You're completely missing the point. I don't deny that there are some who need temporary help in order to overcome short-term issues. I also don't deny there is an entire class of people who need medical/mental health assistance. Those people shouldn't be on the street. It's NOT helping them to hand them cash. No matter how altruistic your intent.
I'm way older than you. I guaranTEE you without a shadow of a doubt I've spent more time working in government housing sites and with people on government assistance than you or anyone else on this board. In a prior life, I built an entire business that catered to that market.
Have you ever sat in the grease and roach-infested kitchen of a second-generation family on public assistance? I've done that thousands of times. Ever listened in as a mom told her 16-year old daughter (who already had one kid) that she needed to have another one because they "needed that check" even as she signed off to pay my company $27 a week for 18 months for a washer-dryer set (she already had a TV, VCR, stereo and living room set from us).
Ever watched a nice apartment complex turn into a war zone within a year of being designated Section 8? I've seen it numerous times.
Yes, people need help. We need to reform the system and figure out a way to cull the grifters who provide nothing in exchange for a government subsidized life.
People like Wes don't want that. They're fine with an entire class of people who will live and die without ever contributing a thing to society while they take, take, take, take, take and then bitch and moan about how they don't get enough. Why? Because those people vote for people who promise them more free shit - and then rarely deliver. Those freebies assuage the massive (and unreasonable) amount of white guilt that burdens people like Wes.
Thing is? I don't care how much of HIS money he gives to people or causes. I don't care if he takes every dime he makes and flings it out the window at "stolen valor" veterans begging for cash on every street corner. I do care when he demands I do the same, and then when I don't at a level he thinks is appropriate, he and his ilk beg the corrupt government to steal more from me in order to fund things I don't support -- like handout programs.
The problem is that the grifters and the addicts make up 90-95% of the people "in need." You cannot help them - any of them - and you cannot benefit society by GIVING them more. We should know that by now.
The point I am making is in through the lenses of morality and spiritual belief. Trying to keep politics out of it per Snags' request. I'm not arguing your stance on Government involvement, as I have worked for them before and know how highly inefficient they are at running things. I also know how carelessly they throw money at problems that perpetuate instead of solve. Agree with you whole-heartedly there.
Through that moral & spiritual piece, I know that we are called to help those in need & to witness. We as a people can do much better helping our fellow men & women in need is the only point I am trying to make. The real problem is we lack the organization and leadership to do it in the most effective way that is far reaching.
On another note, with the advances in A.I. technology, I do believe it is inevitable that jobs will be going away at an astronomical rate and that a UBI will be voted in whether we like it or not. We were supposed to work our way toward a Marty McFly future with flying cars and such. Instead, we need to go ahead and start strategizing on how to take down Skynet.
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