So
there is a lot of talk over the past few years about Welfare, Welfare
Fraud, Public Assistance and the so called Nanny State. Opponents of
Welfare scream that it is not the role of the Government to make sure
“Freeloaders” and “Baby Machines” get money or help with
medicines and such. If you are to believe many of the pundits, 80%
of all the people on Government Assistance are Beer Drinking, Candy
Eating Loose Morals People driving down to the 7/11 in luxury cars to
cash their lavish Welfare Checks.
Surprisingly
enough, this little rant isn't about Who is right and Who is wrong in
the above discussion. I leave that talk to people better in the know
than me or morons who simply believe what they see on Faux News or
the Communist News Network. Mine is simply a ponderification on how
peoples' attitudes can and often do change when the tables are turned
on them.
Before
the Great Recession, I am certain (with all the certainty of someone
who has not bothered to actually research the numbers. Ah the joy of
being a loudmouth with a blog.) that there were a pretty hefty number
of people who were, if not wealthy, pretty well off who probably
shared the “Down with Welfare!” mindset of many others. After
all, they lived in $500K houses, drove nice cars and made better than
$100K a year. Their kids went to private schools and they probably
had some creepy guy in a truck doing their yard work. They were
living the life of Reilly and loving it.
Then
comes the Great Recession also known euphemistically as an Economic
Downturn. People with Great Jobs were suddenly out of work. People
with great houses suddenly were faced with foreclosure. Wealthy
became not so wealthy, Comfortable became Uncomfortable and the poor
got even poorer. Because of the GR, the ranks of people receiving
some sort of Government Assistance rose an impossibly huge number.
People who had never considered needing help suddenly found
themselves applying for SNAP, Welfare and various other forms of
help.
So
I have to wonder how many of these people who might have been
adamantly against these systems stuck to their guns? How many of
them kept their opposition to Welfare when their pantries were
getting empty and their stomachs were grumbling? What grand number
of these suddenly impoverished people kept saying, “Heck no,
Welfare is wrong?” I am betting not a grand number.
See
it is a fact of human nature that something is bad or unimportant as
long as it only affects “those people.” A great example of this
is the Bubonic Plague. (Yes I know I know, only I could draw a
comparison between Welfare and the Black Death. I am talented that
way.) Once upon a time, it was believed that the Black Death was a
disease that only afflicted the poor people. Those of Noble Birth
believed that their superior breeding made them better than the
lesser folks so they didn't have to worry about the Death coming for
them. It wasn't until the Plague started romping through the castles
and such of Europe that the Nobles/Royalty got worried. Course their
first reaction was to ban non nobles from their midst and then their
second reaction when that didn't work was to burn down villages and
kill people who might be spreading the plague. It became the Nobles
problem ONLY when it started affecting them.
I
am not speaking out for or against Welfare. I am not saying which
side is right or which side is wrong. I am just pondering how many
people who have no need for support right now and who are violently
against said support would change their tunes if suddenly They were a
part of “those people?” I am betting the number would be very
huge.
No
hidden messages this time. No great meanings attempted. Not even
trying to start a fight. Just some random musings on a cold Sunday
by a guy with too much time on his hands.
End of Rant
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