Welfare DOES have its place

I have been on SSI and SSDI for five years now, with a one year break in there. I do not own a car. No home, etc. But I am fed and have been provided with a caseworker that wants to put me back to work once my medicals issues are taken care of. Please do not demean people on welfare in general. The program works for those who use it properly. Its the few bad apples that spoil the bunch.

~Mick

reply to post by lr7gmx


I agree with you emphatically.

The attitude of some people is appalling accusing everyone getting assistance as a drug addicted, bingo hall going cretin ripping off the system. I get sick of Facebook forwards about drug testing people before they get their funding.

My best friend is on Disability because of a knee injury she suffered in her teens. She has had 2-3 surgeries a year since she was 17 (she is 26 now) with varying recovering times. Living in a small town that relies on tourism for the local economy, she has little opportunity to find work with her kind of constraints (no standing for long periods of time and moving/carrying weight is out of the question).

Of course welfare has its place. Without welfare a large enough percentage of the populace would rise up against there goverments and overthrow the tyrannical oligarchy overlords that keep the status qou! AKA the bankers and there minions the politicians.

Welfare is just another control construct essentially there to keep the poor people of our nations dumb and stupid! They give you just enough to get bye(Sometimes not even that!) but not enough to live, Methadone for the poor IMHO!

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. Welfare is fish for the poor! They dont want the poor to learn how to fish! Essentially pull themself up the ladder because then it would be crowded at the top eh?

I remember when I was a kid and my single mother started taking food stamps because she was working two jobs and barely getting by and needed to feed my brother and me. I remember that it was a hard decision for her to do it, and I also remember how happy she was when she was finally able to get off of food stamps and pay her own way.

My wife and I earn far below the poverty level and would probably qualify for all kinds of gov't help. In addition to our low income level, I have a physical "disability" (I don't consider it a disability) that would qualify me for who-knows-what. We don't take any of it. We are not hungry, we are not naked, and we are not homeless. We live within our means and are comfortable. Yes, it can be done.

So, yes, welfare does have a place. It should be a stop-gap solution to assist people who are going through a bad patch. It should be limited in duration.

It should not be a lifestyle. When it becomes such and a society develops a welfare culture, you end up with what amounts to indentured servitude. Slavery. That what permanent welfare is!

Just in my mind, SSI and welfare are different.
I have a problem with SOME people on welfare.
I had to be on it for a bit when my sons were young.
Which means I also lived in places that were rented to primarily welfare recipients.
I witnessed so much BS and "working" of the system, it was ridiculous.
I once tried to do something about it. Turning people in is the biggest joke ever.
Nothing gets done.
That is the biggest problem with the system. If they would actually do something when
a fraud claim is turned in, they could save so much money.

I agree that welfare has it's place. My mom was a single mother not getting child support and we needed it for years. It also helped my husband and I for about 6 months when we had our first child and he lost a job.

I think drug tests would help a lot with the welfare problems we have. I know 3 families on welfare and every one of the parents smokes pot and other drugs occasionally. I've actually heard the men say they're going to turn down a job offer because they'd be required to pass regular drug tests. I just can't imagine my husband saying anything like that. I'd have zero respect for him.

Feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, sheltering the homeless, caring for the sick, protecting the defenseless, assisting the weak, and enlightening the ignorant are moral duties that I agree we owe to our fellow countrymen.

That being said, each person must be their own judge, in each particular case, as to whether, and how, and how far, they can, or will perform them. There is no moral virtue in compulsory government charity, and there is no virtue in advocating it. Whenever there is a departure from voluntary cooperation into using force, the bad moral value of force always triumphs over any good intentions there might have been.

Dear OP,
Hoping you are well and back up on your feet again soon.

Of course there is a place for public assistance. Used as it was intended and not abused it is a wonderful thing. I also think we have an obligation to look after and take care of those in our own small sphere of influence to the best of our ability. If we all did this the world would be a much brighter and better place. Take care, be well.

Originally posted by lr7gmx
I have been on SSI and SSDI for five years now, with a one year break in there. I do not own a car. No home, etc. But I am fed and have been provided with a caseworker that wants to put me back to work once my medicals issues are taken care of. Please do not demean people on welfare in general. The program works for those who use it properly. Its the few bad apples that spoil the bunch.

~Mick

the problem is that welfare is a forced contribution via taxes...in the end people are being FORCED to take care of other people...its not choice, its not charity, its not out of the kindness of hearts...its because they have absolutely no choice in the matter...this pisses people off...this is irritating...this is enough to make people "gripe" about the whole process...and the "few bad apples" don't make this resentment any lighter...

Forcing one persons problems onto another person just makes sure both are burdened...in which case everyone is burdened...so yes a few bad apples are burdening everyone...when I hear someone say they "deserve" welfare all I hear is "I deserve for others to take care of me when I cannot or will not"

TBH those utilizing welfare are lucky that a little social embarrassment is all they get...you can't have your cake and eat it too...you can't force society to take care of you then expect them to praise you for that...can you??



I know I probably sound cold and callus and like a big bully meanie man for posting my opinion about it but...its how I feel..

I see both sides of this issue for sure. It should be there for those in need and it does get abused, no question.
An additional point - I was talking to this old guy years ago and he mentioned this side of it to me: It employs a lot of people (social workers and the administration etc) and the welfare cheques are being spent in the community. So, it's not like the welfare money goes down a drain and doesn't benefit anyone but the recipient. Interesting point I hadn't thought of.

Hi,
I agree with you. I was considered disabled starting in my early teens and I got SSI (except for when I was in hospitals) up until I got married at 23. I don't get it now because my husband makes a little bit over the limit but I don't mind because we have enough for rent and food and thankfully enough for the internet. (I'd be lost without the internet lol) I do miss having medicaid though but I go to a clinic for homeless/under federal poverty line people so it works out okay. Some people really do need assistance and it's sad that the "bad apples" influence others to think that we are all leeches on the system. Luckily there are people that understand that not everyone that gets assistance is bad.

And I laugh when people talk about us having iPhones and stuff like that LOL, I'm sure some people do but I buy everything I need at Goodwill and Save-a-Lot so...

reply to post by Sly1one


Taking care of each other has been the corner stone of existence until Capitalism took over. The Anti-Welfare/Income Assistance attitudes are symptomatic of buying into the system.

Like I said, about my best friend, she wants to work or else she wouldn't continue to have surgeries and experimental therapies to try and fix her knee. I am glad that some of my tax dollars goes to keep her off the street, fed and clothed.

Originally posted by METACOMET
Feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, sheltering the homeless, caring for the sick, protecting the defenseless, assisting the weak, and enlightening the ignorant are moral duties that I agree we owe to our fellow countrymen.

That being said, each person must be their own judge, in each particular case, as to whether, and how, and how far, they can, or will perform them. There is no moral virtue in compulsory government charity, and there is no virtue in advocating it. Whenever there is a departure from voluntary cooperation into using force, the bad moral value of force always triumphs over any good intentions there might have been.

I completely agree...couldn't have said it better and the big difference is between voluntary and forced...

I am a charitable person and have helped out friends and family in times of need voluntarily....force me to do it though and you get a completely different response...

Cutting funding for welfare/income assistance/SSI/SSDI will not mean lower taxes. It just means the tax money being collected will be allocated to another area of government. I'd rather keep it where it is than to go to military.

Originally posted by MonkeyFishFrog
reply to post by Sly1one

 

Taking care of each other has been the corner stone of existence until Capitalism took over. The Anti-Welfare/Income Assistance attitudes are symptomatic of buying into the system.

Like I said, about my best friend, she wants to work or else she wouldn't continue to have surgeries and experimental therapies to try and fix her knee. I am glad that some of my tax dollars goes to keep her off the street, fed and clothed.

I am glad you can contribute to your friend in need...but why-o-why do you need to support a system that forces millions of others to do so? I mean no offense but your friends problems are not mine...and I have enough of my own problems and my family and loved ones own problems that I don't need your friend who I don't know to be piled up on top of that...

As her friend and loved one that would be your "moral obligation" now wouldn't it....please explain to me where I am in that equation and WHY it is I need to be forced to be there???

As far as taking care of each-other goes...yes but it has always been family, friends, loved ones to do that...not a forced, contrived veil of charity draped on people you have never met and honestly could care less about...until you need their assistance that is...

Originally posted by MonkeyFishFrog
Cutting funding for welfare/income assistance/SSI/SSDI will not mean lower taxes. It just means the tax money being collected will be allocated to another area of government. I'd rather keep it where it is than to go to military.

who says it needs to go to military...don't dismiss one problem because of a bigger problem...how about that tax money going to education? or to cut the deficit...or to veterans assistance? or....or....or...

reply to post by lr7gmx


I hope you get back to work after your medical issues are fixed. You can sell your laptop or phone, and cancel your internet provider if you need money....

Best of luck to you!

We don't demean all people on welfare, just the ones who abuse the system! And that is like politics, more abuse than not!!

You have more kids because you WANT kids and a family, not to collect a paycheck from them and teach them how to work the welfare system early in life.......

I don't have a problem with someone who needs help getting it. I was there once. I have a problem with the criteria that determines who gets helped. I had hurt my back at work and the company screwed me out of Workman's Compensation. (not a corporation, a little Mom and Pop shop) I ended up on unemployment until it started to run low and I was told to be at a meeting at the Employment Office. At this meeting, I found out that I qualified for a grant to go to college. As part of this program, I was entitled to Food Stamps and Medical Assistance. When I went to apply for these I was told that I didn't qualify. When I asked why, I was told that I didn't meet the requirements. I wasn't a minority, a woman, disabled, alcoholic, drug addicted, I didn't have AIDS, hadn't been to jail and several other things. The caseworker there told me to quit school and find a job. I didn't quit school and by the time I graduated my back had healed enough for me to work in my new profession.