[Ghost of Philip Marlowe]

Without reading the article, the headline presents a straw-man argument employing the classically fallacious either/or option.

No one is suggesting “starving” people back into work.

There are millions who have abused the safety net society was good and charitable enough to create and have converted that net into a hammock.

What we are suggesting is that we 1. end the luxurious lifestyle, 2. encourage and even demand some sort of work for their handouts and 3. return “shame” to being a bum.

[Opinionated Blowhard]

You are right. Its amazing that much of the population in the UK and US view cutting off benefits as “starving” someone, as if the person was put in a prison cell and denied food.

And you have to love the attitude of those kids. Why should we work when we get enough money to get by on the dole? We are at a point in Western society where unemployment and welfare benefits give the lazy man enough to get by. You can sit on your arse in your apartmentment with a fridge full of food watching cable TV and collect a check that will cover it. If you get sick, the government will take care of you. More and more adults and kids are deciding that the dole gives them a life they are willing to live with rather than put effort into supporting themselves. And, of course, God forbid you try to stigmatize them as lazy bums.

[Jaidyn]

There are millions who have abused the safety net society was good and charitable enough to create and have converted that net into a hammock. What we are suggesting is that we 1. end the luxurious lifestyle, 2. encourage and even demand some sort of work for their handouts and 3. return “shame” to being a bum.

Good points. Don't forget all the unemployed who work under-the-table to supplement their checks. Or the many young women who make more money because they don't have to pay day care, gas, food, etc.

[outofstyle]

No one is suggesting “starving” people back into work.

Actually, that is the way it works in the natural order of things. Are socialists are now just figuring this out? I doubt it.

[ctdonath2]

There are millions who have abused the safety net society was good and charitable enough to create and have converted that net into a hammock.

Great observation.

"The social safety net should not be a hammock."

[fight_truth_decay]

return “shame” to being a bum?

You got me thinking about a story I was told of a famous man who would disappear and ride a box car for the "freedom" it gave him. I guess you called them hobos back then. I can't verify the name so won't post it, but he was given food in his travels at the Shaker Village in Maine (still there - Sabbath Day Lake) and upon returning home sent them a gift of silverware. (so the story went). But while trying to research and verify this story [Shaker tale), it was interesting to note that those hobos that rode the rail's DID WORK 2-3 days at a time for food, lodging, etc. They were called bums and hobos but set out to find whatever job they could. This Riding the Rails: Teenagers on the Move During the Great Depression [source] talked about the number of children that rode the rails, "the boxcar kids"looking for work.

Artists rode the "free" rails and gave of their talent for food and lodging. One itinerant artist [a rock, a tree, a bush] has large murals on stage backdrop in an old Grange hall in N.Anson, Maine. I spoted a simple painting at a flea market, and my friend grabbed it up to add to his collection of that same artist (name escapes). Simple art often painted on used carboard (now collectible) in exchange for a warm place for the night, whatever labor was available.

We've all seen Tramp art which was created by hobos, said started by German or Scandinavian immigrants who traveled the countryside selling or trading their wares for a living.

Jack London, Supreme Court Justice William Douglas, Woodie Guthrie, actor Burl Ives rode the rails.

How the world has changed....where's the adventure or just the romance of taking an adventure into an unknown.