by Dave Roberts » Fri Jan 20, 2012 10:56 am
Welfare is a far more complex subject than we have begun to address here. The caricatures can all be found in every town, and we can excuse ourselves with Jesus' quotation about always having the poor. His words, taken in context, were not, IMHO, an excuse not to help them but rather an expression of the greater need of the disciples to appreciate what someone had done for Him out of the openness of their hearts. That context does not excuse us from helping the poor.
The Nutritional Assistance Programs (aka Food Stamps and WIC) have done a lot of good insuring that children are fed and not in school hungry. At the same time, they have been abused, and the programs have lacked the educatioal component necessary to provide for those who are on them. If those on these programs eat steak the week their benefit cards are restocked, then they will be hungry by the last week of their month. I am involved with a local feeding program that provides adult meals each day for those who lack food security. In our community, they probably came close to 12,000 meals provided last year. These meals are not grand meals but are very basic. I see most of the people who come to them, and they are not overweight or dressed in fine clothing or arriving in luxury cars (that are less than 15 years old).
Assistance is often provided also because a number of the people we see not working are unemployable. First, there are those with untreated mental health issues who cannot work together with other people. Give then a shovel, and they may swing it at fellow-workers or bosses. Second, there are those whose criminal history, especially with drugs, makes the undesirable for most employers. Many may have paid their debt to society, but a criminal background check keeps them out of 75% of the workplaces in our community. Third, there are mothers whose childcare costs would exceed what it costs to help them stay home.
Is the system subject to abuse and in need of reforming--of course. Can the abuses be documented? Absolutely! Is it the best of all possible systems? Of course not! Have we devised a way to deal with all the underlying causes of poverty and the failures of our country's families, educational system, and churches? Not yet!