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The sense of entitlement people seem to have that Mal mentioned is a real problem. Were those that believe they are entitled to something walking around with a chip on their shoulder because of it, it would be one thing. But when it bleeds over into perverting the intent of public assistance it is another problem altogether. Public assistance should provide basic needs and promote self sufficiency for those who must resort to it. Instead in many cases it seems to provide too much of a crutch for people to prop themselves upon and never move beyond.
There are some success stories I know. A good friend of my wife was able to collect food stamps while she was going to school. This was before my wife was friends with this woman and my wife felt animosity towards this woman. Once the woman finished her education she got a job and I will wager will never be on assistance again. On the other hand, there are those who will never realize personal responsibility and ride the public assistance train off the tracks.
The ironic thing about my wife is that while she once felt resentment about someone who would later become a good friend getting food stamps, she now works for an agency that provides public assistance. Granted this agency is supposed to encourage a path to self sufficiency but I don’t see it working. This agency will pay for childcare for those looking for a job, working or going to school. I would bet that more money is spent for those “looking” for work than working or going to school.
Of course I have it better than those in my wife’s program with the things that I have worked for in comparison to what these people have had given to them. But there are still some serious cases of abuse out there I suspect. When I worked as a bagboy in a grocery store I overheard a lady discussing her husband’s upcoming hunting trip to Canada. She talked of the lodge he would be staying at and the new rifle he had purchased for the trip. She had so many groceries that I was still busy bagging them up when she paid for them… with food stamps. I took two carts of groceries out to a new Ford pickup in the parking lot. Somehow I suspect that two decades later whatever these people were doing to get food stamps is still possible to do today.
I’d like to keep public assistance programs available for those that need them but at the same time I’d like to see these people receiving benefits have to do something for what they get beyond going down and applying for benefits.
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Don't always trust the opinions of experts.
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