There are no good paying jobs.
On SNAP, you’re not charged taxes or credit card processing fees for buying food and drink.
People who get SSDI, SSI or unemployment benefits receive more than they would if they worked forty hours a week on a minimum wage job.
Add it all up, a lot of Americans get tax free income - essentially a sort of negative income support from the federal government.
What helps to perpetuate it is that an economic recovery doesn’t appear to be in sight any time soon.
This not an urban story. I was at the grocery store, yet again, and witnessed the woman in front of me buying food with her “food stamp card”. She had expensive taste. She then produced a 100$ bill and purchased 2 cartons of smokes.
I am not against her paying to smoke if she so chooses. But why should I pay for her food?