I despise the welfare mess this country has gotten into as much as anyone. I have personally reported what I thought was food stamp fraud and suspect nothing was ever done about it.
There is another side tho. All one has to do is look at Britain before the Victorian age. Horror stories of the poor were absolutely incredible. Private charities did what they could but they were not even close to enough.
As someone else said, there are extremes on both sides. Right now we are on the extreme side towards Socialism. I want to get the government out of basically being the whole way of life for much of the country but not to the extent that good honest people die because of poverty when it is not necessary.
Better to use it as a safety net than as a sole source of sustenance for 3 full generations in a family.
In the 1980s, there was a stunt pulled where some liberals took some American homeless to the Soviet Union to discuss the plight of the homeless. The audience asked how long they had been homeless and hearing answers of “5 years” caused the audience to get up out of their seats and leave.
And there are people who are much better off than the homeless who refuse to contribute to their own livelihood. Opening the doors to the world as a welfare state will not "end" poverty in America. But it will benefit the politicians who need to reach new voting blocs and they sour their reception with those who've been here paying taxes.
A safety net is not a residence. It's not a place to pitch tent. It's why I argue against any drug legalization efforts AT LEAST until the safety net is removed. I will not be exploited by those who wish to cause their own unemployable condition.