‘1000 tiny points of light’ was President George H.W. Bush’s famous description of a nation’s charities. They could generously care for the needy, absolving ‘big government’ of any obligation to do so.
That idea lives on today in neo-conservative mythology. Once ‘entitlement’ programs are abolished, generous Americans — presumably the little people — will share their limited resources with those in need.
Except they simply don’t have enough resources to share. And those that do — the one percenters who shine with giant laser beams of light — are more inclined to spend their wealth on mega-yachts and space tourism, rather than denting their pocket books on the great unwashed masses.
The reality in this day and age: thousands of tiny points of light desperately need, and do actually receive, a vital part of their charitable funding from the government.
Until they don’t receive it any more.
Read more in Mother Jones: Over the Past Five Weeks, Fair-Housing Advocacy Nearly Collapsed
