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You make a good point.

I don’t want to see the poor live in misery, but, it also should not be pleasant. Living conditions should be less than ideal, so that they will be motivated to do something productive in their lives.

The message sent should be that, if you want nicer things in life, better living conditions, better cars, etc., then the way people earn such things in life is through working.

There should also be mandatory work or attending classes of some kind, in order to receive benefits. People should not be able to sit on their butts all day. Something should be required of them in order to receive public assistance.

Assistance should be geared towards making these people self supporting and independent of public assistance after a period of time. It should not be an open ended situation, in which nothing is expected of the recipients.

There should also be mandatory work or attending classes of some kind, in order to receive benefits. People should not be able to sit on their butts all day. Something should be required of them in order to receive public assistance.

I’ve been arguing that exact point to anyone who would listen for the last 30 years! Frankly, the argument has been made that if Goldwater had won, we might actually have a better grip on poverty and the associated crime. And it would be because more of them actually learned to EARN what they get. It kills a person’s soul to be living on handouts. And our government makes it possible to literally live out your entire life without lifting a finger, other than to spend your EBT check. And such people are ripe to enter a life of crime, if only because of their ridiculously low self esteem coupled with extreme bitterness toward a society that, in their own mind, they could never hope to participate in.

And this attitude is one they learned, being on the dole, often for their entire life. They don’t think they can participate, due to their own lack of ability (regardless of who they blame it on publicly). And the welfare state, quite literally, did it to them.

And this will sound mean, but not all of the “stigma” should be removed.