Welfare

[hellbound]

Are Wellfare queens an actual thing?

Or is that just a race bating myth that Reagen capitalized on?

They are real. I couldn't possibly speculate how common it is vs. somebody who uses the system for a leg up while seeking work or raising their kids on low pay, but I've personally seen them in action. Fat women with several kids in tow, shopping cart(s) full of junk like twinkies, soda, chips, packaged mac and cheese, etc., paying with EBT and getting into a nice Escalade. People talking about the best way to milk the system and hide income so they get more. Once outside a 7-11 a man told me he'd sell me $100 worth of "food stamps" (I don't know how since it's usually done on EBT cards) for $50 so he could buy cigarettes and beer, I shit you not. It hasn't happened to me frequently, but almost 8 years of living in a fairly poor city and you'll come across it.

 

[Carlson]

Are Wellfare queens an actual thing?

Or is that just a race bating myth that Reagen capitalized on?

They are real. I couldn't possibly speculate how common it is vs. somebody who uses the system for a leg up while seeking work or raising their kids on low pay, but I've personally seen them in action. Fat women with several kids in tow, shopping cart(s) full of junk like twinkies, soda, chips, packaged mac and cheese, etc., paying with EBT and getting into a nice Escalade. People talking about the best way to milk the system and hide income so they get more. Once outside a 7-11 a man told me he'd sell me $100 worth of "food stamps" (I don't know how since it's usually done on EBT cards) for $50 so he could buy cigarettes and beer, I shit you not. It hasn't happened to me frequently, but almost 8 years of living in a fairly poor city and you'll come across it.

I wouldn't use a vehicle as a sign of wealth and prosperity. It's very easy for someone to fall from wealth and still have a vehicle that they paid off, or be gifted a car, or inherit it.

 

[The Dude]

I wouldn't use a vehicle as a sign of wealth and prosperity. It's very easy for someone to fall from wealth and still have a vehicle that they paid off, or be gifted a car, or inherit it.

Not many people go from being able to afford a $65,000 SUV to "Shit, now we're so broke we need food stamps." Welfare queens are a thing, and not a new thing. There are third, fourth, and even fifth generation Queens now. They get somewhere between their freshmen and senior year, get pregnant, drop out, and go on the government dole. They then learn that more bastard children = more government duckets and so have more kids.

 

[Carlson]

I wouldn't use a vehicle as a sign of wealth and prosperity. It's very easy for someone to fall from wealth and still have a vehicle that they paid off, or be gifted a car, or inherit it.

Not many people go from being able to afford a $65,000 SUV to "Shit, now we're so broke we need food stamps." Welfare queens are a thing, and not a new thing. There are third, fourth, and even fifth generation Queens now. They get somewhere between their freshmen and senior year, get pregnant, drop out, and go on the government dole. They then learn that more bastard children = more government duckets and so have more kids.

Sure, Welfare Queens exist. So do drug users on welfare; didn't mean that when Florida enacted mandatory drug testing for welfare recipients, more than about 2% actually failed the test. Just because you can find accounts of the people existing doesn't mean that they're at all a major thing.

In reality, people who abuse welfare are few and far between. Welfare suffers from a huge number of myths, primarily touted by right-wingers who want to stop government assistance for the poor and talk about your bootstraps a lot.

 

[Holdek]

They then learn that more bastard children = more government duckets and so have more kids.

 

[A-Stump]

That's actually how it is though. Around here I think it's like 200 dollars in foodstamps per child, regardless of age. Go to a Wal-Mart at midnight on the first and you will see first-hand what this nonsense is. Fat ladies beating their sunken eyed children and pulling around two carts full of junk food. I do most of my shopping at night because usually it's completely dead and I won't have to wait in lines or find a parking space, foodstamp day though it's like a fucking jungle.

 

[Carlson]

That's actually how it is though. Around here I think it's like 200 dollars in foodstamps per child, regardless of age. Go to a Wal-Mart at midnight on the first and you will see first-hand what this nonsense is. Fat ladies beating their sunken eyed children and pulling around two carts full of junk food. I do most of my shopping at night because usually it's completely dead and I won't have to wait in lines or find a parking space, foodstamp day though it's like a fucking jungle.

Anecdotal accounts are wonderful, but they don't prove anything.

Again, saying "They exist" is not the same as "They're prevalent enough to force us to change the system."

 

[A-Stump]

Why is the system the way it is anyways? I understand not letting people go hungry but why the fuck should I be paying into a system so poor people can go out and buy soda, snack cakes, and frozen pizzas? Give them a food ration. If they don't want to eat it, tough titty


Beans, lentils, any dry protein that can last a long time
Eggs
Milk (powdered or fresh, whatever)
Big blocks of government cheese
Fresh vegetables/fruit allotments
Bread or crackers

There you go, a humane way to feed the poor and to stop misuse of funds

Edit: When I was a kid we ate soup beans at least twice a week and I didn't die. We were poor as shit and ate things that most people probably wouldn't even touch these days, but food is food and if you're destitute enough to need charity then you shouldn't be picky.

 

[Carlson]

Why is the system the way it is anyways? I understand not letting people go hungry but why the fuck should I be paying into a system so poor people can go out and buy soda, snack cakes, and frozen pizzas? Give them a food ration. If they don't want to eat it, tough titty


Beans, lentils, any dry protein that can last a long time
Eggs
Milk (powdered or fresh, whatever)
Big blocks of government cheese
Fresh vegetables/fruit allotments
Bread or crackers

There you go, a humane way to feed the poor and to stop misuse of funds

Edit: When I was a kid we ate soup beans at least twice a week and I didn't die. We were poor as shit and ate things that most people probably wouldn't even touch these days, but food is food and if you're destitute enough to need charity then you shouldn't be picky.

They were given money to buy food. If that's what they're doing, they aren't doing anything wrong; it may seem "wrong" for them to buy cheap junk food, but they suffer the consequences if they choose to buy something unhealthy.

If you don't want them to eat frozen pizza, tough titty. I don't see why they should be forced onto any kind of diet; it's useless complication to the system that does nothing but make you feel better.

 

[A-Stump]

Well, now I know you're plain ridiculous

You had my goat for a short while but now I just see you're clueless. Good run though.

 

[Picklepower]

Its a generalization to say, "poor people on food stamps are all fat women with their dumb kids, getting junk food" I cant trust your anecdote, because you probably didn't notice the people that didn't confirm the picture you want to paint of the poor. I don't completely disagree with your idea, that food stamps shouldn't go to junk food. But I'm sensing that your really annoyed by the poor. Oh and don't think I didn't notice how you called the cheese, GOVERNMENT CHEESE, that sounds like a cheap little jab at those people, that is really gross of you, and not clever, in fact that phrasing makes you sound like a dick.

 

[A-Stump]

Government cheese is a real thing. It wasn't a 'cheap little jab', it's a huge block of cheese traditionally produced for governmental food programs.

 

[Picklepower]

I knew it was an expression, I read your statement wrong I guess.

 

[A-Stump]

No not really, I was completely sincere with what I said and there is nothing wrong with government cheese/butter rations. I think even having subsidized food stores like I think (Denmark?) has would be better than the current system. Those stores have heavily reduced food prices and provide nutritious things for people to eat.

 

[Picklepower]

Oh ok that's cool, I misread.

 

[Duke Nukem]

I'm on welfare and I love it. Getting free money from Uncle Sam kicks ass, especially when I can use it to buy video games, junk food, tequila, and most importantly:

WEED!

 

[bradsternum]

There will always be people who work this system to their own selfish ends rather than what the money is actually for. That doesn't mean welfare is bad.

You don't earn that money just because you're mentally defective.

Ok, let's send all the retards to camps and burn them. That sounds like a good alternative. You can't just send all the mentally ill people out into the world. They cannot survive. "Sink or swim?" What if your new baby turns out severely autistic? What if when he/she comes of age, it becomes abundantly clear that he/she is incapable of working? Sure, you'll work your ass off to get her a job pushing shopping carts or whatever, but when you die, the last thing you'll think about is "Oh Christ, what's going to happen to my kid when I'm gone?"

 

[Strewth]

Overpopulation. That's the real problem. If every person in the world would kill just one other person we'd have it all completely solved.

 

[BT 075]

Overpopulation. That's the real problem. If every person in the world would kill just one other person we'd have it all completely solved.

Not just any random person though. It's more a matter of quantity versus quality.

As for welfare? Meh. I happen to have a moderately healthy mind in a perfectly healthy body. I'm a blessed man. Some people aren't quite as lucky. My family is relatively well-to-do and I have never gone hungry for even a day. It would be very easy for me to complain about welfare and all that jazz, but I don't feel I have the life experience or the right to bitch about it.

Sure there are some things that make me shake my head a bit. It happens. Whatever system you invent, there will always be people who try to take advantage of it. And of those who try there will always be those who succeed. Those are the people I side eye.

My own parents work with children with developmental issues. Concentration problems, autism and the like. In my country parents with such children receive some money from the state. With this money they have to pay for any type of extra costs the "special" child may need, and they have to then provide proof of it being well-spent in order to maintain the flow of cash. It's not exactly a large sum and from what I can tell, it's really helpful to these people. I am not such a misanthrope yet that I wouldn't want to spend a tiny percentage of my own income in helping these families out.

Also, where I come from it is policy to have those on welfare do shit for their money, provided they are not physically disabled. They would have to clean the streets for example or volunteer somewhere. Other programs fund their education, some sort of job training or the like. They take it quite serious, with contracts and all. If they fail to cooperate the cash flow is cut.

 

[Duke Nukem]

Overpopulation. That's the real problem. If every person in the world would kill just one other person we'd have it all completely solved.

Afterwards, we can solve world hunger by feeding the dead to the poor: