I agree on addressing root causes; however, I've increasingly come around on the idea that pointing to root causes (poverty, broken families, cultural norms, et

I agree on addressing root causes; however, I've increasingly come around on the idea that pointing to root causes (poverty, broken families, cultural norms, etc.) is a case of the "perfect being the enemy of the good" and is at best a well intentioned but misguided effort that causes real harm. An analogy: I have some fairly severe sinus issues. I'm working with professionals to figure it out. In the meantime, I'm regularly told to "treat the symptoms." At first, this was really frustrating! I wanted to solve the root problem, not just take pain meds and decongestants for the rest of my life! But the reality is, we may never figure out the root problem, or the root problem may turn out to be intractable. In the meantime, I can significantly improve my quality of life by simply doing what can be done: treating the symptoms. At the risk of being facetious: we don't stop preparing for hurricanes just because we can't stop their root cause. Every day we delay making hard choices because we want to wait for a root cause solution is another day we allow the root illnesses more time to inflict damage on us and our society.