Jeff, I agree that greed is HUGE flaw of humans. We are way too greedy and always care about ourselves more than the next person. We are too stubborn to see that there are people in this world that need that $500 raise more than us, but we don't see that "light." Most people do NOT want to go on welfare because their sense of pride goes "out the window." They rather work their butts off then take assistance from the government. Now I am all for pride but sometimes they have to suck up their pride and go to someone else for help, no matter how bad they will feel.
I feel like politicians should NOT have an opinion on the welfare system. As you said, Jeff, these kinds of people do not know what it is like to go from paycheck to paycheck to survive or how much milk is on food stamps. Our politicians care about how much they make more than how much their constituents make, and that is just oh so sad!! I bet Brian Higgins is the only representative who actually cares more about his constituents'' salary than his own paycheck (as a local example).
~Chad S.
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Welfare vs. WelFAIR
Before I start this post for this week, I just want to give some background knowledge on how this post will work. Every couple of days, I write on my facebook group (Chadinski's Grind My Gears) about stuff that annoys me. Well this post will follow the same format.
I mean don't get me wrong the welfare system is very helpful. It "alleviate the burden of poverty of families with children and allow widowed mothers to maintain their households" according to the Aid to Dependent Child Act of 1930. However this is not how the welfare system is currently working. People apply for welfare and get it, even though a struggling mother of 2 needs it more than "that guy." According to welfareinfo.org, there are many criteria requirements that one has to meet to gain welfare in this great country. "Eligibility is determined using: 1) gross and net income, 2) size of the family, and any crisis situation such as 3) medical emergencies, pregnancy, homelessness or unemployment. A case worker is then assigned to those applying for aid. They will gather all the necessary information to determine the amount and type of benefits that an individual is eligible for."
Apparently 8% of the US' population is on welfare, or about 29,900,000 people. The US government spends roughly $131.9 billion on welfare (excluding food stamps or unemployment benefits). **That is roughly 10% of the total governments annual spending bill.** If you make less than $1,000/month, then you can qualify for welfare. The Senate Budget Committee revealed in this past August 2012 that the number of people on welfare is at the highest level this country has seen thus-far!! 1/3 people receive government assistance, aka WELFARE!! Lastly, NY State is the 5 highest welfare providing state in the nation. The worst is Wyoming at a 28% increase in 1 year (from 07-08). The best change is Rhode Island at a 13% drop in the welfare system.
For more statistics please go to:
http://www.statisticbrain.com/welfare-statistics/
http://rt.com/usa/million-us-residents-welfare-268/
http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/year_spending_2013USbt_13bs1n_40#usgs302
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/01/25/us/20090126-welfare-table.html?_r=0
YOU KNOW WHAT REALLY GRINDS MY GEARS??!! THE WELFARE SYSTEM!!!
This so-called "system" is very corrupt and undisciplined to an extent. People apply for welfare when they really don't need it. The people that truly rely on the welfare system to buy groceries do not get food stamps or money because some jerks are "milking" the system too much. I mean why the hell should a guy who makes $50,000/year try to get welfare. An average teacher makes that kind of money about 10 years into the educational field. That guy should get his head re-examined in my mind!I mean don't get me wrong the welfare system is very helpful. It "alleviate the burden of poverty of families with children and allow widowed mothers to maintain their households" according to the Aid to Dependent Child Act of 1930. However this is not how the welfare system is currently working. People apply for welfare and get it, even though a struggling mother of 2 needs it more than "that guy." According to welfareinfo.org, there are many criteria requirements that one has to meet to gain welfare in this great country. "Eligibility is determined using: 1) gross and net income, 2) size of the family, and any crisis situation such as 3) medical emergencies, pregnancy, homelessness or unemployment. A case worker is then assigned to those applying for aid. They will gather all the necessary information to determine the amount and type of benefits that an individual is eligible for."
Apparently 8% of the US' population is on welfare, or about 29,900,000 people. The US government spends roughly $131.9 billion on welfare (excluding food stamps or unemployment benefits). **That is roughly 10% of the total governments annual spending bill.** If you make less than $1,000/month, then you can qualify for welfare. The Senate Budget Committee revealed in this past August 2012 that the number of people on welfare is at the highest level this country has seen thus-far!! 1/3 people receive government assistance, aka WELFARE!! Lastly, NY State is the 5 highest welfare providing state in the nation. The worst is Wyoming at a 28% increase in 1 year (from 07-08). The best change is Rhode Island at a 13% drop in the welfare system.
For more statistics please go to:
http://www.statisticbrain.com/welfare-statistics/
http://rt.com/usa/million-us-residents-welfare-268/
http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/year_spending_2013USbt_13bs1n_40#usgs302
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/01/25/us/20090126-welfare-table.html?_r=0
In Response to "The Welfare System - What's Your Take?"
I think a good point was made that there are some of the less fortunate that
need welfare but there are also many who abuse the system. It was mentioned the
other day in class that maybe there are a less percentage of those on welfare
who abuse the system but we take that percentage and view it as everyone who is
on welfare abuses the system. There are no doubt many who don’t abuse the
welfare system and are truly in need of it, but what about those who don’t
truly need it. This is where I believe our welfare system fails majorly. I
don’t believe it’s fair that there are many adults who have earned jobs and
worked hard to be where they are and support themselves and families, yet they
have to give a percentage of their earnings to those who chose not work as
hard. There are also some families who are not on welfare that may be in some
of the same positions of those who are on welfare, but are still providing for
those on welfare. I believe that there should be stipulations and new
requirements on the welfare system. I think there should be something along the
lines of helping the participants of welfare get jobs or some type of work and
depending on conditions there should be consequences if over a certain time
they fail to do so. What do you think about the welfare system? Do you think it
is fine just the way it is, or should there be changes?
A Note on welfare
A lot of our discussion this week focused on welfare, so I thought it would be fitting to write more about it here. For this post I am not trying to gauge one's opinion on Obama or the budget or slashing welfare system, social security, or any of that. Let's look at welfare at it's basic value. We know that most people use the welfare system honestly, and that the few that do make the system on a whole look bad. Greed isn't a trait associated with people on welfare, it is a character flaw in humanity. Greed and cheating exists outside the welfare system. There are also more people that are eligible for it then cheat it, we heard about few examples saying that pride was the main reason. Many people just want to get by on their own. Yes, there are obvious problems. It was designed to be temporary, but this proved to not be the case.
But I think we can all agree that welfare, or some sort of support of support program, can be a necessity if used correctly. Unfortunately, there are poor and suffering in this country. A lot of people also say that they should have to pay for other people. But this is the essence of government to provide services to the people. The money we pay for taxes goes to numerous things, roads and highways, government programs, infrastructure, and etc. Since it is a service just like a lot of other programs, it is one's civic duty to do his role. Many of the critics of welfare are often very skeptical because they have never been in a situation where they were on welfare or a similar program, and these people have drawn a lot of support for a situation they are inexperienced in.
Are there problems with welfare? Yes. There are a lot of problems in government, not just welfare. While most of us live honest lives without poverty, lest us not forget those that struggle in this country. I think they too have a right to an honest living like every other citizen, and if welfare gives them that push or that help that they deserve.
But I think we can all agree that welfare, or some sort of support of support program, can be a necessity if used correctly. Unfortunately, there are poor and suffering in this country. A lot of people also say that they should have to pay for other people. But this is the essence of government to provide services to the people. The money we pay for taxes goes to numerous things, roads and highways, government programs, infrastructure, and etc. Since it is a service just like a lot of other programs, it is one's civic duty to do his role. Many of the critics of welfare are often very skeptical because they have never been in a situation where they were on welfare or a similar program, and these people have drawn a lot of support for a situation they are inexperienced in.
Are there problems with welfare? Yes. There are a lot of problems in government, not just welfare. While most of us live honest lives without poverty, lest us not forget those that struggle in this country. I think they too have a right to an honest living like every other citizen, and if welfare gives them that push or that help that they deserve.
Questions about welfare
I always like hearing people's opinions on welfare in my classes. However, there always seem to be a general lack of understanding and misinformation. Now, I don't claim to be any more informed or above anyone in my knowledge about social programs in the U.S. but I think that as a whole the topic of poverty and social welfare programs are rarely seriously discussed or critically looked at. Part of it is our removal from the situation. As college students we have a certain amount of privilege which not only distances us from any real understanding of impoverished neighborhoods but also of seriously considering their welfare as a serious or relevant part of our life. In short, why should I care about inner-city ghettos or impoverished areas in the mid-west?
As a topic of discourse not only is poverty/welfare generally avoided in this kind of atmosphere but there is no real advocacy or work being done to tell us that we should do otherwise (that we should care about the impoverished). It is not held as a prevalent issue in our American discourse. The only places where people seem to talk or even care about poverty is in impoverished places, but as a whole (with the exception of the "jobs" problem) poverty is not in our National scope.
So because of this, I didn't really want to make really a whole lot of claims. I simply wanted to put up some data (which admittedly can be hard a lot find sometimes) which hopefully should challenge us about our general perceptions and which which hopefully leave us with more to say than "it needs reform" the next time anyone of us is asked to speak on the issue.
http://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=110936.0
http://www.statisticbrain.com/welfare-statistics/
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ofa/resource/character/fy2010/fy2010-chap10-ys-final
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/media/news/2012/09/20/38746/think-again-ignoring-poverty-and-hunger/
http://fair.org/extra-online-articles/media-not-concerned-about-the-very-poor/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnCOutrlRRQ
-Jayson Castillo
As a topic of discourse not only is poverty/welfare generally avoided in this kind of atmosphere but there is no real advocacy or work being done to tell us that we should do otherwise (that we should care about the impoverished). It is not held as a prevalent issue in our American discourse. The only places where people seem to talk or even care about poverty is in impoverished places, but as a whole (with the exception of the "jobs" problem) poverty is not in our National scope.
So because of this, I didn't really want to make really a whole lot of claims. I simply wanted to put up some data (which admittedly can be hard a lot find sometimes) which hopefully should challenge us about our general perceptions and which which hopefully leave us with more to say than "it needs reform" the next time anyone of us is asked to speak on the issue.
http://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=110936.0
http://www.statisticbrain.com/welfare-statistics/
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ofa/resource/character/fy2010/fy2010-chap10-ys-final
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/media/news/2012/09/20/38746/think-again-ignoring-poverty-and-hunger/
http://fair.org/extra-online-articles/media-not-concerned-about-the-very-poor/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnCOutrlRRQ
-Jayson Castillo
Capitalism and Eugenics
I thought the conversation we had on eugenics was one of the more interesting ones we had this semester. One of the social characteristics that eugenics aims to weed out is poverty. The idea behind poverty is that it is a direct result of laziness. Eugenics believes that everyone should work to contribute to society and no one should be dependent on the masses. Yet we live in a society based on capitalism and a free market. Applying eugenics to the impoverished directly violates the fundamentals of capitalism. Socially demanding that everyone in society work because it is more beneficially is extremely similar to socialism. Socialism controls the labor market in order to benefit the state because the welfare of the state supersedes that of the individual. I just think that this idea is eerily similar to what we were discussing in class.
Response to 'Eugenics and Incest'
I'm not exactly sure Incest is the best idea when in comes to different ways to produce perfect traits. I actually know that it's been proven that incest can mess up the baby being born. It's effects are major, including increased risk of congenital disorders, disability and even death. So maybe keeping certain genes in the family is important enough to some people for them to follow through with it, but it's results can be extreme. I don't really see it ever coming to America because it's not something I see our culture accepting so easily. If anything, it would take a long time for the country to accept.
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