So we're getting rid of Social Security and Welfare. Those systems provide money to those who are not working. The reasons they are not working can vary from disability to illness to loss of employment to lack of desire to work. I will admit there are people out there who just don't want to work. It's those people that the anti-social service people target when they talk about those who abuse the system.
My mother and I were talking about this the other day and she said something that really made me think. If we were to force everyone to work, it would strain the already tight job market. Those who don't want to work actually provide more jobs for those who do. That's an interesting point.
I have a friend who's father is one of those people who doesn't like to work. He's an artist and his health is poor. He has a new wife and a small child. There is no way he's going to work to support them if his welfare dries up. What it will mean is that his wife and child will get less support than they get now. It's possible that she'll leave him. So where will he go - to his children. This friend who doesn't want to pay into welfare because she sees her father abusing the system will have to make the choice to support him completely. She can turn him away but that will mean her sister will have to support him (her brothers are not in a position to help). Having him on welfare actually keeps him from being a burden to his family.
I have an opposite example - we have a friend who wants to work but he's disabled. In the past he's gotten jobs and worked until he can't and then he quits. He has a mental disability which has lead to a physical disability. He's spent time homeless, during which he was subjected to horrible abuse. Because of his mental disability, he's not educated and he makes poor decisions. He makes friends easily but many of his friends take advantage of him. We got him on disability several years ago. During all this time, he's managed to stay in the same home. He gets adequate food and medical care (medical care for several issues that could have been prevented with adequate medical care earlier in his life). He still has problems with people taking advantage of him but he's finding less problems with the law and can recover from the situations far easier.
No one really thinks about how other people on social services will affect them if the social services are gone.
During the foreclosure crisis (when it was first made public), my mother asked an interesting question - who pays the taxes on the houses? The owners of the house are not paying taxes because they no longer own the house and the mortgage companies are not going to pay anything towards the house since they are already losing money. What happens - the city loses money, money that would pay for road repairs, city employees, schools, hospitals, fire and police departments.
What happens if people stop receiving money from social services? They can't pay their bills. How does this affect everyone else? Well they can't pay rent so the owner raises the rent for the next tenant to cover lost rent. They can't pay their electric bill or water bill - the prices go up for everyone else to cover the loss.
We won't pay into social services but we will still pay to support those who needed it in the beginning. There will be increases for medical charges to cover those who can't pay. Businesses may close because of the lack of income. It doesn't take much to cause a small business to go under.
In Lacrosse Washington, the grocery store closed because they could no longer afford the electric bill. It's a small poor community. As things became tighter, they bought less at the store. The store could no longer afford to cover its own expenses. No more store. No more jobs for the few that worked there. The owners no longer had an income and were far deeper in debt.
More small businesses will close, fewer jobs. More foreclosures as owners can't afford to keep up with their house payments or just decide that their rental property is too expensive to keep up with.
These are truths when it comes to the way of the world.
Let me ask you - when was the last time you gave to charity? Charities struggle and they will struggle even more when the social services are gone. I have watched my favorite support programs dwindle because their support is fading. Now is not the time to buy that big screen tv - that won't save this country. Give that money to charity, especially if you refuse to support taxes and social services.
A poem I like to refer to for any situation that involves that mentality - it won't affect me is:
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out --
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out --
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out --
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me -- and there was no one left to speak for me.
Who will you stand up for?
No comments:
Post a Comment