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There is nothing wrong with wanting people to help themselves. I'm pretty sure Jesus told us to help the widows and orphans, not give handouts to people who choose not to work and choose that way living (i.e., off the gov't).
Jesus would want the churches to help the poor people who have truly fallen on bad times, the disabled, the elderly, people who have lost a spouse and children who have no parents. He wants us to help people who need it, not waste our efforts on people who simply think it's easier to take a handout and will never do for themselves. Jesus did not tell the gov't to take care of the downtrodden, that's part of what tithing is for.
For the record, I'm a conservative Christian and I have no problem with helping the poor. Many people here on CD fail to realize that there is a big difference in helping someone who has fallen on hard times and donating my tax dollars to someone who refuses to practice safe sex, get a job, pay rent, go to school, or otherwise do the responsible thing in life. I have no sympathy whatsoever for these people and I am opposed to giving them extended benefits. For people who have lost their job and are looking for another one seriously, or there is a person who is truly disabled, I have absolutely no problem with tax dollars going to help these people.
To me, the role of the church is to support people in need, not people who pretend to be in need. The church is not there to pay someone's rent month after month while the person plays computer games all day and uses any money they get toward cigarettes, beer and a cell phone with unlimited texting and Internet. I personally tithe and also help out with outreach programs at church, such as the backpack program that sends poor kids home with a backpack loaded with non-perishables over the weekend b/c their parents are poor to the point where the child will not get fed if he's not eating free school breakfast and lunch. We also supply several local food pantries.
The whole gov't welfare system needs to be rewritten and we need to reign it in. I support drug tests for welfare recipients, I support limiting the duration of all welfare benefits except for the disabled, I support more consideration on a case by case basis as opposed to just having to meet an income requirement, I support reporting job applications submitted, which would be verified, I support limited education funding for the disenfranchised and/or job training (programs like this already exist but are underused). Yes, that would cost more money to implement, but it would really crack down on the people who abuse the system and ensure that our tax dollars are being spent on people who are truly needy.
Personally, I can't even tell you how much I've donated to Goodwill. When they have those donation slips at the grocery store registers around Thanksgiving and Christmas, I always do a couple of those over the weeks. I have helped programs to supply homeless people with socks, toiletries and small food items, I've donated a ton of toys to various programs for underprivileged kids at Christmas, the list goes on. And now that I'm going to be in a position to do some corporate sponsorships, we've already decided to do a coat drive next winter (not sure if we're gonna do it for the homeless or for schools), a small scholarship for one of the local high schools, an ongoing food drive and a toy drive complete with Santa next Christmas (for underprivileged kids). These are things that I am personally setting up, not even anything to do with church.
Again, I do not think ALL poor people are lazy scumbags. Just some of them.
Nomad covered all of this yesterday in "People Hoarding Too Much Wealth". Same discussion, different post. Stay tuned for Part 3 ("Selfish, Greedy American Capitalists"?)
The conversation becomes charged when you suggest that the success of one comes at another's expense, or that one's prosperity is due to the misery of another.
Under the present conditions, success does not come at the expense of another but failure sure does. The successful are being burdened with supplying the needs of those who fail - or who do not even try.
I think you should be directing your hostiliy at the system in general and the governement. Not poor people.
The government is wasting trillions of dollars but you all are angry at the poor janitor and teacher down the street for paying a thousand dollars less per year.
Poor people still pay tons of taxes. Sales tax, property tax or rent, etc. They are being squeezed pretty hard out of their nickels and dimes already.
Let's get real here.
I think the taxpayers are the ones being nickeled and dimed. Just to clarify your post, poor people don't generally own houses and therefore do not pay property taxes. Rent has nothing to do with property taxes unless it's a commercial property. They pay some sales tax (even their food-related sales tax is written off if they have EBT) and they pay some fees to maintain a driver's license and car registration, if they have a vehicle. They might pay gas tax not to mention cigarette and alcohol taxes (hopefully not). That's abut it.
It's relatively simple. Those through progressive taxation that pay the most are ranting that those on "entitlement programs" (Welfare/SS/Unemployment/etc) get free whatever. These wild claims that they are living "high on the hog" while the poor folks have to work hard to barely scrape to rile up the lower middle class and working poor. It definitively started with Reagan's "Welfare Queen" speech in 1976, which was proven to be pure fiction pretty quickly afterwards.
It's an easy way to get votes to get rid of these programs, since many of the more wealthy who pay for the programs are fewer in numbers. It also has the benefit of manipulating the very people who benefit from these programs the most into getting rid of them. That must make many total bastards smile.
What it really shows is that the huddled masses are barely smarter then pocket lint, and the wealthy doing the manipulation are getting to the point of nearly cartoon levels of evil. Being in the moderate 6 figure range I'm not too affected by it, so I can pop a beer and watch the show with huge enjoyment.
Bascially its because there are so many that are dependent now days that people see everyday who just want the government; thus those paying that taxes; to give them more.They are even depriving those who need help because of handicaps from getting the help they really need. Bascailly its causing real problems with the basic welfare of the nation ;so of course there is some tough love coming.
A common theme I see on these threads is that most city-data members basically hate poor people. They see poor people as lazy, worthless scumbags of no value.
They have little or no interest in helping poor people. Have very little empathy or compassion. And basically just want to ignore the issue.
What's up with that???
I'm pretty sure most of you all who hate poor people are Christians. You should probably go back and re-read some of Jesus' quotes about helping the poor.
I've been living away from the US for a while and I forgot about this American hatred for poor people. The coments on city-data on this topic are shocking to me after not hearing this kind of talk for so long.
What absolute bunk. The American people give very generously to charities for the poor, and the Cheitians lead the way with homeless shelters, and were the first ones to offer aid and assistance to the earthquake in Haiti.
Go back to where ever it was you say you came from, and take your close minded bigotry with you.
Of course a lot of working Americans hate poor people, especially the ones on Welfare.
You know who those people are, they're the ones who used to work in the factories making furniture, auto parts, clothing, clothes washers, appliances, etc.etc. Those jobs are now overseas because the last administration told the wealthy factory owners that if you want a tax break your going to have to invest in those countries that are lending us money.
Shame on those welfare people, they should go to college and get educated so they can get jobs being managers in stores that sell all those foreign made products.
If you can't find a minimum pay job you can always go be a field worker if you are willing to work cheaper than all the illegals coming up from South America.
I wonder who hires those people?
No they can't. It only creates a much larger problem. Over population and bankruptcy for the nation and it's people and also the rapid decline in natural resources to keep feeding, housing and clothing the rapid growing population of people who do nothing for society but burden it. I'm not talking about the people capable of working but chose to suck off the system, that's another problem all on its own. I'm talking about people across the world that can't figure out to migrate to where the food is, or stop having unprotected sex and spreading diseases. If they can't figure out how to survive using their own inginuity and creativity, they are only a burden.
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