August 6, 2009

Disgraceful!

In a country the size of the United States, with a population of approximately 306 million, you have to expect there's going to be some poverty. It's going to be true in a command economy (i.e. a socialist system) as much as a capitalist system. There's no getting around some level of disparity. And you have to expect that during a steep recession the number of recipients of food stamps would increase.

BUT

According to Forbes, there are some 34 million people on Food Stamps.

And while it's high, it wasn't that low 11 months ago either. According to the Forbes article;

Month Total

May09 34.409 million
Apr09 33.758 million
Mar09 33.157 million
Feb09 32.556 million
Jan09 32.205 million
Dec08 31.784 million
Nov08 31.097 million
Oct08 31.050 million
Sep08 31.586 million

That means 11.1% of the population is on food stamps. That is disgraceful in the richest country on earth. The problem is partly the government (for having food stamps so readily available, which encourages abuse) and partly the people's (some people who are getting it don't need to, they're just being lazy) and partly the recession's (at least the last 3 million people are added to the rolls during a recession).

Another disgraceful thing - the media would have been all over the last 2 million people if it had been during President Bush's first term. Not so for President Obama. Remember, he inherited this recession, Bush, who inherited a recession was never given the same leeway.

The real tragedy is that these numbers have continued to exist and they haven't been addressed. People continue to live on food stamps and start to rely on them instead of relying on themselves to get out of the social safety net the government is providing.

The United Way talks about a hand up and out of the dependency cycle, rather than a handout. If a charity can think that way, why can't the government? Unless of course it relies on the dependency cycle to keep people beholden to them and can coerce votes to those inclined to press socialism upon the masses. There's the real dependency cycle.

It's as simple as giving a man a fish versus teaching him to fish. Those who espouse indefinite welfare either wittingly or unwittingly are creating a dependent class, which the liberal elite then use to stir class warfare and argue for more of the same. It hasn't worked in 50 years to eradicate poverty or elevate the poor into higher income brackets, and it never will.

No matter what hope and change you might have been expecting, this is one area I guarantee you will not see any because there's a vested interest in seeing it continue.

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