Piper said:
Ding ding ding!
Mr. Sallows has found the root of the issue. People in poverty are there because of the choices they make, and remain there due to their lack of ambition to succeed. People can bring themselves up if they have the desire too. If they don't, they remain on welfare because it is easier for them to do that then get a job. Such is today's world, no one wants to do any actual WORK to get somewhere, it's all "gimme gimme".
People get into poverty by virtue of the decisions they make or are a part of, they remain there by virture of their ambition (or lack thereof).
I completely agree. And I would propose the "ambition" part of the equation be that anyone who has been on welfare for over five years will be given an additional five years (pretty generous I think) and unlimited access to education/job training as well as financial planning. Daycare provided for single parents. After that, you are cordially invited to live on the street and die in a dumpster.
My comment about "wanting to live in the street" was more directed at the fact that there are multitudes of shelters and care agencies that help these people. Around here, the Salvation Army has a huge facility and always has room for more. The only thing, though, is that you can't come in drunk and you can't act like a jackass while in-house. And that is far to restrictive for the avant garde rummy dickweed street guy. We have mens, womens, girls, boys, even pet shelters. We also have detox/rehab residences for the alcoholics and drug addicts. It's a pretty easy go.
Where the system goes to a dump is when we (the employed/educated) think in terms of "I wouldn't want to live like that" and feel bad for these people. If they didn't want to live "like that" then they would feel bad and DO SOMETHING. Some university type around here must know what the unemployment rate is, and how it compares to the percentage of people who are unemployable for whatever reason. People bitch about "there are no jobs". There are lots of jobs. You may have to go to them, and they may not pay well, but they exist. You may have to shack up with a bunch of fellow hard luckers, like the immigrants wisely do, until you are better off, but they are there.
Welfare provides a comfortable living for people and provides no incentive to get off it.
Okay, we should maybe talk about the sentencing, or lets set up a Welfare People Suck thread.