Generous social welfare

Quoted in ChinaDaily (again, 0% ego).


----
28. TonyP4 Says:

February 27th, 2009 at 3:37 pm
Hi Wukailong,

To me, welfare is a temporary fix and a safety net. In US, we have three generations of teenage mothers. When the system is too generous, people tend to be lazy (I believe laziness is human nature - leave it for another topic some day) and take advantage of. A lot of abuses. Our local newspapers and friends always point out these abuses.

My friend told me there were a gang of young folks playing the motor cycles the entire day. I knew some but not all are collecting ‘disability insurance from the government.’

The newspaper reported last month that a ‘disabled’ fireman participated in a body builder contest. We had one incident almost every month.

The aliens (most illegal) know how to take advantage of our welfare system which is not connected to immigration system. Steve mentioned some in his previous post. There are books teaching folks in Taiwan how to have a rich life in US without spending their own saving.

As I said before, China and US are extremes. I do not see many homeless in China as folks there take care of themselves and depend on themselves more as they do not have a safety net like US. That’s a good thing. I bet every beggar in Beijing has a sad story behind.

US becomes a permissible society with the riches. I’m pro sharing the riches of the society and that’s what the high taxes are for. But, the generous welfare could discourage folks to work hard. As in my last post, who wants to work when your total benefits would be reduced when you work? Same for saving. If you have over 1,000 in a bank account, you’re not eligible for the $800 monthly social security supplement.

Sorry the state is confusing to folks outside US. The entitlements come in two parts: federal government and the state (like California or Mass.). The state like Mass. tries to balance the budget by releasing mental retards from the hospitals earlier than necessary. The drunks are addicts are the products of permissible society to me. They have to help themselves first and the state has to take some action to solve their root problems. Giving them money is not a solution but help them to buy the next drug or liquor. With the generous housing subsidy, free medical help, food stamps…, I wonder why these folks cannot survive in US.

I’m not in social science but just use my common sense. It is over-simplified for discussion via my observation. I see government wasted a lot of money in the welfare projects that did not fare well. Examples abundant: dismantle the housing for the poor due to no security police, best equipment to schools with students who do not want to learn… Not OK when we do not learn from past mistakes.