Your opinions on welfare

Discussion in 'The Cocktail Lounge' started by Rosyrain, Sep 27, 2015.

  1. ScooterBrandon

    ScooterBrandon Senior Investor

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    I had a really terrible roommate one year in college.
    He didn't actually go to college, but was on welfare and lived with college students.
    The man was 25 years old and 100% capable of working, except he didn't like to be told what to do, and didn't like having to be at a certain place at a certain time. He essentially had this air about him that he was too good for the jobs he could get, and no one would hire him for the jobs "he deserved" so he opted not to work at all.

    He literally played video games, hung out with friends and strange females, chained smoked pot/cigarettes all day long. The man was really good at cooking, but NEVER cleaned up after himself.
    The most frustrating part was he wasn't a stupid guy, he know A LOT about computes/math/science/physics. He was an intelligent/well read individual.

    He also complained that welfare wasn't enough to live on. I also think he had some un-diagnosed mental illnesses. Probably exacerbated by substance abuse. He also had a daughter that he didn't see, one time he said "I like not seeing my daughter much, because when I do see her it's like a real treat for both of us."

    Your point made me think of him, I bet he is still in that same house, doing the same thing. . .
     
  2. pwarbi

    pwarbi Senior Investor

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    Some people do tend to see welfare as a lifestyle choice, when really it should be treated as a last resort.

    That's what gives everybody on welfare a bad name and even the ones that does need it and deserve it are often looked at as scroungers and that's not always the case.
     
  3. L_B

    L_B Well-Known Member

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    I think welfare is a great thing for the people who really need it. I know so many people who abuse the system or who never try to get off it and to me that is not what welfare is about. It is there when you need it, not to make it a way of life. I know it is not a lot but people who get it should appreciate it. It is a help, without it they would have nothing. The system could be improves upon in many ways. If some people didn't abuse it then there would be more there for the people who truly need it. There is nothing wrong with seeking help when you need it, that is what it is there for.
     
  4. elnory09

    elnory09 Member

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    I definitely agree that some people on state assistance have become greedy. Many have forgotten what it's like to pay real, hard earned money on food. Those who are getting food assistance do need to learn to be grateful for what they do get. I pay for my food, but I also realize that there are those out there who do need the help to get back on their feet. I support those who are using it just for that purpose and are not abusing it by staying on assistance forever. I think those who are on any kind of state assistance should have to go to a budgeting class to show them how to properly get back on their feet. Sometimes I think some of the people on state assistance end up on welfare due to bad financial choices.
     
  5. pwarbi

    pwarbi Senior Investor

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    Bad financial choices might be the issue to some, but for the majority of the genuine cases it's not their own fault they're in the position they're in. It's not bad financial choices when all of a sudden the company you work for goes bankrupt, leaving you with a mortgage and a family to feed for example, and for most of the genuine cases it's things that have happened unexpectedly that's made them have to turn to welfare for help.
     
  6. mooray

    mooray Well-Known Member

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    Most people in the developed countries are lucky! That $300 worth of food stamps is someone's else salary in a third world country. Worse! There are people who live on less than dollar a day. I don't see anything wrong with welfare.
     
  7. pwarbi

    pwarbi Senior Investor

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    As you say it all depends on where in the world you live. That $300 would last a lot longer in another country than what it would in the US for example so it's all relative.

    If the average wage in the US is $8 an hour, people live in other countries will think that's a lot, but when you work it out, that $8 will probably by you you enough gas to get to work and back for the day.

    If all depends on the cost of living in your particular country.
     
  8. Susimi

    Susimi Senior Investor

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    I think welfare is a good thing but for the people who actually need it but it seems all too often that there are some that just abuse the system to no end and that in turn gives the people who are on it legitimately a bad name. A sort of painting everyone with the same brush situation.

    It's not that good that people have to resort of going on welfare because I can imagine it can sort of feel demeaning, but it is good that that sort of lifeline is there so that a person can get by when they suffer a bad hand in life.
     
  9. cheryllei9h

    cheryllei9h New Member

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    I think it is very helpful for people who can't work due to illnesses and loss of jobs and such. I know some may abuse the system but i'm taking about the ones that really need it. We have gotten them in our household and really need and and I'm grateful for that. And we still run short. But I'm just grateful for any help we do get. And then there are some that need to to be on disability but keep getting denied. So it comes i handy.
     
  10. hs0zfe

    hs0zfe Active Member

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    Well, I do regard Section 8 as mismanaged. I lived in a desert town and some bureaucrats worked out the "county average" rent. Those who had big S8 complexes got hundreds of Dollars above FMV each month!

    Once, I had a S8 tenant and the county overpaid on rent (tenant paid $ 300, total rent was about $ 1,000).

    Can't see this program lasting much longer. It's other people's money for bureaucrats, isn't it?
     

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