You don't have to be afraid of these people.
LOL. I'm not afraid of terrorists so I'm hardly afraid of recipients of government largesse.
From what you've written, I think you totally miss where I'm coming from. I'm not afraid of them and I don't look down on them and I sure don't hate them. I'm as soft hearted as a person can be. Every day I'm in the pool and every day I rescue bugs that have fallen in the water and are struggling. Today I rescued two ladybugs, some kind of big beetle, and a yellowjacket. So I am hardly indifferent to the suffering of people. What I'm after is a system that's stable enough to support those who need help in perpetuity, not one doomed to entropy. What you advocate may work for a while longer but is not stable long term. What happens to these people when the system goes belly up? You think that I hate them or am afraid of them or whatever. That's not so. I want to help them, too. I think my way of doing that is more effective and efficient than yours, that yours will lead to ruin for us and for them. You will not understand what I am saying as long as you think that I'm opposed to helping people who need help, that I'm being "small and fearful." What I'm trying to be is smart and thoughtful about how we help.
Your fear that welfare receipients will change our society is not warranted.
They already have changed our society. So ingrained in our society are welfare programs that we have a Republican president overseeing their expansion, for heaven's sake. If you cannot even count on the Republicans to divest the federal role, it may be all over already.
They are a fraction of the population.
Yep, they're a fraction. We just don't know what fraction. I don't think there are any data. Not that I've seen. But here's something we can use as a proxy.
<Most nursing home residents, even if they pay privately when they enter a home, eventually run out of money because of the high costs. They then convert to Medicaid payment. > nccnhr.newc.com
More than half of all nursing home costs are picked up by Medicaid. metlife.com
So, what is this fraction of yours? Well, it's over half. At least half the families of folks in nursing homes apparently think it's not wrong to be on the dole. In fact, there are any number of web sites out there who will explain very carefully how you can shelter your savings and qualify for Medicaid. Apparently they don't think it's wrong, either. So, as you said earlier, most people may do the right thing, but they clearly think that doing the right thing includes going on the dole.
Still say they won't change our society?
We don't need to have a policy where some government official has to judge as to why they are there.
On that we can agree.
But as a community, there are certain jobs that we have to give to government.
If we're going to give it to government, can we at least give it to local government so it is more efficient and doesn't come across as a right of US citizenship? |
