Once upon a time in America, little boys dreamed of being automobile mechanics, plumbers, or electricians and little girls wanted to be secretaries, bookkeepers, or hair dressers. In this era of progressive thinking, unless one has the wherewithal to become a lawyer, doctor, or other professional, the best job of all is… no job at all!
The social welfare system was initially devised to provide a minimal level of well-being and social support for needy citizens. This well-intentioned program has morphed into a well-paying occupation for many Americans. Many people who are physically able to work simply choose not to enter the workforce because there is no motivation to do so — and for a good reason.
The average welfare income in the 10 highest paying states averages $14.31 an hour. This would represent a weekly salary of $572.40 or $29,764.80 per year. An individual with a high school education (or less) and no marketable skill has little hope of commanding a salary of almost $30,000.00 a year. Therefore, there is nothing to motivate an individual to enter the job market and make less money than he can receive for staying home and doing nothing.
There are 12,800,000 Americans drawing welfare. Forty-six million seven hundred thousand (46,700,000) individuals are receiving food stamps. Five million six hundred thousand (5,600,000) individuals are drawing unemployment insurance. 38.8% of all welfare recipients are white; 39.8% are black; 15.7% are Hispanic. American taxpayers contribute a whopping $131.9 billion annually towards various welfare payments — excluding food stamps and unemployment compensation.
Life is certainly different in the 21st century. Personal responsibility is rarely taught in the home — children come into the world with the mindset that they are some sort of privileged class. They seem to be oblivious to the realities of life that were taught and reinforced by parents in previous generations. Fitting these circumstances rightly together –- we have petulant young people who feel that they are owed something for their mere presence in this world. Therefore, they are all too willing to live off the government dole with no feeling of remorse or regret.
The ease of obtaining welfare, the lack of stigma attached to receiving benefits while able-bodied, and the growing sense of entitlement provide a perfect storm for growing the entitlement society. We constantly hear that Social Security will run out of money at some time in the future — when have you ever heard a politician say that America was going to run out of welfare money?
There are 1,000 people going on Social Security Disability (SSDI) every day in America. Binder & Binder is probably the largest law firm which advertises that they will get applicants SSDI. SSDI benefits can be based on alcoholism, obesity, depression (perhaps as a result of having to work!), and a gaggle of other nebulous ever-growing qualifiers. My observation tells me that the only folks that have real difficulty getting SSDI benefits are those who truly need access to the program —but the ne’er-do-wells who get legal representation and find a sympathetic progressive court are a shoo-in.
More than 16.6 million Americans are receiving some form of SSDI payments — some are receiving both standard social security and SSDI payments. That would indicate that about 5% of all Americans are suffering from some type of disabling affliction. There are some folks who truly deserve the benefits —and there are many, many more who have played the system and hit the jackpot of free taxpayer money.
Not only are there many SSDI recipients who are fully able to work —many do work and either funnel the tax obligation to their spouse (thereby hiding their income), or merely take their compensation in cash and avoid paying any tax at all. These folks have the best of both worlds — they get free money from the taxpayers and are also able to avoid paying any portion of their own benefits. For those who know how to milk the system or hire someone to do it on their behalf — America is one big Willy Wonka chocolate factory where anyone can get in and gorge themselves – and no one need never fear of being kicked-out!
Why stand if you can sit, why run if you can walk, and why work if taxpayers will pay you to do nothing —while allowing people to illegally enter the country to fill the available jobs?
Have a good week.
Bill Shuey is a freelance writer who lives in Murphy, NC. He can be contacted at: washuey@brmemc.net.
Want to make it better yet? If the only income is welfare, there are no taxes taken out. That $572 a week is POST TAX NET pay. Puts you closer to 45k per year gross wages to make that match up.
This does not count paying for health insurance, housing costs, and the other things you have to buy with your own money out of that 45k paycheck instead of getting them comped by big daddy gov.