"If a man will not work, he shall not eat."
Thank you Mr. Roosevelt for your outstanding New Deal policies! Now we have a great system of high taxes so that we can hand out money to freeloading Americans unwilling to make something of themselves. Now, I do understand our current welfare state was really not transformed into this soul-sucking giant until the 60s...but it had to start somewhere, right?
"If a man will not work, he shall not eat."
In fact, since 1964, the US government, in it's infinite wisdom on this matter, has transferred over five trillion...TRILLION...with a T...from taxes on the rich and middle class to the poor and unemployed. This money was just handed out, with nothing expected in return. What am I getting at? WE, the MIDDLE CLASS WORKERS are paying for the POOR of this country to live. Welfare was designed to help the poor and get them to stand on their own feet. Yes, some people deserve this help. Examples range from disabled veterans, orphans, handicapped, mentally retarded, and other people with disabilities. This does NOT include people who just don't WANT to work. Some families are becoming third and fourth generation welfare families! They have the ability to work, but they do not have the drive. Should they be living off of us who DO work? "But Matt, that is not not a very Christian thing to say...Christians should ALWAYS help the poor." On the contrary, we need to look to the Bible about this situation.
"If a man will not work, he shall not eat."
Lets take a gander at 2 Thessalonians 3, verses 6-12. I can summarize those verses with the last 10 words of verse 10: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat." That is a pretty straight forward verse. There is really no other way to take that statement. And considering the Bible is the breathed word of God, and doesn't just contain God's word, we know this must be a law we should follow, yet we don't in our society today. In Timothy 5:8 he says, "If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. Before this welfare state got out of control we had families help one another, not the government.
"If a man will not work, he shall not eat."
1 Timothy 5 speaks about this when it comes to widows. "But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God." This is for widows over 60 years old, as stated in verse 9; If they are younger, they should remarry, so that society does not have to pay for them. Today, we refuse to help each other in our family because we feel it is not our responsibility, even though we have clearly been told that it in fact is.
"If a man will not work, he shall not eat."
Now don't get me wrong. I am strongly against the current welfare state, but I do not think that we should completely desolve it by any means. By giving out entitlements to the poor (free handouts), I believe we are weakening them. They do not learn the value of self-discipline or hard work. They should not be depending on the government to give them OUR money for FREE. Instead, I propose we begin to switch to a revised system of workfare. The money is not handed out for free. You receive your benefits when you do work. It is a small amount of work at first, and will gradually build the individual up so that they can become a productive worker in our society. We should make the states responsible for their respective citizens, and make them responsible for distributing the funds for these people. Also, illegals should have no right to our welfare system. They are here ILLEGALY, therefore they should not have equal treatment as a citizen would.
"If a man will not work, he shall not eat."
We are throwing billions of dollars each year at this "problem" of the poor, and the situation has not improved. In fact, poverty is increasing. That MUST mean that something is wrong with our system. I know from what I have been told from people who work at welfare agencies that people come in in name brand clothes, driving nice cars and demand their welfare check or their food stamps. This has to stop. People should not expect to get a free ride through this life.
"If a man will not work, he shall not eat."
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
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2 comments:
The plight of America's poor has a great deal more to do with simply a lack of drive. It is simply unfair to blame the poverty of the impoverished on a mere lack of initiative. Indeed, simply handing cash to poor, uneducated Americans is not always the best form of welfare.
Welfare should instead start far lower than cash to poor adults and single mothers. Funds should be allocated to the children. If children could be granted better education, they would be better prepared to lead productive lives. Instead the same cycles reciprocate through multiple generations. The apple does not fall far from the tree regarding the children of welfare recipients. But if we could somehow induce the children to be different than their poverty stricken parents, the situation could in time be largely remedied.
The welfare reform system of 1996, PRWORA, worked wonders with reducing the amount of welfare recipients in America. This system, now expired, functioned by placing a limit on the amount of time someone can remain on welfare. It introduced incentives for the poor to find jobs, and reduced the rate of cutoff of welfare when jobs were found. It also required welfare recipients to meet certain conditions for the aid, to reduce chronic laziness.
But surely the issue of poverty in America is due to more than simply laziness. Overall, for poverty to reduce significantly, an effort must be made with our nation's children, the generations of the future. Pre-school programs have proven to be among the most cost-effective systems of federal aid in helping the poor. They increase education rates throughout the lifespan, which in turn translates into a higher income and the reduction of crime. If our nation's unequal education system can be made more just, and children throughout America can receive a good education, a large step will be made in reducing poverty.
It seems that welfare and many similar programs simply aim to treat the symptom rather than get to the deeper, more difficult issues with a long-term solution.
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