Well, well you need to take a real HARD look at the "poverty" level of those 40 million people. For example, there was a wonderful picture floating around the internet of a man at a free soup kitchen. He couldn't afford to eat, but oh, he was taking a picture of Michelle Obama who was working the soup kitchen with his $600 Blackberry that costs over $100 a month in fees. One of my clients is located in one of those poverty zones where it is nothing but government supported housing. When I have to go to his office I have to pass the neighborhood school in that "poverty" area. As the kids are coming out of school I see them wearing leather sports jackets and having $500 Nikes. I don't buy that stuff for my kids, but people on welfare can buy it for their kids. If you think our capitalistic system is so bad then you are entirely welcome to come over to this side of the Atlantic and pay for gold teeth and tatoos and bling and expensive cars and the list goes on and on. The "poverty" you speak of is one of government created entitlements that allow people to suck off the system for generations and generations. Come over sometime and I'll be glad to take you down through some of the "poverty" areas and you can count the Cadillacs, Lincolns, Lexuses, and BMW's that these millions of downtrodden people are "forced" to drive because our system has let them down.
In Canada for a while here we had a system that was nicknamed Workfare. Like welfare you would get a cheque but there were stipulations. IE you had to prove that you had spent X number of hours a week actually searching for work, doing interviews, etc. I'm sure there were other stipulations but I didn't pay that much attention back then. Yes, welfare will help keep some people lazy and sucking off the government tit but I think there are more people who legitimately need it. There are definitely ways to give social assistance without making it just a blind handout.
There is no abject poverty in the US. If there were some of these lazy SOB's would get a job. Our illegals live better than most of the worlds population. This is supposed to be the country of equal opportunity not equal results. The lazy need to suffer for being lazy just as the ambitious need to prosper. I see a very fat woman begging at an intersection in Boston frequently. She is holding up a sign that says "hungry and homeless" All I can think is that she hasn't ever been hungry in her life and it would do her some good.:aktion040: Oh for the days of personal responsibility. Enjoy: http://www.theonion.com/video/in-the-know-should-the-government-stop-dumping-mon,14289/
No one is binned or relegated to a permanent state of poverty in America - Never. The great thing about America is that there is always opportunity to better yourself, but it takes genuine HARD WORK! Everyone has the opportunity to get a 'free' high school education. There are also grants, scholarships, and guaranteed loans available for a higher college or trade school education. For example: My father worked hard in a blue collar job to provide all he could for a family of six. My parents did not have money to send me to college, but I did not let that stop me. I was determined to go to college and get a good paying job after graduation. I funded my own college education, tuition, books, etc by working multiple menial jobs applying for scholarships, & loans. It was all hard work, but it definitely paid-off. Furthermore, the thing I DO admire about Obama is that he has showed that minorities can also be extremely successful in America. Obama grew-up without the benefit of a father and he was raised by his grand parents who were not wealthy. He studied at Occidental College in Los Angeles for two years. He then transferred to Columbia University in New York, then eventually became a US Senator, then President of the United States. Obama himself disproves the myth that the cycle of poverty cannot be broken. There are countless other stories of people who choose to use the american principles of capitalism and self reliance. Perhaps you've seen the movie "The Pursuit of Happyness" where Will Smith portrays the real life story of Chris Gardner (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Gardner). At one time he was a penniless black man that lived on the street & stood in soup lines with his young son because he lost his job and was homeless. Using the American principles of capitalism and self reliance he ultimately became a self-made millionaire, entrepreneur, and CEO of his own stockbrokerage firm. He would have never achieved this success had he relied on Government hand-outs. Too many people would rather take hand-outs from the Government than struggle to work hard in order to better themselves. Today, kids would rather drop-out of high school and join a street gang to sell drugs and make easy, fast, money. Moral of the story: Bad choices and taking the easy way out will always hold you down and prevent prosperity & success.
Having lived a good portion of my Saskatoon, I must say that Regina is a hell hole (but that's like asking a Boston native to say something nice about New York), and I was born in Moose Jaw dangit!:sauer024: lol About our military. It may be small but if countries haven't been able to sucessfully invade or take over Afghanistan for cetruries they wouldn't stand a chance if they were to invade Canada. Our gophers have bazookas!
Not everyone that is jobless is lazy. The welfare line is full of people who got laid off by the auto industry or other companies that were downsizing. You'll also find people that just can't get a job with their HS education because now a days it just doesn't cut it. A lot of the time (here at least) you'll find that the minimum wage jobs don't pay as well as welfare which mean's less food in your kid's mouths. I've known both people that abused the system and should never have gotten a dime as well as hard working people that just couldn't seem to get a break in life. One of my ex-girlfriends was on assistance for years as a single mother living in low income housing. Now she has a full time job working for the city and owns her house.
You make valid points and it is very easy for either side to point to examples that illustrate their point of view. However, the system has run amok. In certain parts of the country we have entire generations that have never worked, born to parents who will never again work. If this is socially acceptable we have a real problem. I have made the decision that having kids would be irresponsible, not because I can't afford them but because I would not want to subject a person I love to what this country is becoming. A child would be my vote of confidence that this country will be a good place for the next 80 years. That ain't gonna happen so I'll save my offspring the trouble. There is some irony in that isn't there... glumbert - Intro to Idiocracy
I have read somewhere and I don't recall where. I also don't know if this is a fable or if it is proven, but I believe it and try to live by it. The principles of it make sense to me. If people follow these four basic principles, 19 out of 20 people (95%) will not fall into poverty. (1). Complete the highest level of education that they start. -This doesn't mean university or college or whatever, but finish whatever you start even if it is only high school (2). Get married and stay married to the same person. -This one may be difficult because usually your first mate is someone that you have chosen in your twenties and people may not be mature enough in their twenties to maintain a lifelong committment, but I think if you are able to maintain this come hell or high water it will go along ways towards contributing to your financial success. (3). Never leave a job without having a better job to go to. -This one may be obvious, but we probably all know people that quit a job because they are pissed off at the boss, or they take a job because they see a few successful people in the company and think that can be them. If you are starting a business you maintain your old job until you are financially solvent enough to cut the apron strings (4). Stay away from addictions. -perhaps another obvious one, do not get hooked on gambling, drugs, alcohol, tobacco (even sex can classified as an addiction, although I believe a sex addict just has no self control and is looking for excuses...it's not my fault,... but again I digress). Any of those potential addictions done in moderation where you can stay in control may be acceptable, but as soon as you cross the line you are screwed. So those are the 4 tenants of financial success. Not success in the sense of being financially independant, but success in staying out of poverty.
It's a thorn in our side that these stories are usually closed with a thundering, "Only in America!!!". The same opportunities and success stories exist here in Canada and in Britain, Europe, Australia, New Zealand...heck all over the world. Somewhere between the great depression, which we had here at the same time as America, and now many people have developed a sense of entitlement. During the depression it was with an incredible sense of shame that people accepted hand outs. Usually they pleaded to do any kind of work in exchange. People had a sense of honour that came from "an honest day's pay for and honest day' work". I don't think the shame these people suffered from being helped was right but the pendulum has swung too far the other way. I suspect that the social assistance agencies of government today create some of the problem. They can foster that sense of entitlement and create a co-dependent relationship with the "needy". The more people that "need and deserve" assistance the more they are needed and their jobs secure. That's only one factor. I think the high divorce rate and a lack of a father's input is also part of it. To generalize, Mother's see there role as nurturers, providing for their children. Father's see their roles are instructing and preparing their children for self-sufficiency. It's a complex problem.
I definitely see what you're talking about and if the fix was easy (this applies to anything) it would have been done a long time ago. They threw out workfare here not because it didn't work but because a different government came in and dumped the program. How do you fix a problem like this in a country the size of the US.... no idea. Like you said... the system has run amok and policing changes would be an enormous task.
