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>>For every person trying hard and working to improve their life, there is usually a matching person not giving a damn and enjoying the freedom that not having

>>For every person trying hard and working to improve their life, there is usually a matching person not giving a damn and enjoying the freedom that not having to work gives them. Do they live in a nice house and drive a nice car? Nope. But they live as well as any college student in any fair sized college town, and had Playstations and X-Boxes long before I did. I would love to see statistical evidence of this phenomenon. The unemployment rate for labor force participants (which you need to be to collect welfare) is 17% so I'm not sure how you get from there to 50%. Out of ALL people living in poverty 59% don't have job which isn't surprising considering a lot are young or elderly or performing other familial responsibilities. As for living as well as any college student in any fair sized town I have a hard time understanding how that could possibly be true.

SteveGerencser 13y ago
Because being poor is not something you play at for a week and decide the system is broken. In my small circle of family and friends and acquainences, for every person that needs help, there are 2 or 3 that are living the easy life. Is it a great life? Hell no. Would I want to live that way? Never again. But they do it all the time because it is easier than actually working. Do I know enough to have a statistical standard? No, but I know enough to let me know that the system is completely and totally broken. The solution is NOT giving even more aid. The solution is to stop requiring people be so dirt poor to get it that they give up. Rather than saying oh - you have too much money / asset / whatever to get get help and forcing them to choose selling their only car or getting help, give them enough help to bring them to a minimum level of security. If that level is $500/wk and they can go out and EARN $300/wk trying to get ahead, give them $200 more to feel secure in the effort they are making. What we shouldn't be doing is forcing them to zero and telling them at any effort short of $500/wk ends all aid. That is a system designed to create and maintain a 'poor' class of people for very obvious reasons.

SteveGerencser 13y ago

Because being poor is not something you play at for a week and decide the system is broken. In my small circle of family and friends and acquainences, for every person that needs help, there are 2 or 3 that are living the easy life. Is it a great life? Hell no. Would I want to live that way? Never again. But they do it all the time because it is easier than actually working. Do I know enough to have a statistical standard? No, but I know enough to let me know that the system is completely and totally broken. The solution is NOT giving even more aid. The solution is to stop requiring people be so dirt poor to get it that they give up. Rather than saying oh - you have too much money / asset / whatever to get get help and forcing them to choose selling their only car or getting help, give them enough help to bring them to a minimum level of security. If that level is $500/wk and they can go out and EARN $300/wk trying to get ahead, give them $200 more to feel secure in the effort they are making. What we shouldn't be doing is forcing them to zero and telling them at any effort short of $500/wk ends all aid. That is a system designed to create and maintain a 'poor' class of people for very obvious reasons.