welfare and experienced the social engineering that takes place, gives her a unique perspective on the war on poverty. That war has been fought for 40 years, she said.
She also disputed the comments about the Iraq war attributed to her by the Sunflower article.
Parker’s lecture is Monday, October 5th at 7:00 pm In the CAC Theater at WSU.