Looks like we agree on at least two things.
1. “political patronage system”. I absolutely agree that a lot of vote “buying” goes on thru these programs.
2. “I’m sorry you have so little faith in your fellow man”. You are correct, I am the ultimate cynic in most if not all areas of my life. Most of that cynicism is due to dealing with government programs and charitible programs and those that partake of each. Abuse is rampant in both. Of course there are good people on both ends.
I salute your optimism. (I’m not being sarcastic at the moment).
If the government programs were cut and sent back to the charities, the charities would be flooded. No amount of private donation could support the need.
As I originally posted...this country should not be one that has a lot of homeless starving people living under bridges. I simply don’t find that acceptable. Does the system need to be changed...you bet!
I am pleased that we are able to establish several points of common ground.
I must however reiterate my objection to the notion that should the government remove itself from this unconstitutional and corrupt field that Charities would nessarly be “overrunn”.
I would contend that many charities are already, at least in their own minds pushed to their limits. But i also beleive that many if not most people are far more capable than they are letting on to.
The fact is even the poor in this country(the receptiants of charity) live far better than they ever have, far better than the poor of any other country in the world. Perhaps infact too well for someone unable to pull thier own weght.
We have in fact defined the bottom bar far too high, far higher than many of us can reach in fact. Indeed I would go so far as to point out given our enormousness amounts of debt All the “bars”(IE Standards of living) are far higher than most Americans can reach.
We are instead using that Hamiltonian tool of Federal Debt obligations to force our children and grandchildren to pay for it. This is not only unfair to them, its unsustainable for all of us.
The mere cost of financing that growing debt going to continue to grow and consume an ever larger share of our economic output thus snowballing the need for even more debt.
Frankly speaking even the people reserving charity are reserving far more than any other generation of poor in history while doing less. Charity uses to be teaching people a skill to be self-suffent or at least feed and house themselves. Now even that is luxuriant and often impractical because any skill that we can teach them won’t necessarily produce enough in trade to reach that minimum bar(Minimum wage & benefits) just to be allowed to work!
The Government and the people controlling it have boxed us all into an impossible situation for a large share of our population. We can’t afford housing because the standards are too expensive. We can’t find work because nobody with a plan or means can make enough money off of us to meet the minimum standards required just to employ us.
Some of us can’t even afford food because again we have to not only buy it in stores(increasingly are profited from growing & hunting it ourselves) but all the food that we legally can buy has to meet FDA standards of testing and quality ect..
Frankly because of the Government Americans live in a world where they ether get top quality work, goods, & services by historic standards or they are not allowed to have anything at all. You either can reach that bar are your on the doll.