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It’s crazy the contortions americans go through to avoid having welfare while still trying to have welfare. But god forbid we just have actual welfare. Been li
by Swizec 8y ago
It’s crazy the contortions americans go through to avoid having welfare while still trying to have welfare. But god forbid we just have actual welfare.
Been living here 4 years, still don’t get it. Prob never will.
I’m supposed to only buy expensive produce so the cheap stuff can be left for those less fortunate? Why don’t you just use some of the exorbitant taxes I pay to help the less fortunate directly? Smh
- ataturk 8y agoOr stop having the exorbitant taxes and be all right with bad choices people make because every "poor" person I know always has money for booze and cigarettes.
- dcow 8y agoI get the sentiment but...we do have welfare programs. If a food source once available is becoming scarce, then obviously they will need to be revamped where appropriate.
- DubiousPusher 8y agoI think it's easy to take that cold engineerlike approach when you won't be the one occupying this gap until it is filled
- dcow 8y agoCold? Factual, maybe. Are you saying you buy ugly food?
- DubiousPusher 8y agoNo. I happen to agree that the best thing would be for the market to purchase these items and for food subsidies to adjust. But you say > they [welfare programs] will need to be revamped where appropriate. as if this will certainly happen and that it will happen quickly. But that is certainly not the case. And what do people do in the meantime? It doesn't seem tough when you've got $1,000, $500 even $100 in the bank. But losing a small benefit for even a couple years can be brutal if you're in poverty. The gears of the market are a powerful tool for making our society wealthier but they'll grind you up just the same if you're living on the margin as they begin to turn. Ask anyone who has been a resident of a Midwestern town for the past 50 years.
- dcow 8y agoI grew up in the Midwest. I think you’re mistaking my tone. I’m not saying we shouldn’t care, I’m reminding the original parent that we do have welfare programs and they will adjust. It’s equally absurd to suggest impoverished people shouldn’t have access to the same food others do and be resigned to ugly food because no one else buys it...
- forapurpose 8y agoWhat is exorbitant about U.S. taxes? Is the overall tax burden relatively high compared with other countries? Compared with the past?
- Swizec 8y agoFine maybe they’re not exorbitant comparatively but paying 30 to 50% of my income to taxes and seemingly not getting much if anything in return feels wrong. I’m okay paying taxes, I’d just like them to be used better (meaning for things I can see/experience)
- forapurpose 8y ago> not getting much if anything in return Wow - security, both from war and crime, a legal system, safety in everything from water to food to airplanes, almost the entire transportation infrastructure, most of the education everyone receives including college and post-grad, research in everything from history to cancer to basic physics to fracking to computer science and integrated circuits (let's recall that the industry that probably employs you was founded on government research), a stable business environment both domestically and internationally, healthcare, democracy, freedom ... I kinda feel like I underpay.
- jpatokal 8y agoIn most European countries, your taxes get you all that and universal health care, reliable unemployment benefits and free higher education.
- forapurpose 8y agoThat's because their health care is half the cost!