Terry 1956- You are correct. In some ways it is hyperbole. Which parts?
In the overall economy, there are net gainers and losers, but in your personal economy, which are you? How could you figure it out?
SteveA- I never said the benefits received by the recipients were free. I'm just trying to bust the balls of all those who think they are so much better than the ones who "never contributed to the economy." They are very hypocritical in claiming to be libertarian and then going around telling others how to live.
People on the receiving end are guilty of what? Knowing how to work a system that government created at the request of the voters?
Yeah, I know who does the work. And I know how much they really get paid for those government contracts. I live in Boeing's backyard.
When I say "full price" I mean the cost of the thing, such as a loaf of bread, from farm through processing and transportation to grocery. We don't know how much a loaf of bread should really cost, because all of those steps have subsidies, taxes and regulations that skew the end price.
I do believe, however, that many of our costs for food, fuel, schools and roads are skewed low, while other areas (such as healthcare) are skewed high to compensate.
I'm not really as cynical as this post makes me out. Again, there's just a group of pseudo-libertarians that gets me riled up whenever they pretent to be so moral, while driving on gov't roads, sending their kids to gov't schools, buying subsidized groceries, etc. etc.
Radar- Yeah, yeah. You never went to public school, either, or to a sports event, or watched TV or mailed anything. You never got government-mandated job benefits, or ate the products of American agriculture or used FDA approved drugs. How do you know if you paid, "and then some"? Could you show a breakdown of your taxes and what they went for?
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If you-all want to end welfare, then you have to show the welfare recipients that they will be better off working. This requires more than just saying, "Why don't you get a job!" Most people I know on welfare would like to get out from under the thumb of government, but going to crappy schools, being told all their lives they will never amount to anything and being shut out because their skin tone is just a little too dark makes them feel their options are limited. They are not limited, you and I know this, but others have a different world view, shaped largely by their environment.
You-all can pretend that you are self-made, but most of you did grow up with either positive influences towards work, or enough negative influences against welfare to keep you just motivated enough to get your job and work you asses off for 45 years (to end up in a government nursing home).
Anyone who thinks that they got where they are today without the help of others is lying to themselves. Even if it was just help from the "invisible hand," you grew up in an environment that provided opportunities. -You- took advantage of them, it's true, but you already had the mental conditioning to feel you could.
Unless you have interacted extensively with "the poor," as I have, you really can't understand all the internal and external factors that led them to where they are.
Finally, the phrase "contribute to the economy" is just code for "contribute to society." In other words, those who say that are just closet socialists, wanting others to be forced to pitch in so you can benefit.
The welfare budget is so small compared to all the money we spend killing people in other countries or paying corporations to destroy the environment. I think we should focus our attention on these things, and by the time they are taken care of, the poor will be mostly taken care of, too.