... Somewhere in the middle.
I found an entry in my FB page this morning, about a 21 year-old woman, who posted "PUT ME IN CHARGE..." (I quoted it below) and in my usual due dilliegence, I found it came out five years ago, by someone else.
Here it is, dated November 18th, 2010:
Put me in charge ...
Put me in charge of food stamps. I’d get rid of Lone Star cards; no cash for Ding Dongs or Ho Ho’s, just money for 50-pound bags of rice and beans, blocks of cheese and all the powdered milk you can haul away. If you want steak and frozen pizza, then get a job.
Put me in charge of Medicaid. The first thing I’d do is to get women Norplant birth control implants or tubal ligations. Then, we’ll test recipients for drugs, alcohol, and nicotine and document all tattoos and piercings. If you want to reproduce or use drugs, alcohol, smoke or get tats and piercings, then get a job.
Put me in charge of government housing. Ever live in a military barracks? You will maintain our property in a clean and good state of repair. Your “home” will be subject to inspections anytime and possessions will be inventoried. If you want a plasma TV or Xbox 360, then get a job and your own place.
In addition, you will either present a check stub from a job each week or you will report to a “government” job. It may be cleaning the roadways of trash, painting and repairing public housing, whatever we find for you. We will sell your 22 inch rims and low profile tires and your blasting stereo and speakers and put that money toward the “common good.”
Before you write that I’ve violated someone’s rights, realize that all of the above is voluntary. If you want our money, accept our rules. Before you say that this would be “demeaning” and ruin their “self esteem,” consider that it wasn’t that long ago that taking someone else’s money for doing absolutely nothing was demeaning and lowered self esteem.
If we are expected to pay for other people’s mistakes we should at least attempt to make them learn from their bad choices. The current system rewards them for continuing to make bad choices.
Alfred W. Evans, Gatesville
I can at least partially agree with Mr. Evans. Benjamin Franklin spoke on the subject of Welfare, "I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion about the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it."
There is also always more to the story. Someone always reads into others writings intent and meaning that is not there. Case in point, this reponse, posted July 16th, 2011. Because the first is a letter to the editor, I can post (with attributation) the entire letter. This is an article, so unfortunately even with attributation I cannot post the entire article. The author of this article is Mr. David Price.
Sometimes people form opinions about other people without knowing the full story. The well-traveled letter by Alfred W. Evans is a sterling example.
My 32-year-old son receives assistance from the government. He receives food stamps, Medicaid, housing assistance, Supplemental Security Income and Social Security Disability Insurance.
He needs the assistance because he is not able to work. He has had epilepsy since age 6. He’s gone through all kinds of hell for 26 years trying all sorts of drugs and operations that haven’t stopped his seizures. I would never wish his condition on anyone. Yet he lives with it. He has about five seizures a day. Can you imagine living with that disability?
Mr. Price goes on to document the every day challenges and difficulties his son faces. My only point about Mr. Price's letter is he says his son is on "Supplemental Security Income and Social Security Disability Insurance." Having extensive experience with the disability system (as a recepient and the father of a recepient) Mr. Price does not seem to realize that one person cannot be on both because they are mutually exclusive. SSI is for people who do not have a work history, SSDI is for people with a work history. When you apply for disability, you are applying for both. During the process to approve or deny your request for benefits part of the decisions include either SSI or SSDI because you can only receive benefits from one program or the other. Perhaps that is the source of his misunderstanding.
Mr. Price does not seem to realize the primary point of Mr. Evans letter. I understand Mr. Evans as referring to those who can work, however they refuse to do so.
I was employed from 99% of the time from age 16 until I was 39, when my mental illness tore my life apart. I spent ten years on SSDI, working part time most of it because of various reasons you can learn about in my archives. My son has an Autistic Spectrum Disorder which was diagnosed when he was 6 years old. He is on SSI. The last time he got on the local public transportation to go somewhere by himself, he got off at the wrong stop, became disoriented and I had to go and get him. He would love to have a job as well. My son is extremely bright and intelligent, however he is unable to handle unexpected situations on his own.
I can see both of these gentlemans' points. They are both correct, in their own context and paradigm. I firmly believe if you are able to work, if you apply for government assistance, the government should work you as hard as possible as an incentive for you to acquire a marketable skill and join the ranks of the employed. If, for some reason you are not capable to perform work, that is the true case of charity.