The food stamp program has been cut back, not increased. It used to be mandatory spending, now it's discretionary. It used to be available to anyone who needed it, now people have to be elderly before they can get it.
All social benefits have been cut back in recent decades. Other than the elderly, no one gets anything.
Part of the problem is that there are far more dishonest people today than there once was. As a result, they've had to make the rules more strict in an attempt to cut out people simply taking advantage of the program. They recently found about half a million people who have been double-dipping across state lines, and about 200,000 dead people still on the recipient list.
It is possible that not enough is being done for people who need it, while also too much is being done for people who are taking advantage. It would be nice if people were honest and sorted who they are. I knew this one girl at work who was bragging how she and her family would get an insane amount of food every thanksgiving from a food bank, despite not needing it. The fact that she was talking about it openly implied that she had no consideration that it was even wrong.
OK. Fair enough. There are plenty of crooks out there, including poor people. However, your example about the food bank is an interesting one, because although they get help from the government, those are generally church programs. So, what are you saying, we should eliminate church charity programs, because people take advantage of them sometimes?
This is basically an anti-government article -- the evil government is trying to "addict" people to government assistance, so it can control them. I think this is very rarely the case, actually. The government may be trying to win votes, or reduce crime by government assistance programs, but, I really don't think there's such a thing as "addiction" to government assistance, people take it because they need it. If they had other, better options, they'd take them.
As for the girl "bragging" about food assistance, what does that even mean? Did she throw the food out? Was she so rich she didn't need any free food? Then, why take it, at all? Is it possible, that she was poor, but just wanted to brag about something, so she could feel good about herself?
I don't think we should get rid of church charity just because people take advantage. I'm saying that people should have some sense of decency, and they don't. It's probably not wrong for churches to validate people's needs so they can focus resources on those with real needs.
But when the government does it, it is not the same because these resources are acquired through force rather than voluntarily. So the government has a duty to guard against fraud.
You asked why would someone take food assistance they don't need. Because they would like to get fresh nails instead or have money to blow for a drinking night with friends. You are assuming they value honestly over convinience or luxury. But not everyone lives in our world. For some people honesty is very cheap and not even preferable. And our society has shifted toward having more and more people like that.
Log in
The food stamp program has been cut back, not increased. It used to be mandatory spending, now it's discretionary. It used to be available to anyone who needed it, now people have to be elderly before they can get it.
All social benefits have been cut back in recent decades. Other than the elderly, no one gets anything.
Part of the problem is that there are far more dishonest people today than there once was. As a result, they've had to make the rules more strict in an attempt to cut out people simply taking advantage of the program. They recently found about half a million people who have been double-dipping across state lines, and about 200,000 dead people still on the recipient list.
It is possible that not enough is being done for people who need it, while also too much is being done for people who are taking advantage. It would be nice if people were honest and sorted who they are. I knew this one girl at work who was bragging how she and her family would get an insane amount of food every thanksgiving from a food bank, despite not needing it. The fact that she was talking about it openly implied that she had no consideration that it was even wrong.
OK. Fair enough. There are plenty of crooks out there, including poor people. However, your example about the food bank is an interesting one, because although they get help from the government, those are generally church programs. So, what are you saying, we should eliminate church charity programs, because people take advantage of them sometimes?
This is basically an anti-government article -- the evil government is trying to "addict" people to government assistance, so it can control them. I think this is very rarely the case, actually. The government may be trying to win votes, or reduce crime by government assistance programs, but, I really don't think there's such a thing as "addiction" to government assistance, people take it because they need it. If they had other, better options, they'd take them.
As for the girl "bragging" about food assistance, what does that even mean? Did she throw the food out? Was she so rich she didn't need any free food? Then, why take it, at all? Is it possible, that she was poor, but just wanted to brag about something, so she could feel good about herself?
I don't think we should get rid of church charity just because people take advantage. I'm saying that people should have some sense of decency, and they don't. It's probably not wrong for churches to validate people's needs so they can focus resources on those with real needs.
But when the government does it, it is not the same because these resources are acquired through force rather than voluntarily. So the government has a duty to guard against fraud.
You asked why would someone take food assistance they don't need. Because they would like to get fresh nails instead or have money to blow for a drinking night with friends. You are assuming they value honestly over convinience or luxury. But not everyone lives in our world. For some people honesty is very cheap and not even preferable. And our society has shifted toward having more and more people like that.