Do you support the idea "If you do not work you do not eat"?

Question

I do! I am sick of my taxes supporting generations of feckless lay abouts. Some would come crying "What about the young, old and sick"? Well my retort is let charitable societies take care of them. Allow government to do what it was supposed to and that it protect property and preserve law and order. Bring back the workhouse, poor house and debtors prison and free the taxpayer of supporting the "new leisure class."

Answer 1

And I hope that if they do, people like you would be the first to have a run of bad luck, fall sick, lose job and end up in the Workhouse.

Answer 2

Amen, brother. I am happy to give someone a hand up, but not a hand out.

We had a Catholic priest in Detroit, who's name eludes me right now.

He raised funds to take the homeless of the street, teach them a trade and then get them into the work force.

He taught them the love of God and the pride that can be taken in ones life from a good days work.

We owe it to the old and infirm to care for them. Oops, the compassionate conservative is popping out of me.

The people that get me are the ones that spit out kids right and left and expect society to pay for them. If you can't afford your kids, then why do we have to pay for them?

I hear people defend these welfare moms, that they are doing the best they can and that is sometimes true.

I will tell two stories. First, I am in sales and as all salesmen we have good and bad weeks. I was having a bad week moniteraly, but my son needed formula.

I scrapped together what I had and went to the store. This welfare mom, dressed better than me, was walking around with her two kids, buying cigarettes and complaining that WIC only paid for the less expensive formula that she was getting for free. She was complete white trash.

Then another source of fraud on the system is single moms and Section 8. For those who are not familar with Section 8, it is a HUD program that is adminstered by local manicipalites. It provides money to pay the rent for a single working mom below the poverty line.

In theory, this sounds like a great idea. If they are willing to go to work, I feel that we can help them out a little.

The way it works is that they get a voucher from the local HUD department. If it is a mom and two kids, she will a get voucher for a 3 bedroom upto a certain amount of money. Usally it will be in the $600-$800 range.

Then the recepient goes and finds a local landlord that is willing to take the voucher and then the government pays the landlord. The renter is, in most cases, is required to pay about 10% of the rent themselves directly to the landlord.

The landlord rarely will see that 10% and the renter is offended that they even ask for it. Then the woman will move a boyfriend into the house. They will not get married, because then they loose their meal ticket from the government.

The law says you may only have the mom and the kids in the house, but it is rarely enforced. Lastly, it used to be if a HUD tenant tore up the house or apartment the government paid the landlord to fix the home and the tenant would not get a new voucher until they repaid the government.

Now, HUD pays nothing and on top of that, unless the damage is agregis, HUD will give them another voucher to go tear up someone elses house.

Answer 3

No. Some people, through no fault of their own, are unable to work to support themselves. This is usually a temporary situation which, with a modicum of help, will be corrected. Your 'solution' would just create misery and destitution - why do you think workhouses and the poor laws were abolished in the first place?

Answer 4

To go down the roads you have just mentioned, you must do well to ensure the employed cease to pay taxes and national insurance contributions to the exchequer. You cannot continue to insist they pay towards welfare and safety-net promised as part of the contribution package, only to deny them the right to their contributions.

Hoping to return to days when 'Self-help' was the norm and only the privileged and strong survived, does not bode well for today's society. We cannot run away from the fact that there will always be the poor and needy in our society. It is not a new phenomenon, but something that has transcended the years.

Every able bodied man and woman should be encouraged to work and contribute their fair share towards meeting the ever increasing demands of our humanitarian welfare state. The Exchequer should do well not to overburden its citizens with higher taxation, only to misuse their contributions in supporting the USA in Iraq - funds that could have been used to lighten tax burden on many on low wages.

We must not ignore the needy, but must strive to weed out the lazy and work-shy in our society who do not contribute their share to our society, but are willing to live off others hard earned contributions.

Answer 5

I couldnt have put it better myself with the exception of the elderly. Pensioners have paid into the system but the pension is unfair. Many pensioners get much more than others, it should be a standard pension for all.
Children should be subsidised by their parents, NOT the taxayer and if the parents refuse to work to support their families, let them -as you said- go into a workhouse.
The benefits system in this country was meant to be a safety net in times of hardship, NOT a way of life.

Answer 6

Charity begins at home. If you cant take care of your family then don't have one. If you cant take care of your self then go enlist. In this age of entitlement these scum bags feel they deserve things and that is what is wrong with our society. Look around you that is what is being sold to America. McDonald's says your DESERVE a break today, no one deserves anything. You need to work for it. If you cant work that is a different story, but that doesn't mean you deserve a flat screen TV, cable and a cell phone. If you can talk be a telemarketer, if you can walk deliver papers. dig a damn ditch, just contribute vs. taking. Get off you ***, turn off Springer and do something constructive.


Great, now im all P iss ed off

Answer 7

What about people born with physical or neurological problems? Germany had the solution in the forties. I still pay taxes on my pensions and I agree there are a lot of free-loaders but care must be taken to protect the genuine cases.

Answer 8

Agree with you.. "Benefits" Why do I bother working getting up at 4:30 every morning, working hard all day and hoping to see my kids, before they go to bed at 7:00.pm.. Why, because I am proud working.. Too many people milking the system and getting away with it. Put them in the Army, send them to Afghanistan, let them see what real life is... Sorry to those that can't work.

Answer 9

I think that as a society, we do have a responsibility to care for those who are unable to work through no fault of their own, within reason.
If a person has worked for an amount of time and is subsequently made redundant due to the failure of their employer or such events, they should be entitled to a period of support relative to their time paying taxes. After this time, they should be expected to provide for themselves.
In the case of those injured in their line of duty, particularly those in the defence of the country or public (Armed Forces/police), I believe there is a direct responsibility of the public purse to provide care and support.
I don't think that social welfare should be a bottomless pit of money, but I think there should be a safety net for those who fall on bad times.
That was the intention of Nye Bevan's national health service, too.
If we streamlined the NHS in the UK to provide emergency and non-incidental care, the NHS would be world-beating again!

Answer 10

To a degree. There are exceptions to each rule and things should be looked at on a case to case basis. I had a neighbor who was living off disability & welfare who just got drunk all day, partied, caused trouble, sold drugs, worked for money under the table occasionally and caused me to move because I wanted to live in peace. Before this experience I was considerably more charitable, but sometimes work is the best thing for people.

Answer 11

Perhaps a bit extreme. But never the less it has reached a point where Criminals seem to have more rights than the victims don't know about the workhouse but if you refuse work you should loose your benifits. Theres plenty of work out there.