"Poor People Deserve to Taste More Than Shame"

The detestable GFG had in this in her twatter feed.

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“They’re buying steak and lobster with food stamps!”

Every few months this headline, or one like it, finds its way around conservative publications, into political pundit shows, and onto senate floors. A relic of the “Welfare Queen” stories of the ’80s, the fear of poor people squandering the charity of hard-working American tax dollars leads to countless classist memes, reactionary petitions, and tighter restrictions on the ways in which poor Americans are allowed to live.

Yes, there is a lot of judgement, but if you are taking public money to raise your kids, then I, as a taxpayer, have the right to judge your parental skills.

However what I do think is fucked up: we as a society should make birth control and abortion readily available and preferably free. Yes, it runs against Libertarian thought. My feeling is: pay now for abortion and birth control or pay later for the results of unwanted humans, poorly raised humans, future felons.

The essay misses the point. Everyone else does not eat steak and lobster, particularly if it is outside their budget. If you're on public assistance then you definitely should not be spending money on luxuries.

Well, to be fair, if someone poor does try to buy steak and lobster on foodstamps, it's going to use up much more of their 'allotment' then if they stuck to cheaper stuff like beans, vegetables or eggs. If it's done, it likely done rarely, because otherwise you'd run out of 'money' real fast.

What I object to most is allowing junkfood and soda on foodstamps. That shit should have been banned yesterday.

Food stamps shouldn't cover "luxury" foods, period. By that, I mean no expensive cuts of meat, no seafood, no soda or potato chips or any other junk food or processed/prepared foods. It should cover basic food groups: milk, bread, eggs, produce (NOT organic), cheese, juice (fruit juices or frozen concentrates), some meats, frozen fruits and vegetables, maybe some other random odds and ends like refrigerated pie crusts, salad dressing or yogurt. There is absolutely no reason that someone sucking on the taxpayer tit should be able to buy fucking lobster or steak when the working people they're taking money from probably can't even afford those things. You want fancy meats or fish, you get your own goddamn money to buy it with.

A little shame is what will get people off their asses to find jobs so they can get off the dole. Being so poor that you need assistance has absolutely no stigma attached to it anymore, so people have no problem making it their long-term "career." You can even find information on how to stay on welfare long-term and get around the system. You know how you have to prove you're looking for a job to continue receiving benefits? Sure, do that, but then you can just totally sabotage your interview so no employer would ever hire you, but it still counts as job hunting and you still get paid. Why get a job when you can just sit on your ass forever, collecting free money?

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Cambion
Food stamps shouldn't cover "luxury" foods, period. By that, I mean no expensive cuts of meat, no seafood, no soda or potato chips or any other junk food or processed/prepared foods.

That's one way to go. And mind you, I think it is wildly irresponsible to sponsor highly processed junk foods, and then turn around and have public campaigns to get people not to eat it. But I don't know that depriving people of responsibility teaches them responsibility.

I've been favoring a universal basic income approach. Give people a set amount of money, and give them the responsibility for deciding how to divide it between rent, food, and other bills. If someone is frugal and responsible, why shouldn't they have the option of splurging once in a while? And if someone is irresponsible, let them experience the consequences...one of which will be taking their children away if they aren't adequately caring for them.