This is a post from my other blog from about a week ago, but I thought it would be appropriate here. Tell me what you think in the comments, I love criticism.
A common topic of debate amongst conservatives AND liberals is unemployment. Conservatives argue that taxpayers shouldn't be responsible for paying for the well being of people who are too lazy to get jobs, and therefore make a living (albeit modest) off of welfare. Liberals argue that taxpayer money should fund welfare programs to help those who are down and out, and it is an American citizen's responsibility to help his neighbor.
While there most certainly are people out there who leech off of welfare, the conservative generalization that the vast majority of the unemployed are slackers is groundless and ignorant. A few weeks ago, I read an article in the New York Times about a woman named Terri from Kentucky. She lost her job at an automotive parts plant in 2008, and has since been desperately looking for any work whatsoever. Her unemployment insurance has expired, and she has literally been left with $44.
It would seem cold-hearted to call this woman, who has lost all hope that she'll have a roof over her head in a month, a slacker or a welfare leech. I'm sure, however, that many conservatives will seize the opportunity to say: "She's been unemployed for almost 2 years? She must be lazy and living of my tax dollars!" But because, however, that she is looking quite frantically for a job, it just goes to show how scarce they have become, and what horrible ruin the economy is in. I have a theory as to why this is happening.
When Reagan became President, his neo-liberal economic theories began a steady cycle of economic deregulation, that many economists believe set the country up for the major unemployment rates we are seeing today.
In a neo-liberal economy, also known as laissez-faire capitalism, the government is completely uninvolved with the economy of the country. As a result, tariffs on international goods and prices on domestic goods drop significantly. This is good for consumers, but is crippling for workers in the long run. With lower prices comes less profit for the corporations, and what's the classic answer to a tighter budget?
Outsourcing.
As jobs are outsourced to save money, unemployment rates rise in the United States, and something like the current recession begins.
With unemployment currently at about 9.5 percent, conservative generalizations about the work ethic and motivation of the unemployed are ignorant and closed-minded. As Americans, we have a responsibility to help the poor, as opposed to just saying "We're rich! Fuck the poor!" as conservative politicians repeatedly insist on doing.
Sources:
http://www.bls.gov/cps/
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/18/us/18unemployed.html?_r=1&scp=81&sq=unemployment&st=nyt
Firstly, this is an extremely well written post. I really hope it was actually YOU who wrote it. Otherwise I take my compliment back.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, I agree with the fact that outsourcing=bad. But I disagree with you on the welfare part. I think most people who are laid off from a job are probably honest and hardworking, and deserve welfare until they get back on their feet. But most people on welfare are NOT willing to do that, and that's the problem with the system. There are people who don't mooch; My mother, for one, had WIC (Women, Infant/Children. Basically money for necessary foods) when I was a baby, because she couldn't afford to always give me the food I needed. Two jobs, 50+ hour work weeks later, we no longer need that kind of help. The people who come into Big Y with welfare don't usually put in anywhere close to that kind of effort. I saw someone who bought HAIR DYE with welfare the other day. Hair dye?! You have a baby who is a few months old and you're spending MY money on hairdye? Welfare-to-work programs, I think, should be looked at and implemented. They don't always work; there are instances where people have to go out of their way to get a job. But I guess what I don't understand is how people don't have the drive to succeed and provide a better life for themselves and their family like my mother did, and does. Welfare needs to be used less like how Hair-dye Lady uses it, and more like how my mother used it. And keep in mind that I'm not automatically hateful towards anyone who uses welfare; I just think the vast majority of people who do use it just mooch.
Thanks for the compliment, and yes, I did write this.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you mostly. The woman buying hair dye with welfare money is ludicrous. And welfare needs to be rethought. But you're still generalizing about the vast majority of people. You should read the new york times article that I cited in my post.
Remember that jobs are very scarce in today's economy. When our well-trained, educated white-collar workers are being laid off, how can our laborers, who have no contest when it comes to preparation and knowledge, even hope to find employment, especially when their jobs are the ones being outsourced the most rapidly? The answer, of course, is that finding jobs is nearly impossible for them. Again, the root of this problem is a lack of social services: if these people had been awarded the education that is their right, their lives would be very different today, and fewer unemployment and poverty-assistance benefits would be required. If we had invested more money in education to begin with, we would be saving many more dollars elsewhere. But we didn't invest enough, and we continue to constrict the public education system's budgets even today, while the military runs rampant fighting two wars and consuming well over 600 billion dollars every fiscal year. The supreme irony: perhaps the single largest factor contributing to both these wars was a lack of education.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the vast majority of all of the world's problems can be attributed to poor education.
ReplyDeleteexcuse me, but hair dye is critical to any woman's well-being! there is no reason why that poor lady (a brunette, most definitely) should be denied the proper funds to create that oh-so-desirable blonde bombshell appearance! if our precious money is going to be given to the most unfortunate of people, we should at least have the dignity to let them spend it on something useful and worthwhile.
ReplyDelete