This week on the Tom Sullivan show they were talking about food stamps the usual back and forth ensued. Until this woman called who was raising all kinds of sympathy for the food stamp program. She was a single mom with an autistic son struggling to meet all her and her sons needs.She had me up until the end of the conversation when she said she had quit her job and couldn't understand why her ex husband wouldn't just give her a couple of hundred dollars extra each month.
I don't know all the woman's circumstances but it raises all kinds of questions. Like when did we become a nation that expects everyone else to take care of us.Even questions about divorce have we made it too easy to walk away from responsibilities that should be shared.
In any case I believe we need to be careful about government intervention that keeps families from turn together. Every program whether it is food stamps or cheep housing or easy divorce can be viewed as a safety net or a trap that allows us to make foolish decisions. Working without a net can lead people to lead a more cautious and maybe smarter life.
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it may be that quitting her job was something she was forced to do because she couldn't arrange for care for her autistic son otherwise. it is sometimes impossible to find care for a handicapped child. or perhaps she couldn't afford the care. i've heard divorced women with children are at the low end of the economy even when the woman works full time.
ReplyDeletenot related to her situation (because i don't know about hers), but i think some folks will make stupid choices whether or not there's a safety net, and i think of programs like food stamps as being more for the children's sake than anything.
i've been reading reports about the farm bill lately. it contains both food stamp monies and farm subsidies, which i found an interesting combination.
I think the farm subsidy link is a holdover from years ago when food aid was a block of cheese or some other food staple. Some people even argue that food stamps are to help the grocers by providing more customers. I argue against government help for the needy in most cases because I don't think it helps.
ReplyDeleteOften people who get government aid get stuck there becoming generation recipients. Now I don't claim that welfare recipients have it easy I would hate to live that way myself. These type of discussions are necessary to help us change assistance programs so that they can truly help people rise above the poverty level.