Housing and Urban Development Director Ben Carson, in Detroit on Thursday for the opening of HUD's first EnVision Center, said the United States won't be able to compete in the future with China if it doesn't "begin to develop all of our people."
"There are a lot of people who don't have a vision, who have become somewhat hopeless, and they don't think life is going to be great for them," Carson told Fox News' "Fox & Friends."
"There are actually a lot of resources in our society and a lot of people with very good hearts who would love to do things, but there is not a [way] to do it."
The EnVision Center project is aimed at helping HUD-assisted households achieve self-sufficiency, with the goal of helping them eventually leave the government-subsidized, according to an announcement Carson made late last year.
The centers are to be located near or at public housing developments, and plan to use partnerships with federal agencies, state and local governments, faith-based organizations, and more, according to HUD.
Carson, however, is under fire after unveiling proposed legislation to raise rents in HUD properties across the country, According to an analysis from the Centre on Budget and Policy priorities and provided to The Associated Press, Carson's proposed "Make Affordable Housing Work Act" calls to raise rent in the country's largest metro regions by about 20 percent, which would affect about four million households.
Average hourly earnings, however, are about six percent lower than the rent hike, and experts say Carson's planned legislation could result in more people becoming homeless.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, he said the EnVision Centers will coordinate the efforts of federal agencies and sub-agencies to "provide the wraparound services that are necessary for success in our society."
"A lot of people who are born into good circumstances, they have all of this already," said Carson. "They have a nurturing family, extended family, a community, and it makes a big difference in the trajectory of their lives. But other people don't have that."
However, the United States must "develop" its people, said Carson.
"We only have 330 million people," said Carson. "We will never be able to compete into the future if we don't begin to develop all of our people."
Carson also Thursday made a call for the nation to return to civility as an "essential element to our long-term survival."
"This country is extremely strong, and it cannot really be brought down from the outside," said Carson.
"It's very much like the Roman Empire. But it can be destroyed from within. And we have elements who are driving wedges between people on the basis of race, income, religion, gender, political affiliation, you name it. There is never a good outcome to that in a society."
People also need to be willing to lend a "helping hand, " he said, and to talk to each other.
"If they were to get into a room and talk, they would find that they agree on a lot more than they disagree on," said Carson. "It's okay for people to have disagreements. It doesn't make you into enemies. I always say if two people agree about everything, one of them isn't necessary."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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