The Guy who Drives a BMW and gets Food Stamps
When I have a conversation with a conservative about politics, almost inevitably, I'm going to hear something like this: "What I can't stand about liberals is that they want to take my hard-earned money and give it away to people who don't deserve it. I work for a living. Why shouldn't they?". They will then proceed to tell me about someone they've known or heard about who gets food stamps but has a BMW parked in the driveway or someone who has found a way to get on every government assistance program known to man and then vacations in Hawaii.
Then I tell them something they're usually surprised to hear: "I agree with you!". This issue is one of the major misunderstandings between conservatives and progressives. We don't like welfare fraud any more than they do! We want to get that BMW owning, Hawaii vacationing welfare cheat off public assistance as much as they do. We can totally agree with our conservative friends on that issue. It's undoubtedly important to make sure that taxpayer money is not wasted on those who are milking the system.
Where we do differ is this: to conservatives, the fact that welfare cheats exist is reason enough to cut back programs designed to help the poor to bare bones or eliminate them entirely. To progressives, the sad fact that there will always be someone who tries to take advantage of the system is not a good enough reason to eliminate or curtail programs that help many people in need, and without which many would suffer greatly. In the progressive view, the fact that some try to turn the safety net into a hammock doesn't change the fact that the safety net still needs to be there for people who legitimately need it.
I have found that there are few things that will make a conservative more angry than this issue. I have one friend who nearly every time we talk assails me with yet another example of someone getting a freebie paid for by Uncle Sam. And of course, the conclusion is: "See, that's why I didn't vote for Obama".
While no amount of taxpayer money supporting waste or fraud is OK, it is important to keep a sense of perspective. Those same people who get so angry about someone receiving a few dollars a month in food stamps seem far less concerned about the billions going out every year to subsidize oil companies, or more billions not put into the treasury by the super rich who pay a lower tax rate than I do. To say nothing of the massive amounts of money expended on the unjustified, unnecessary war in Iraq.
The bottom line is that we can't call ourselves a civilized, advanced society if we ignore the needs of those most vulnerable in that society. The fact that some will inevitably take advantage of our society's collective concern is not reason enough to end that concern.
Then I tell them something they're usually surprised to hear: "I agree with you!". This issue is one of the major misunderstandings between conservatives and progressives. We don't like welfare fraud any more than they do! We want to get that BMW owning, Hawaii vacationing welfare cheat off public assistance as much as they do. We can totally agree with our conservative friends on that issue. It's undoubtedly important to make sure that taxpayer money is not wasted on those who are milking the system.
Where we do differ is this: to conservatives, the fact that welfare cheats exist is reason enough to cut back programs designed to help the poor to bare bones or eliminate them entirely. To progressives, the sad fact that there will always be someone who tries to take advantage of the system is not a good enough reason to eliminate or curtail programs that help many people in need, and without which many would suffer greatly. In the progressive view, the fact that some try to turn the safety net into a hammock doesn't change the fact that the safety net still needs to be there for people who legitimately need it.
I have found that there are few things that will make a conservative more angry than this issue. I have one friend who nearly every time we talk assails me with yet another example of someone getting a freebie paid for by Uncle Sam. And of course, the conclusion is: "See, that's why I didn't vote for Obama".
While no amount of taxpayer money supporting waste or fraud is OK, it is important to keep a sense of perspective. Those same people who get so angry about someone receiving a few dollars a month in food stamps seem far less concerned about the billions going out every year to subsidize oil companies, or more billions not put into the treasury by the super rich who pay a lower tax rate than I do. To say nothing of the massive amounts of money expended on the unjustified, unnecessary war in Iraq.
The bottom line is that we can't call ourselves a civilized, advanced society if we ignore the needs of those most vulnerable in that society. The fact that some will inevitably take advantage of our society's collective concern is not reason enough to end that concern.
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