we don’t have safety nets. we have safety hammocks.
define “poor”. I’m betting the Biblical poor were actually poor. Not American
“poor”.
Prior to the “great society” we didn’t have people starving in the streets
all over the place. If we did, there should be some photographic evidence.
“Surprising Facts About America’s Poor”:
The following are facts about persons defined as “poor” by the Census Bureau as taken from various government reports:
80 percent of poor households have air conditioning. In 1970, only 36 percent of the entire U.S. population enjoyed air conditioning.
92 percent of poor households have a microwave.
Nearly three-fourths have a car or truck, and 31 percent have two or more cars or trucks.
Nearly two-thirds have cable or satellite TV.
Two-thirds have at least one DVD player, and 70 percent have a VCR.
Half have a personal computer, and one in seven have two or more computers.
More than half of poor families with children have a video game system, such as an Xbox or PlayStation.
43 percent have Internet access.
One-third have a wide-screen plasma or LCD TV.
One-fourth have a digital video recorder system, such as a TiVo.
http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2011/09/understanding-poverty-in-the-united-states-surprising-facts-about-americas-poor
Or more exactly, "safety chains", wrapped tightly around our necks and securely locked in place.
For one early recipient of Social Security, the total contribution was about twenty-five dollars and she drew out almost twenty-five THOUSAND dollars. Her hammock was supplied by contributors such as myself, contributing to the system in the 1970s.
Now, I am collecting benefits, with a likelihood that this will be among the worst "investments" that I have ever made. Young wage earners today are contributing for my benefit and have little chance whatever of deriving significant benefits themselves.
We have an entire generation of middle-aged wage earners who have saved almost NOTHING for retirement, convinced by liberals that Social Security would take care of them. These people bought into the nonsense and will pay the highest price for doing so.
None of the so-called "safety nets" implemented by government would exist without the use of government FORCE. Nobody would willingly contribute to Social Security without the law to force them to do so.
Obamacare is an exercise in FORCING people to buy health "insurance" who would not otherwise willingly buy it. This mandate is not government recognition that such a person might need health coverage, but is an essential part of paying for the health needs of OTHERS, including those whose pre-existing conditions would make them uninsurable.
The “poorest” person in this country has it better than the vast majority of Haitians.