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My wife's sister and her husband are both unemployed and have been for almost a year. They are both collecting unemployment benefits and are on the federal extension paid by the Federal Government (taxpayers). They are also getting food stamps.
At Christmas all they could talk about was their upcoming vacation to Disneyworld. They had saved some money and would be using it to fly down to Orlando, spend a week there, and visit many of the theme parks.
Trouble is there only income is the unemployment insurance and the food stamps, so basically us taxpayers are paying for their vacation. Is it unethical for them to spend our taxpayers money to go on a vacation Florida?
But it isn't anything new. I used to work in a store off of I-95. I used to see families all of the time coming in, all excited about their travel to Disney World for a vacation - and they would pay for their purchases with food stamps, bragging about how they could "afford" it. We workers have paid for thousands of people who think that they "deserve" a family vacation - on the efforts of others. While I worked two, sometimes three, jobs to support my family and pay our bills, the entitlement mentality drifts along, thinking that the rest of the world owes them, taking whatever they can, even being arrogant about it, and blaming others for their self-inflicted inabilities and their refusal to be responsible.
Since the poor economy is not their fault, I don't see why they shouldn't be allowed to enjoy themselves some in spite of their employment situation. If they haven't already found a job locally, would the week or whatever they're away make any actual difference? I'm doubtful it would. Simply put, there are not enough jobs to go around to begin with. I'm of the opinion there's more to life in this world than working, production and money (which is only paper and ink, but that's another topic). Life is fairly short and unpredictable, so, I see no reason to sit around being miserable because of a situation caused by other people. I rarely look at Europe for an example, but in many countries there people have quite long vacations, and I see that as a good thing. America is too caught up in constant work.
I think part of the problem ( if it is a problem ) is that it's in human nature that, when we get a paycheck, we'll want to use some of that for leisure and entertainment purposes. Even people in really grinding poverty want to have fun; check out any slum in the world and you'll find some kind of entertainment. Short of starvation, there's no cut-off level where people want to stop having fun with their money.
So I suppose the question is: if we choose to support the unemployed on a societal level, does that mean we have ownership over how that money is spent?
Everyone needs a getaway vacation...I have been trying to save up for one the past 3 years...
I do not think it is ethical. It really bothers me when there is little incentive for people to get jobs instead of using government aid. Making enough in government aid to afford a drip to Orlando shows that the government is assisting too much.
I definitely believe that government funding should help people through hardships. But I also believe the government needs to re-evaluate how much they are giving out! I have friends that turned down $15/per hour jobs because they received more in unemployment. I have friends with decent paying jobs (for the area we live in), that still qualify for a couple hundred dollars a month in food stamps. I have had a very hard time finding a new job (been looking for 3+ years), and I knew that I could have collected more in unemployment instead of accepting my current position 3 years ago, however, there are people in greater need than I.
Since the poor economy is not their fault, I don't see why they shouldn't be allowed to enjoy themselves some in spite of their employment situation. If they haven't already found a job locally, would the week or whatever they're away make any actual difference? I'm doubtful it would. Simply put, there are not enough jobs to go around to begin with. I'm of the opinion there's more to life in this world than working, production and money (which is only paper and ink, but that's another topic). Life is fairly short and unpredictable, so, I see no reason to sit around being miserable because of a situation caused by other people. I rarely look at Europe for an example, but in many countries there people have quite long vacations, and I see that as a good thing. America is too caught up in constant work.
Yes it is unethical. We aren't talking about them just enjoying themselves some. Disneyworld is a really expensive vacation that a lot of working people with jobs can't afford. So, why should their tax dollars, pay for someone else to go? The poor economy isn't their fault either, but they are getting screwed. When handouts are given out to able bodied people there is always people somewhere else on the losing end.
While I agree that there is more to life than work it is way too entitlement minded to think that other people should have to pay for your fun.
My wife's sister and her husband are both unemployed and have been for almost a year. They are both collecting unemployment benefits and are on the federal extension paid by the Federal Government (taxpayers). They are also getting food stamps.
At Christmas all they could talk about was their upcoming vacation to Disneyworld. They had saved some money and would be using it to fly down to Orlando, spend a week there, and visit many of the theme parks.
Trouble is there only income is the unemployment insurance and the food stamps, so basically us taxpayers are paying for their vacation. Is it unethical for them to spend our taxpayers money to go on a vacation Florida?
I wouldn't think so, but then I'm for balance. I would say a close by day trip or two would be okay. We were on FS at one point. I did deals at the grocery store combining coupons and a store deal to get tickets for Hershey Park and we went...got the tickets down to $6ish each, and that was with the food you had to buy ...so, $25 for 4 tickets and $160+ worth of food. We also went to Gettysburg and DC.
Yes, there was some expense involved, but it was minimal and my kids didn't feel deprived.
BTW, I still do those same deals when they are available, without FS
I look on this as an example of the Unemployment insurance program working as it was designed to do. These government payments are designed to keep the supplier economy functioning. These folks are paying their bills as well as living frugally enough to save some money. They are spending that money to keep Disneyworld in business. That is what they are supposed to do.
Also looking for work can be a time consuming and deeply depressing task. I bet they really need that vacation. I believe it is an ethical use of the money. Using the money for investment would be contrary to the goal of the program and that use would be unethical.
I'm sure these individuals were paying into the system by working for god knows how many years, so they are entitled to it. So what if they go to Orlando to unwind from living crappy lives? Would you rather have them placed on house arrest for the crime of being long term unemployed?
Seriously...I'm not going to lose sleep over this like some of you clearly are.
My wife's sister and her husband are both unemployed and have been for almost a year. They are both collecting unemployment benefits and are on the federal extension paid by the Federal Government (taxpayers). They are also getting food stamps.
At Christmas all they could talk about was their upcoming vacation to Disneyworld. They had saved some money and would be using it to fly down to Orlando, spend a week there, and visit many of the theme parks.
Trouble is there only income is the unemployment insurance and the food stamps, so basically us taxpayers are paying for their vacation. Is it unethical for them to spend our taxpayers money to go on a vacation Florida?
In short, yes, definitely. There are situations where a calming vacation would give folks who have fallen on hard times the kind of peace and rejuvenation they could use to get back in the game afterward. My problem with any of this though is that there is so much abuse of resources that should be reserved for the truly needy.
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