Social Welfare and Poverty

[Unhinged Manchild]

Originally Posted by hosj

I think you fail to understand that someone cannot live on welfare/food stamps. It is not some income that allows you to live like a bum, it's supplemental income. The vast majority of people who are on welfare or food stamps actually work. The jobs these days do not pay enough to feed your family and pay the rent. The rest of the people on welfare are unable to hold jobs due to injury, etc.

Ever heard of corporate welfare? Many more of your tax dollars go to big buisnesses and defense contractors who do not need the help. So you are okay about giving money to the wealthy who do not work for it but aren't okay with giving money to the poor who work and need it?

I would agree though, in a theoretical world if someone was perfectly capable of working and there were jobs available but simply chose not to he/she should not expect society's support. However, in this world, this is not a serious problem and very rarely happens.

I know that my taxes go to the government and big businesses and all that, and I severely hate that. I'm a really laid back guy, but you'll only see the fire in me when I have to speak on things such as government, rich people, cops, taxes, and obama. And he gets a lowercased letter lol.

I understand that some people can't work, my father in law messed up his back working, and I totally respect him, he had a good work ethic But I feel like I've seen more people who are just too lazy to look for work and would rather collect unemployment.

Going through high school, I saw my fair share of rich kids being pampered by peers and teachers, it totally infuriated me. But there's no use in raising my lone voice against authority, it only makes me look crazy.

I'm fine with people who don't want to work, they just shouldn't get paid for not working, that's all. I think if people making minimum wage put their minds to it, they could live within their means. Internet and tv aren't necessary for survival. I've seen people who are on welfare who have better internet service and TV than I have (I have no cable tv, btw)

And while I may be wrong here, does that whole "debt forgiveness" thing actually take all of your debt and give you a clean slate? Cmon! I was able to pay my way through college working 32 hrs/week at walmart pushing carts, AND I went to college full time. I'm not superhuman, if I can do it, the rest of America should at least come close.

[hosj]

Originally Posted by brandonwiker

I know that my taxes go to the government and big businesses and all that, and I severely hate that. I'm a really laid back guy, but you'll only see the fire in me when I have to speak on things such as government, rich people, cops, taxes, and obama. And he gets a lowercased letter lol.

I understand that some people can't work, my father in law messed up his back working, and I totally respect him, he had a good work ethic But I feel like I've seen more people who are just too lazy to look for work and would rather collect unemployment.

Going through high school, I saw my fair share of rich kids being pampered by peers and teachers, it totally infuriated me. But there's no use in raising my lone voice against authority, it only makes me look crazy.

I'm fine with people who don't want to work, they just shouldn't get paid for not working, that's all. I think if people making minimum wage put their minds to it, they could live within their means. Internet and tv aren't necessary for survival. I've seen people who are on welfare who have better internet service and TV than I have (I have no cable tv, btw)

And while I may be wrong here, does that whole "debt forgiveness" thing actually take all of your debt and give you a clean slate? Cmon! I was able to pay my way through college working 32 hrs/week at walmart pushing carts, AND I went to college full time. I'm not superhuman, if I can do it, the rest of America should at least come close.

The problem is minimum wage is not enough to live on anymore. 7.25 an hour does not pay enough. In the past 50 years, workers have produced more and more, and corporate profits have risen but the minimum wage, and wages in general, have not risen accordingly. This is the main cause of the increasing inequality. We need tougher regulation on big banks, we need to eliminate corporate welfare and instead cut taxes on small businesses, we need to eliminate tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas, raise taxes on the wealthy, cut taxes for the middle class.

The reason we can't do this is because the people with power in our democracy are the wealthy who can basically buy elections due to citizens united. They are able to convince people that the problem in this county is the poor who are "moochers" and "bums" and "living off welfare" when the real problem is that all the wealth in this county is just flowing upward to the very wealthiest. The most important thing we need to do is take back the government by overturning Citizens United, and create public funding of elections so politicians do not need to cater to big businesses.