It's time to end Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Welfare, and Public Education

Getting rid of these things would get rid of 60% of the federal budget. We should phase out entitlements. It isn't the government's responsibility to take care of people. People should figure this stuff out themselves. Further more, it shouldn't be the government's role to so-called "educate" people. All our public educational system is, is a way to indoctrinate the children and teach them to be obedient. There is no free thought or critical thinking and children are not allowed to question authority. Kids are expected to take what our government tells us as fact. Well, I got news for you, this is the same government that allowed tens of thousands of Americans to die after lying to us about the Gulf of Tonkin and pushing propaganda to get us into Vietnam. Our public schools push propaganda such as pledging to the flag. We cannot trust the government to educate our kids.

 

So. End all public schools, all public healthcare etc? Basically saying, to each and every child/teenager in the country: "if your parents aren't rich then you can never go to school (thus you will never be able to get a decent job) and if you get sick then eat some paracetamol... if you can afford it!"

/sarcasm on
Sounds like a perfect plan.
/sarcasm off

 

Social Security should not be put to an end, but it needs serious reform. It also should be voluntary as it was in the past. The return on investment with SS is a abysmal. The administration also admits it will be bankrupt by the time many people working now will retire.

Welfare can't really be put to an end because there has to be a safety net to take care of those that can't fend for themselves. However, reforms are needed to clean up that unsustainable, failed social experiment.

And finally, public education in the US, as it is, is a joke. Despite massive amounts of cash thrown at the problem, the American education system is consistently the worst in the developed world. Like SS, it should be voluntary participation and the way to do that is with vouchers. You know that idea that parents in a free society get to choose where there children and educational dollars go to rather than the monopoly we have now.

So, I don't necessarily ending all of those things is real viable. We can do a helluvalot better than we're doing now though.

 

I can certainly understand why people may feel as though welfare programs should be curtailed. However, doing so would lead to all kinds of social problems. Increased crime, lowered standards of education and reduced access to healthcare can all have a devastating effect on society so I'm not sure it is wise to withdraw all forms of support.

 

Exactly. I don't know how the social security system works in the USA, but in most european countries it is a joke. Usually unemployment is based on your previous salary... so if you had a good job in the past then by being unemployed you will be making much more than someone working on minimum wage. A lot of people simply prefer to be unemployed because it gives them more freedom and the same amount of cash as a minimum wage job.

I strongly believe that governments should provide 5 things to their citizens. Security (both internal and external), emergency services, FREE healthcare, FREE education and infrastructure upto a certain point. Now I realise that some sort of social security is necessary but it should be a small percentage of spending and only offer the very minimum for a short while.

 

What you have just described is the Philippines. If there is any model of a country where the government has none of these programs or if they do, its a pathetic attempt of one, it's this god forsaken country. Without these programs in place you will see the divisional lines even more so between the rich and everyone else.

I shouldn't be talking like this about the country that I live in 6 months out of the year, but it's the truth. Without public education, that means no education. In the poor areas of the Philippines these people are not very bright and it's sad. I can only imagine how the USA would be like in a few years time without public education.

 

Question, where is the other 40% going to? Space exploration and wars in the middle east? Sounds like there are other things on the budget that could be cut that wouldn't affect our social structure.

 

Sounds like a great way to turn the country upside down. I don't think you understand how life is for people where work is hard to find and there's no easy way to just move somewhere else and get a job. (those require transportation and they'd be homeless)

Now, I think all of our social programs are poorly run and make little sense but we need them. The problem is, we have clueless people running them. Escaping out of poverty is almost impossible the way our system is set up. make an extra $1000 a year and you can lose free health care, low income housing so you are back out on the street, food stamps, earned income refund.... Where's all of the incentive to break out of poverty when you get punished on the way to becoming middle class?

 

IN the UK, we call that situation the "benefits trap". Some people end up being off staying on beneftos than taking a job becuase of all the non-monetary assistance they would lose. Things could be structured a lot better.