Stop saying we spend too much on welfare, its the opposite

[Waffles731]

I see people complaining about welfare queens all the time on here. Today I'm going to talk about something personal. something that really bothers me.

I'm going to tell you about someone I met.

Lets call them X for the sake of their privacy and out of respect for their dignity, X is a schizophrenic, X is completely unable to work. X is simply too mentally ill to hold a job of any sort but does X get the government assistance that anyone could tell that they need, no X does not. X has applied for two whole years to get on government assistance for their problems that are no fault of their own and the last time I saw X they were still trying, now X, X is lucky enough to have a parent to take care of them but many people in X's situation do not. Many people like X are homeless. A full 22% of homeless suffer from a severe mental illness and can you honestly look me in the eye and tell me that is their fault, that they are a leech on society who is simply unwilling to work. No they are a human being who is suffering and any person with a heart should think nothing less.

if you believe that its okay for us have a military that is the highest in the world, and higher than the next Seven countries combined and tell me that we should cut welfare and let people like X starve. To let people like X live on the streets. Then you're right that society has a cancer, and its not people like X and its not welfare, its people like you.

The societal cancer is people like you who are okay with spending far more on killing others than you are on helping the lives of your own fellow Americans. Then its you who is the societal cancer, its you who is the problem and its you who has less morals than you're average criminal, at least they admit what they are.

[SlightlyCrazy]

People are so self centered they fail to see collective good. They are shortsited. They listen to those who beat their chest, the powerful. Those who don't care for the commoner. All because they are simple minded scared creatures who's morphine is the distraction of another war

[BellePepper]

And spending money to help alleviate poverty and homelessness actually *saves* money.

[LiveFreeorDieHard]

I actually think we should scrap all welfare and put it all together under a single program. Everyone will be required to have a bank account. Anyone who takes home less then 15000 in a year after taxes will qualify for a stipend of 600 dollars. But that's it. Food water and is that somehow helps pay for some shelter then cool. People who actually need it would get it and it would do more help since its cash and no one would ever have an accuse to starve. Oh it's also cheaper as well.

[LiveFreeorDieHard]

What do you think of my plan though?

[Waffles731]

Honestly, Finland is trying something similar and I'd wait to see how it goes

[LiveFreeorDieHard]

Ahh ok. I thought that was honestly the best solution to the welfare state without the negatives. No giant beaocracy to manage it and it's easy to use as it's all cash. If individual states want to take it further by building low income apartments or kick in an extra two or three hundred dollars to their residences then go for it.

[Izumiblu]

Its not enough to just spend more money.

Research... Harvard Quarterly Journal of Economics... demonstrates that increasing social welfare spending restricts growth.

If you want to help person X and the next generation person Y and the next generation Person Z, you need to invest in the economic engine as well as restructure redistribution methods. ALtering ratios of spending without increasing the size of the economic engine results in costs that over run the return of benefits.

You can increase the efficiency of every dollar spent by increasing speed of money and then increase the amount spent in total by increasing the size of the economic engine. De-regulation in the right places, tax reform and investment in future growth frees more money to spend, whereas increasing benefits without altering economic or tax policy restricts available resources.

[madhatters4]

great take. a common belief held by many is that people on welfare are lazy sucking on the government teat and while there is plenty of fraud in our welfare system there are still tons of people who require it and the better job we can do addressing these situations the more we can save on healthcare and other things

as you stated we spend far too much money on military/defense, more than even the top ranking officials in the military say they need.

[Redstang88]

The problem is welfare going to people who just choose not to work.
If someone is truly incapable of working. fair enough. But for those who simply don't want to, they should get off their ass and get a job or starve for all I care.

[Blueeyes81]

The problem with that is that they often have children. It's a shitty deal, cut off a lazy parent and make the inocent kids go hungry. Welfare is not black or white but shades of grey.

[Viperkiss]

Great take.