“Bring back the welfare stigma”…
…writes Daniel Payne at The Federalist, commenting on the fact that the city of Richmond, Virginia seems to be advocating a free lunch for all in its public school system:
Ah, “stigma:” one of the last great impediments to full-blown government dependency. With all due respect to Bedden, he and the rest of Richmond Public Schools are doing a grave disservice by attempting to remove the “stigma” associated with free government handouts…
Not to tread too heavily on too many sensitive progressive ideals, but there should be a stigma surrounding government dependency; that’s not to say we should adopt a campaign of aggressive public shaming for anyone who goes on the dole, only that we shouldn’t create an atmosphere””especially amongst children””in which “free lunch” is a no-big-deal kind of thing.
I guess Richmond never heard the term “There is no free lunch.” The city wants to change it to, “There is nothing but free lunch!”
Because I was raised in a time when welfare of all kinds was not only less common, but was a badge of shame for most people who received it, I’ve often thought that the relative absence (or complete absence?) of stigma these days was one of those situations where the pendulum has swung way, way too far. The current sense of entitlement to “other people’s money” is now vast, and is harmful to our society as a whole, both financially and culturally. But it persists and grows because, the greater the number of entitled people on some form of welfare, the more getting a handout seems normal and nothing to be upset about—and of course because the entire operation benefits the Democratic Party, the left, and the government bureaucrats whose livelihoods depend on it.
So although I tend to agree with Payne, I don’t really see how it could be done. Shame is now a nearly-verboten concept, reserved for people whose thoughts are insufficiently PC.
A sense of personal responsibility used to be cultivated by that great triumvirate of religion, schools, and family (you could also add “popular culture”—i.e. movies, books). As all those things have been taken over by a combination of leftist principles, populist psychology, and PC thought (the latter two coming under the rubric of the first), “judging” people has become passe.
Having compassion for the poor and wanting to help those who are down on their luck is laudable. A handout for all is not. We seem to be losing the distinction between the two.
And discussions such as the above always seem to remind me of this speech from “My Fair Lady” (actually, from the original “Pygmalion” by Shaw):
Beautifully stated, Landlady.
Never-ever have I feared for my country as I do in the Age of The Boy King. Pravda…errrr…the NYTimes buried some truth about Fergussen about 24-paragraphs in to an article this a.m. There we see that there’s evidence that the peace loving home boy attacked Wilson in his police car. And still the genius class is debating whether that gave the cop the right to shoot his 300-lb azz.
Oh, the above Pravda news was told by Rush this afternoon.
Unless the people you are judging negatively, are those who resist being strangled by the offloaded life-incompetence of the of those whom we dare not judge … or something.
Must be a hierarchy of non-judgement there somewhere: with the preening leftist and his low IQ and impulse control social pets somehow occupying the pinnacle of moral immunity.
I see no way back when people are loud, proud, and in your face about their obamaphone. As the percentage of those on government handouts grows there will be an eventual economic/fiscal reckoning. My generation, boomers, will break the system as SS and medicare attempt in vain to absorb tens of trillions of unfunded liabilities. That day is approaching and there is no way to grow out of this dilemma. That is why I was so scornful of Ryan’s proposed solution. The numbers can not be crunched to produce solvency. Sugar Daddy Sam will run out of other people’s money within a few years and all the Fed’s digital dollars will not put Sugar Daddy Sam back together again.
Just more evidence the tipping point has been passed. Let’s proceed with the “vigorous prosecution”, since Eric the Red has taken sides with the melanin “community” and our community golfer Hussein al-Hawaii, peace be upon him, is safely back on the links.
So keep on moving.
Speaking of limited competence:
Read
as
Now, will people please stop distracting me with business phone calls when I’m trying to waste my time?
The stigma has become a stigmata; from badge of shame to show of divine grace by way of being an innocent victim. Though Shame is now a nearly-verboten concept it should not be dismissed as an observation no matter the PC repercussions.
Government dependency has to it even a greater quid pro quo for the government; it further diminishes the role of churches and removes from any accounting of charity any virtue. We are then left with Christian heresy as devised by VP Biden – Bidenism .
Joe Biden:
“My religion defines who I am. And I’ve been a practicing Catholic my whole life. And it has particularly informed my social doctrine. Catholic social doctrine talks about taking care of those who – who can’t take care of themselves, people who need help.”
There you have it. Catholic Social Doctrine — there lies our salvation. Catholic social doctrine, the Christian virtue of charity, under the auspices and operation of the government, relieving ole Joe of any Christian obligation to be more than the uncharitable skinflint he is while allowing him to be munificent with other people’s money. Here lies the stairway to heav… uhmm… make that Utopia. Biden knows no shame. Why should anyone?
Stigma, shame, and gossip are mechanisms of social control. Without them the individual takes precedence over the group.
The ever increasing Socialist Entitlement State is, ultimately unsustainable. Left unchecked, it defaults to encouraging high levels of immigration from incompatible third world societies to temporarily sustain itself. It must do so because unsustainable levels of entitlement are a direct indication of a society’s abandonment of inter-generational responsibility. That society is, “eating its ‘seed corn’ “.
“The grandchild, far from being incidental, is decisive. Civilization persists when there is a widespread sense of an ethical obligation on the part of the present generation for the well-being of the third generation –their own grandchildren.
A society where this feeling is not widespread may last as a civilization for some time–indeed, for one or two generations it might thrive spectacularly. But inevitably, a society acknowledging no trans-generational commitment to the future will decay and decline from within.” Lee Harris, “The Future of Tradition”
In historical terms, it is but a matter of a few centuries before the entitlement State evolves into the culture it has imported with its immigrants. Islam is the culture Europe has imported. ISIS is providing Europe a preview of its fate.
“One day, millions of men will leave the Southern Hemisphere to go to the Northern Hemisphere. And they will not go there as friends. Because they will go there to conquer it. And they will conquer it with their sons. The wombs of our women will give us victory.” Algerian leader Houari Boumedienne speaking at the UN, 1974
Oligarchic Mexican and Central American cultures is what the left is forcing upon America.
Oligarchic societies are composed of a hereditary rich class that controls the levers of power and wealth, a relatively small supporting middle class, a vast ignorant poor and a strong army internally oriented to suppress civil unrest.
The left isn’t the least bit hesitant to judge anyone who opposes its dogmas. Shame is alive and well on the left and fully directed at the right. Just briefly watch MSNBC to confirm.
Societies can and do willfully deny personal responsibility and accountability. Societies can and do neglect real education in favor of ideological dogma. Societies can and do abandon the inculcation of a strong work ethic in its young.
The consequences of creating such cultural characteristics is devolution into a third world state of affairs.
It has been happening in the West since the 1960s. Specifically here, since the implementation of the “War on Poverty”.
“Since the beginning of the War on Poverty, government has spent $19.8 trillion (in inflation-adjusted 2011 dollars) on means-tested welfare.
In comparison, the cost of all military wars in U.S. history from the Revolutionary War through the current war in Afghanistan has been $6.98 trillion (in inflation-adjusted 2011 dollars).
The War on Poverty has cost three times as much as all other wars combined.” Stephen Daggett, “Costs of Major U.S. Wars,” Congressional Research Service, June 29, 2010.
Why should a man learn how to fish, if we are going to give him a fish every day? Take away the shame of accepting daily ‘the fruit’ of other men’s work and you also remove the self-esteem that honest work brings.
“You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.” Abraham Lincoln
“Here’s Williams’ roadmap out of poverty: Complete high school; get a job, any kind of a job; get married before having children; and be a law-abiding citizen. Among both black and white Americans so described, the poverty rate is in the single digits.” Walter Williams
Everywhere the edifice of the state is crumbling. The globe has several hundred trillion in toxic derivatives infesting all economies, the international banks exist on the porous foundation of trillions of digital dollars, yen, marks, pounds, euros, and yuans. Everywhere you look there are bandaids plastered over gangrene. For example, Abenomics are taking Japan to a place far below corrupt Argentina but no one wants to admit that the elephant in the room will soon grow larger than the entire house. All the books are cooked. The next collapse will make the 1930s look like unprecedented prosperity.
War for resources will be the solution.
You want poor, go to Botswana or Cambodia .
Our government measures ” poverty” on a relativistic scale not an absolute.
Our ” poor” are wealthier than 95% of the world and do nothing to earn it. In fact many are so fat that they need free gastric bypasses.
They are not poor they are parasites who are subsidized to reproduce.
Welfare is doubly despicable: first, it encourages the poor to consume resources out of all proportion to what is contributed to society. Then, when the collapse comes, it is the poor who find they have no useful skills.
Barbarity ensues.
Welfare states collapse, socialism fails, barbarity ensues…see Venezuela today.
GB…
The classically liberal/ traditional American nostrum of morality and self-improvement totally falls apart when the DNA is too divergent.
It, the nostrum, only works for Europeans and North Asians. Both stand on the right side of the global distribution of IQ. Both races have plenty of self-actualizing individuals — who lead the culture and the economy.
&&&
It’s a nostrum that falls TOTALLY FLAT for Stone Age DNA, Stone Age culture.
From Afghanistan to the Congo to Papua New Guinea and many points in between… the ‘magic formula’ has NO MEANING and actually DOES NOT WORK.
It is universally true in primitive cultures/ societies that TEAM ACTION is an absolute requirement.
This impulse is the base DNA driver behind the Leftist/ Socialist/ (big L) Liberal/ Tribalist orientation towards:
YOU didn’t build that…
It takes a village…
And, more generally, a group (primate) march is called for.
&&&
In a tribal society it’s CRAZY to self-actualize.
Your own cousins will retaliate.
This has been seen COUNTLESS times by Peace Corps volunteers.
The nail that sticks up (self-actualizes) must be pounded down.
The ONLY socially accepted actions benefit the clan — the group — not the one who takes the risk of failure.
Indeed, the entire idea of patent rights, and all the rest is uniquely American. It didn’t even exist under the Crown. (!)
These days, every nation has patent laws. They’re a joke, for the most part. America still has an absurd ‘natural’ monopoly on creation.
It really doesn’t matter how many geniuses China or India have. They can’t possibly get a leg up.
This extends to their performance artists. They can’t make any headway, either. Their copywrite statutes are a total joke.
$$$
It’s beyond the keen of most Americans that what we hold to be universalist values are actually unique to White (American) culture.
Most importantly, they DON’T cross over into Black American culture.
American Blacks actually norm to the global mean IQ: 85ish… They are average.
This, however, makes them totally — and permanently — uncompetitive (economically) in modern America. The handful of exceptionally bright Black Americans stand as the exceptions that proves the rule.
Due to AA, EVERY Black American is economically dependent. The ONLY difference is their dependency mechanism. It’s legally impossible for a Black American to avoid such a dependency. (As a practical matter — again, you can find an exception that merely proves the rule.)
1) Dependency #1 AA, straight up, slots a Black in a position that he’s not ethically entitled to, and for which he can’t perform. He’s simply carried by the ‘system.’ (ie Whites)
EVERY Fortune 500 company has phalanxes of such souls. Because of their market positions, this ‘tax’ on Whites (fellow employees suffer reduced wages — the feather bed has to be paid for by somebody) is faded internally and passed on, embedded in the cost of goods sold.
We see this with Barry, himself. Though not dull, he’s in a slot that requires nearly a genius IQ — or a bright mind that is intensely focused and HARD WORKING.
Barry probably has an IQ beyond 115. However, since he can’t do long division, it’s a pretty good bet that 120 is an upper bound for him. He’s been ‘promoted’ by Ivy and the American electorate into a slot that is two standard deviations above him. (At his level of education and dedication.)
This over-promotion is the NORM across modern Black America. The epic shortage of Black brains is to blame — not pigmentation.
The contrast with the Yellow race is stark. The north Asians are moving on up — in the face of blatant racial discrimination — which is designed to protect Black ‘opportunity.’ (They are actually so far out of the running that everything defaults to ‘protecting’ all of the non-Asians.)
2) Dependency on the civil service — especially the Federals. ENTIRE DEPARTMENTS have been given over to Blacks. (My 0-care contacts have been urban Blacks — college educated — 100% — working from a script. Such a role is an obvious parking slot for ex-ACORNers)
So much for disparate impact — on Whites. All that are left: a few, hyper-active, token, Whites — that mouth all of the right jargon in the lunch room.
3) Dependency via the alphabet soup of gibsmedats. Section 8, SNAP/ EBT cards, 0-care, ER room, free education, free higher education,… the works.
Strangely, because of Black mortality, Blacks are strikingly likely to expire before they can draw heavily upon conventional Social Security.
Barry Soetoro knows all about it. It’s one of the reasons why he’s ramped up (Black) access to socialized medicine.
[Blacks simply live faster lives — at every stage of the game. This is the PRIMARY reason why Blacks are so staggeringly over represented in professional athletics. They became noticed by high school coaches precisely because they attained puberty a full 30 months before Whites. So, they’re given all of the coveted slots.
Late maturing Whites don’t merit a second glance. By such a late date, they don’t have any sports honors under their belt.
This trait also establishes most Blacks as bullies — and sets them up for a life of (petty and strong arm) crime. (sprinting vs beating-up)
This aspect is foundational for the Ferguson riots.
It’s also why one constantly hears the refrain:
“He was a good kid that went bad.”
The solution is politically toxic: Racial segregation (and sexual segregation) needs to exist to save teenagers from each other.
Allowing (teenage) Blacks to dominate (teenage) Whites sets up the former for life long failure — and the prison system. For most of their ‘school stunts’ are flamingly criminal in nature.
This tick is amplified by the latest surge in ‘Black esteem’ advertizing. The “Don’t Touch my Dart” ad series is egregious in this regard.
Every White watching the ad is repulsed. They also know that the propaganda/ ad is reality inverted. It’s ALWAYS Whites that are protective of their assets — lest a Black ‘touch’ them.
Folks, this is the modern face of ‘race-painting’ last seen with “Der Sturmer” (Julius Streicher)
I’m astonished that the anti-Defamation League has not denounced such blatant, racist, put-downs as which are now the norm on American TV.
One must conclude, by such silence, that they are entirely okay with anti-White racism.
What could go wrong with that?
&&&
Lastly, you can see how White cultural norms go over like lead balloons in Afghanistan. The locals figure you’re (literally) “moon-men.” — As in flat out of your ^&^%$# mind.
“Please go away, and leave your wonderful toys behind.”
“The solution is politically toxic: Racial segregation (and sexual segregation) needs to exist to save teenagers from each other.”
Exactly. People of so different cultures should minimize their contacts to avoid mutial embarassment and bad feelings. And many psychologists now find that gender-segregated schools provide more comfort for pupils and allow them better concentrate on learning, at least in secondary education framework. The more structured a society is, the better everybody can became accomodated to his or her expected social role and position. British class system has its obvious advantages over somewhat utopian American egalitarian dream. As many utopias do, the letter often degenerates into dystopia.