Let me start out by saying that I believe it is our responsibility to help those who are incapable of helping themselves, and to assist those down on their luck to get back on their feet. Having said that, I believe the way we currently help, is no help at all, and is actually cruel.
I made a comment on soembody's Facebook posting that basically said most of what is above, but also that giving a handout to somebody who is fully capable of working only serves to drain their ambition and keep them poor, as we see daily evidence of. Here is the response that I received. "Just what makes you think that you are the "judge and jury", or can play God by determining who is capable of working, and who isn't? Can you tell when a person is physically able,and that he/she isn't suffering from a mental illness so debilitating that they can barely function and perform daily tasks that you take for granted? Not everything is black or white, there are a whole lot of gray areas in life, and if you truly believe that we're all on "a level playing field" and that we are all given the same opportunities to succeed, than that is what precisely what separates our belief in the role of Government, and allows me to wear the label of a Liberal as a badge of honor. Try changing the color of your skin and grow up in a housing project, without the love and support of your family, and tell me that we're truly all equal and born with all the same opportunities to improve our own conditions."
Here is my problem with the philosphy espoused above. First, we should assume that there is no abuse in Welfare and give everybody the benefit of the doubt that they are incapable of working. I've seen, first hand, too much abuse to accept this. And any government program should be vetted for fraud. Second, Where somebody grows up and the disadvantages they had does not make a handout right. All it serves to do is keep them disadvanted and ensure that their children grow up in the same unequal environment with the same lack of opportunity. However, helping those people climb out of that environment, giving a hand up, helps to level that playing field and presents new opportunites for them to take advantage of. Government cannot make the poor wealthy, it can only make the wealthy poor and ensure that the poor stay poor.
By saying that we should support people through welfare because their live has been hard and disadvantaged, is the equivalent of saying "I know your life has sucked so far, so take this check to ensure that your life will suck forever."
Instead of giving a check in apology for what their lives have been, we should invest in them and work with them to bring them up to a level where they can compete and succeed. This is an investment in the individual, but it does take work on their part as well. However, by investing in this person, once they succeed, they will pay back way more in taxes than was ever put into them. And, it improves the opportunity for the next generation.
Keeping somebody in a bad environment out of "compassion" is not compassionate to either that indivual or their children. It is cruel. Not to mention that we are not designed to be idle creatures, and just giving them a check takes away their reason to get up in the morning. It tells them they have no purpose. And I believe we all have a purpose. We just need to help some people more than others on their quest to find that purpose.
So why is giving them money to keep them in the projects considered compassionate at all? Isn't claiming that where they are is horrible, and yet working to keep them there, really the very heights of cruelty?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I believe I recall a blog where you were eagerly aiding your neice in her supposed need for public assistance, not to mention the way you, and your mother trashed your own sister, yet you do in fact maintain your judging ways. As you will see from your own examples, screwed up children are the products of screwed up parents.
ReplyDeletewhen it comes to family values, adultery,gay marriage and the many other topics you push your opinions on, the fact remains children live what the learn.So the next time you offer that hand up to someone try not to beat them down with the other, or is that your definition of "compassion"
My niece is disabled. One of those people who is unable to work, not one of the people who will not work. Her inability to work upsets her greatly.
ReplyDeleteMy sister was a perfect example of the hand out hurting. The more we tried to help her the less she would do for herself. The only way we got her to finally try was to stop helping unless she could show that she had been attempting to help herself. She is the poster child for what is wrong with the welfare system. Not disability, welfare.
And children may live what they learn, but they learn things from people other than their parents and places other than the home. They then choose which one of those lessons to embrace. My sister chose to embrace the hand out instead of the hard work she had learned at home. But allowing her to live that lifestyle, without forcing her to better her education and her opportunities, has served no purpose but to keep her poor her entire life. And her children learned that you don't have to work to survive and will perpetuate that.
Where is the kindness is keeping somebody who is capable of improving their life, from doing so by handing over enough money just to keep them alive? It's not kind. She would have been much better off if the county had weaned her off.