BTW note who recommended it.
Posted on 12/16/2011 7:45:27 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Welfare workers are constantly trying to figure out how to make their jobs effective, how to do something to actually combat poverty. Their jobs are very high-stress, so they often meet after work on Fridays, when happy hours encourage them to philosophize.
If only the clients had to look for work -- no, they're already under such a requirement. If the government built more public housing so the slumlords didn't grab every increase in benefits -- no, that's been tried. If food stamps and cash assistance were combined into one check -- no, that resulted in a class action suit, and threatened the criminal economy. There must be some way the welfare system can actually assist the poor.
Happily, there is an answer: shut it down. No, don't just suddenly chain the doors of the welfare office closed, as some workers suggest at the end of happy hour. Do a gradual shutdown that eliminates the system and its whole bureaucracy over a period of eighteen years -- a shutdown that salvages logistical resources and allows people to learn to take care of themselves at a rational pace.
First step: recognize that the entire concept of state and national public assistance is a mistake. Just like bilingual education, the War on Poverty is a beautiful theory that just doesn't work in reality. People are better off getting local assistance for verifiable emergencies, but to improve their general lifestyle, they are much better off if left to suffer the consequences of their behavior.
Just as children learn a target language more quickly on the playground with speakers of that language than they do in structured classes, people living in poverty learn to get away from it -- if they want -- much more quickly by suffering its disadvantages
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
Why do you call what Boiling Point posted “hate” for the recipients?
Hate for the system - yes, but not the receipients, IMO.
>>oh the poor, let’s pick on them<<
I have a poor niece.
She is living with her boyfriend who is a Community College teacher.
She has a daughter. The daughter receives free breakfasts and lunches. All their healthcare is paid for (the niece has a gastric by-pass scheduled) and they receive cash assistance while the niece refuses to even look for a job.
They have cable (I can’t afford it)
They have nice phones and cars.
Is this the poor you are speaking of?
Did I say hate? I know I said wrong focus. But coldness to the poor can be characterized as hate.
From the beginning, the "progressive" movement's intent has been accumulation of coercive power in the hands of an elected and unelected political elite.
The Founders' ideas of individual liberty, protected by a written Constitution which separated, strictly limited, checked and balanced power of government officials, led to opportunity, innovation, progress, wealth creation, and liberty for more individuals than ever has been achieved in the history of civilization.
The so-called "progressives'" high sounding platitudes and policies actually lead to enslavement, lack of opportunity, gloom, individual mediocrity, and national decline. Their ideas mirror the old-World ideas which preceded the American Declaration's assertion of Creator-endowed life, rights and the liberty to pursue happiness, unfettered by any who see themselves as qualified to make better decisions than their fellow citizens.
I’ve always said, just end welfare and turn it back over to local charities and churches like it use to be. Something like 70% of the tax dollars that go to welfare end up in administration costs and such, not to the people who truly need it. On the other side a well run charity will only use 10% or so for administration. The only exception I could see would be the poor elderly and truly disabled, not the drunk down the street or the druggie, ect.
I am appalled that you would browbeat FReepers for “picking on the poor” when they are decrying the documented excesses of the system that have fostered such abuses.
In too many communities, there is no such stigma for many.
And with respect to the “It could be you next week” comment. The majority of comments shown here are about long-term public assistance, not unemployment. Forgive me if I don’t fall victim to your hyperbole.
And you are aware of your niece’s “refusal” to look for a job how? Because you call to check on how she is doing and see whether there is anything you can do to give her a hand up?
People just loooooooooooooove to go “oh me oh my. I am so much superior to so and so. She is living with her boyfriend and a child and is getting a free bypass surgery. I just know she refuses to look for a job. It’s so disgusting.” what skills and education does your niece have? Is she addicted to the drugs the liberal agenda has encouraged in order to sicken and distract the population? does she need rehab? She is obviously grossly overweight, could that affect her ability to get a job? Do you suppose you could assist her with some love and concern rather than just exclaiming about her deficiencies?
Who will take care of the daughter if your niece gets a job? Will the job cover the day care expenses? What state is it exactly that “all their health care is paid for?” where I live, there is a state sponsored health care system for children but not for adults. Everyone should move to wherever your niece lives if it is true there is universal health care including adults. Usually the adults are hanging out there on their own.
I know of a family that the dad works part time.
The mom doesn’t.
Their kids get free breakfasts and lunches.
They rent a great house supplemented by the government.
They get food stamps.
They have a car, cable and cellphones.
Basically they have the same quality of life as I do.
Are these the poor you speak of?
Uh in my book, long term assistance is linked to long term unemployment, hello.
And what say you to the $600 toilet seat sold by the contractor to the military?
“After all, if you can afford to raise a family, you shouldn’t be on public assistance”
Cut everyone off, and let private charity take up the slack.
Yeah?
I bet their life is just heaven on earth. sarc. What, you want to trade places with them?
Or are you saying they should be living under a bridge with their children since the dad only works part time?
“You haven’t convinced me with your hunches of how government affects things. The social programs are probably one of the few things that are helpful. The agencies, foreign aid, corporate subsidies, health care deform are the problem.”
I am one of the folks you think you are ‘helping’.
Just go away and leave us alone. Thank you very much. Stop speaking for people like me, because you don’t speak for us.
Cut it off, and let the private charities take it over. Thank you. Then we can fire people like you who prey on us.
Ben
You are on welfare?
BTW note who recommended it.
But coldness to the poor can be characterized as hate.
Bullcrap. What you call "coldness" is simply the recognition that the government has no business taking from the productive to support the unproductive. The only warmth government can really give is by starting fires.
I strongly object to welfare policies administered by the government - especially the federal government. I also contribute directly to several charities that support the needy. Being lectured about being "cold" to the poor because I object to the government taking Peter's money to pay Paul not to work just pi$$es me off.
I apologize if it seems like I'm attacking you - I'm not. I do believe you should reconsider the basic premise in most of your posts, though - that it's not their fault. Until an individual is working as hard as they can to overcome their circumstances, it most certainly IS their fault.
>>And you are aware of your niece’s “refusal” to look for a job how?<<
She’s told me. In fact, she lamented on Facebook that she was waiting for her cash assistance and it was taking so long. She would be happy to start looking for a job in February. People asked why she wasn’t looking now. She ignored it.
>>Because you call to check on how she is doing and see whether there is anything you can do to give her a hand up?<<
The family has long since stopped. She is not looking for a hand up but a hand out.
>>what skills and education does your niece have?<<
She is certified as a Dental Assistant and an office manager.
>>Do you suppose you could assist her with some love and concern rather than just exclaiming about her deficiencies?<<
When love becomes enabling, it is not love.
>>Who will take care of the daughter if your niece gets a job? <<
The school she attends.
>>Will the job cover the day care expenses?<<
Her daughter is in school.
>>What state is it exactly that “all their health care is paid for?” where I live, there is a state sponsored health care system for children but not for adults. Everyone should move to wherever your niece lives if it is true there is universal health care including adults. Usually the adults are hanging out there on their own.<<
Ohio. MetroGeneral hospital in Cleveland. Ever heard of Medicaid? We still have it in the US.
Get your head out of your posterior and realize that for every person that is ashamed to be on assistance, there are two that don’t mind at all.
We don’t get to 47% of the country on some for of assistance by being ashamed.
“Or are you saying they should be living under a bridge with their children since the dad only works part time?”
I thank God for my part-time work, because it keeps me off the streets and provides food for my table.
Exactly how much do you make ‘helping’ the poor? I’d imagine you make substantially more than me, and stand to lose this if your job went away.
The only people who helped me find work and the way to a future life, were the people who, unlike you, actually cared about me.
Let me tell you a story. When I was down and out and in a really tough place, I went to you folks for help, to claim disability benefits, to which I was and have always been entitled.
You know what you folks told me? I was ‘employable’, and thus, not entitled to the benefits that were being distributed by the state for that precise purpose.
So I want to hear this drivel as to why the state cares about me? Because they really don’t care, and no, the social system is broken.
Most of the money that is set aside for the poor, gets eaten up in the salaries. Truth. It’s never about the poor, but about making sure that the bureaucrats get and keep their jobs.
Yes! If the military has to be drug tested, I don't see why welfare recipients can't be.
Hyperbole and strawmen don’t help your case. Form a more logical and coherent argument if you want to be taken seriously. Or don’t. I don’t really care.
The point is not that these people would be living under a bridge. The point is that they CAN work, they just choose not to. Getting them off the dole is the first step towards them supporting themselves. You underestimate the laziness and entitlement of many people.
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