Results 1 to 10 of 15
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08-31-2012, 04:48 PM #1
Just saw this and had to post it.
I rarely post on here, but I found this very interesting and wanted to post it.
http://www.latimes.com/business/mone...,3323996.story
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08-31-2012, 05:11 PM #2
I don't disagree with her per se, though I have to point out that no one can work all the time with no recreation, rich or poor.
I won't deny that many who complain can cut several things before I will have any sympathy/empathy.
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08-31-2012, 05:21 PM #3
Poor people have fun?
LOL, I missed the memo.
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08-31-2012, 06:02 PM #4
My wife is a bank teller. She tells me that "Welfare Wednesday" (it is always a Wednesday) is the worst day of the month because most of the customers are either half-cut welfare recipients cashing their checks for more booze or half-cut welfare recipients reeking of marijuana. She hates it because of the stereotype it progresses, but it's the truth. Many, many welfare recipients are having fun and doing nothing else. Those people shouldn't be on welfare and I am angry over the fact my tax dollars go to those people.
Is the answer cutting the programs? No
Is it something like drug testing? Maybe, but I can understand how demeaning that is for someone who is legitimate in their welfare reception.
Alcohol testing? No, saying you're not allowed to drink a beer because your poor is stupid.
I don't know what the answer is, but I can tell you a lot of "it isn't"s. The fact of the matter is most people who actually need welfare for legitimate reasons will never even apply, never mind collect, because of the stigma created by the drunks and stoners and lazies and perpetuated by the rich (blanket term, I know) that everyone on welfare is a lazy, drunk stoner just wanting free money.
Heck, I actually know a guy who should have collected welfare for a short time between jobs, but instead opted to sell just about anything he had of value that was unnecessary (including Tvs and such). Now, that is incredibly noble, but welfare exists so those people don't have to sell everything they own just to make it to the next paying job and buy it all again new. Unfortunately, Republicans and conservatives aren't entirely wrong that people abusing the system is a HUGE problem (I also know a girl who considers jumping through the hoops of welfare to be a job). Where they are wrong is in the idea that cutting the programs will fix the problem when it will have the opposite effect. They're also wrong in thinking a free market will fix the problem of poverty among those who aren't/don't/wouldn't abuse the system.
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08-31-2012, 06:24 PM #5OPG Staff
I get the feeling you didn't really read the article...(I could be wrong)
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08-31-2012, 06:51 PM #6
Solid points, but here's what you left out:
What happens to the people who abuse the system and those that follow it once the money drys out?
Seriously, how much "Fun" can you have with the meager amount they receive?
Welfare doesn't last forever (I don't know about Canada, but in the U.S the average is about 2-4 years that a person can be on the program).
Seriously, when is it ever fun to be poor?
When is it fun to worry about not having enough to pay for your rent, food, clothes, essentials?
When is it fun to want and never have?
I don't care if there are scumbags that abuse the system the majority DON'T....and life is definitely NOT fun when you are literally living paycheck to paycheck or welfare check.
But if drinking beer, smoking weed and being lazy counts as "fun", then I don't understand "fun" anymore...
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08-31-2012, 07:00 PM #7
I want to share a quick personal story.
First of all I consider my family lower middle class, this year I spent about 4 months unemployed with ZERO benefits.
I literally had ZERO dollars of income week to week in this period.....and was forced to sell a lot of my possessions.
Since I live with my parents they provided my shelter, I had to use my savings to help out (because I wanted, not because they forced it upon me).
I was paying all of my bills with my life savings while getting nothing in return......so what did I do?
Well, aside from looking for work vigorously, NOTHING!
When you don't have money, you can't do anything.....even going to the theaters was a small luxury (well, it has become quite expensive).
The point is.....there is nothing "Fun" about being poor (IMO).
And the scumbags that abuse the system will eventually have to do something about their situation or go live in the streets or mooch off of others because that type of "lifestyle" won't last forever.
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08-31-2012, 07:11 PM #8
I posted this article because I am tired of this idea that people are poor because they are lazy and they don't work hard enough. For most people, it's not because people envy the rich, but because exploiting thousands of people by paying them as little as you can and getting the government to lower taxes on the rich and say that it is because you work harder than everybody else is pure garbage. Gina Rinehart was given about $100 million dollars from her family and her job title was given to her by her family, she didn't earn it. All this woman does is try to get more tax breaks and cut wages. I don't care what anyone says, it takes a lot of luck to become and maintain wealth and hard work guarantees nothing.
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08-31-2012, 07:12 PM #9
That's why cutting funding is not an answer...I've said that many, many times.
I don't know about the US, but another reason my wife hates welfare Wednesday is because all the recipients think (and tell her so) that she makes tons of money working at a bank while she's cashing checks for more than she makes in a month.
No it doesn't, and it shouldn't. But I promise you, as many loopholes as there are for the rich to dodge taxes, there's entitlement loopholes for the poor to collect welfare, you just have to be willing to do it. BOTH need to be closed.
It's not, unless you never look for a job and do nothing but get drunk and stoned all day every day. Then it's a blast!
How often do alcoholics and drug addicts worry about that stuff. The girl I mentioned above, when she gets her check, purchases in this order:
Cigarettes
Liquor
Weed
and with whatever's left over:
Food
Cable Bill
Rent
Other Bills
I said I know her, didn't say we're friends. She actually pays her cable bill BEFORE her electric. She says (and I believe her because she'd know) that they will cut your cable before they cut your power, so you can let the power slide for awhile.
Yes, seriously.
When you only want beer and weed and enough food to give you the energy to go get more beer and weed, you're not wanting often.
The majority of people who legitimately need welfare and would use it as intended will sell off possessions before applying for welfare. Also, I must again say that I am not in favour of cutting the programs. That won't fix the problem of abuse, it will actually exacerbate it.
And I used to live paycheck to paycheck Now I live disability check to disability check (insurance, not government), so don't try to tell me what's fun and not. I already know.
Maybe "fun" wasn't the best word. Everyone should be allowed to have fun, no matter how much money they have. Also, we're not just talking beer and weed, but every drug under the sun including alcohol and nicotine. It may not be the majority (and I do agree with that) but it is enough of a problem that something has to be done to fix it. Cutting programs or funding isn't an option, and here's why.
The problem is people abusing the system. Cut funding and the first thing to go will not be the entitlement itself, but those enforcing the qualifications and those sniffing out the abusers. Cut funding and you end up making it EASIER for abusers to do so. Cut the whole program and you're leaving those who legitimately need help out in the cold, which is something I definitely do not want to see.
Like I said, I don't know what the answer is, but I can recognize what it isn't, and I can definitely recognize that welfare isn't working as it should on both sides of the border.
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08-31-2012, 08:00 PM #10
Responses in bold.
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Originally Posted by JustAlex 
