When Handouts Keep Coming, the Food Line Never Ends

Washington Post ^ | 18 November 2007 | Mark Winne

[shrinkermd]

The author, a long time veteran of food shelf efforts, argues that what the poor need is more money. IMHO what he misses is that the food is a form of money and those on public assistance can take the food and spend their money on something else. This in itself is a tremendous reinforcer.

Further, it is "free." There is something in human nature that agglutinates to the concept of "free." For example, having trouble getting rid of your cat's kittens? Just put a sign out--Free Kitties! You will find them gone in short order.

As usual, it is Reagan's fault. Anticipate a move back to the welfare society shortly after the Democrats win the White House and Congress.

In the meantime, many of us who contribute large sums on a monthly basis to this or that food shelf must understand the real contempt the liberals have for us.

[PeterPrinciple]

When churches and local communities did charity work, there was accountability. Try to give something out with accountability and the line will be short.

[SmithL]

I assume the name is pronounced “whine.”

[MCCRon58]

“””If the 2008 presidential election ends up being a contest between two candidates with well-documented track records as big-government leftists, then there’s no “country” to lose.”””

Is it not amazing that the same people who are now crying for means testing Social (in)Security are the same who act deeply offended when the same means testing is proposed for all the give-a-way programs.

[padre35]

8.6% of CT citizens are “food insecure”?

My goodness, it would seem to me that if that is a measure of government’s effectiveness then CT’s Government has failed.

It would be fun to now look at the obeisity statistics for CT and see what sort of shape the food insecure are in as a whole.

I bet there are alot of food insecure that are quite chubby, and that is a phony statistic...

[RetiredArmy]

argues that what the poor need is more money

What the POOR needs is a solid KICK IN THE ASS. They need to get off their fat lazy asses, get an education, learn a marketable skill and THEN they will get a decent job and earn a decent living. EDUCATION AND JOB SKILLS, are the key, not the sitting on your fat Oprah watching ass and sticking your fat hand out for free pizza and stuff.

[pnh102]

What hunger? How often does someone who isn't some sort of dependent starve to death in the USA?

People here are more likely to die of obesity-related problems than of hunger.

[kittymyrib]

I thought the obesity of the poor is the biggest health problem in the US. Sanja Gupta has a whole series about that on CNN. Which is it?

[Lizavetta]

Provide the freebies and they will come. Whether they need it or deserve it is another question entirely.

It's like giving away cars in Los Angeles. You'd have lines stretching all the way to Tijuana to take advantage of what's "free". Does that mean then that LA is "car insecure"? Same stupid logic.

[AppyPappy]

What they need to do is stop having kids. We are working at the food pantry on Wednesday. Most of the clients are single moms with multiple kids. The 2nd largest is elderly. The third is crazy people.

It’s easy to see how people get themselves into situations where they need food. These people are NOT starving. They just need a supplement to their food supplies. Many of them work multiple jobs but the cost of life just overtakes them. There is NO affordable housing in our town. You can live really cheaply about 20 minutes away but you must have a car. If the car quits, you are doomed. They have $360 to pay for a cell phone in a year but they don’t have $300 at any given time to get the car fixed.

We had one family that was living in an apartment where their son was going to college. There were 7 of them. How that happens is anyone’s guess.

[expatpat]

Is his name pronounced “whine”?

[pnh102]

The author, a long time veteran of food shelf efforts, argues that what the poor need is more money.

Is that really a career choice that is worth bragging about?

[traviskicks]

Libertarian ping! To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here.

[goodnesswins]

Preach IT....RA! Poor people have poor habits.

[from occupied ga]

They have $360 to pay for a cell phone in a year but they don’t have $300 at any given time to get the car fixed.

And $20 a week to pay for dog food, and $50 a week to pay for beer and $30 a week to pay for cigarettes and $20+ a week to buy lotto tickets. It never fails whenever I see a food stamper in the checkout line in front of me they ALWAYS have a fairly substantial selection of stuff that they have to pay cash for - usually pet food, beer/wine or cigarettes. So all food stamps are doing is letting these people slide by subsidizing their instant gratification life style.

Most of the clients are single moms with multiple kids.

They don't know what causes pregnancy? Or is it that they just don't care because they have to bear absolutely NO financial responsibility for their get? I'm guessing the latter. WHen I see some bleeding heart ad grubbing money "for the children" I think back and ask myself how many of the people whose offspring are being subsidized by my tax dollars asked my permission before dropping them. And you know, I can't recall a single one. I'm sure I would have remembered.

[AppyPappy]

Well take my cousin. Please. Two children, no child support, got a DUI and lost her license, lost her job. Now she lives at her grandmomma’s house and the kids live with their respective babydaddy grandmothers. She gets food stamps and such because she is the mother of two kids. The fact she doesn’t have the kids is irrelevant. The only reason she isn’t pregnant again is that she got too fat to [bleep]

If she’s got $20, she spends it. Someone will always take her in. These people would no more worry about the future of their kids than they would put money in a 401k. The kids are there to make them feel good. And this is the 4th generation of this stuff. The only difference between her and her grandmother is the color of her kids.

Going to the Christmas gettogether with these people is better to me than television. It’s like COPS without the glass between us.

[bannie]

My idea of “welfare” is this:

Have “Poor Houses” which are available for those who need help. Each family would have a room. Food would be served in a common cafeteria. Clothes would be secured from a common closet. The area would be elaborately policed (to prevent inequities/bullying).

NO MONEY changing hands.

People wouldn’t want to stay there long. If nothing else, the constant presence of the cops would “encourage” people to become self-sufficient.

[3niner]

But in the end, one of its most lasting effects has been to sidetrack efforts to eradicate hunger and its root cause, poverty.

"Poverty" is not a "root cause", it is caused by lack of personal responsibility.

[from occupied ga]

And I though my cousins were idiots :-)

[therut]

I have always said if someone put out a semi-load of free rubber bands at Wal-Mart they would be gone in 24 hours. I do not know where the sage advice of my partents generation has gone. Nothing is FREE, Money does not grow on trees, If you do not work you will not eat. Simple.