The past couple of weeks, our assignments have been to write about examples of modern day slavery as well as solutions to end them. The two issues I decided to discuss were conflict diamonds and sweatshops. While I felt I made a strong argument with supporting references and material, I was weak in vocalizing my opinion. I believe the reason for this was due to the fact that any humane and good-hearted person would naturally view the issues of conflict diamonds and sweatshops as evil. This therefore made it more difficult for me to state my opinion, as the natural opinion instated was rather obvious. For my revision, I would like to rewrite my essay on modern day slavery discussing an issue that came to light when I read Aubrey’s and Kara’s essay concerning money and personal enslavement. It is also an issue that has personally affected me this week, and a heated one at that….welfare.
I’m going to start with a story that might get you thinking. This past week, one of my friends began receiving welfare. He is a full time student at VCU but has been jobless since the demise of Circuit City. After running into an ex-coworker, he learned that receiving welfare is as simple as filling out an application form and submitting the names of two places you have applied at during the week. Once accepted, you will receive a weekly check for a predetermined number of weeks. My friend has been applying to places but has been turned down because his schedule is rather un-flexible as a full time student. However, the ex-coworker has been unemployed for over 6 months, does not attend school, lives on his own, and in his words “has made little effort to look for a job because he would rather just sit on his butt and take money from the government.” The ex-coworker also relayed to my friend that another guy they both used to work with had a job, was getting paid under the table, and reporting himself as unemployed so that he could receive welfare. And my taxes are going to support these people!
This intrigued me! The welfare system is constructed so that those who pay taxes actually support those who are on welfare. So how does slavery tie into a system where work is not mandatory yet money is handed to the less fortunate on a silver platter? Simply put, a person can become a slave to a system and a slave to free money. It becomes a way of life, and they learn to selfishly depend on the government and workers of this country to feed, clothe, and provide a home for them. Their minds are dulled, they lack the motivation to work, and their actions become lazy. This is not to say that all people on welfare are this way because my friend is a very hard worker who has been turned away from several jobs due his availability. The money he will receive for a period of 14 weeks will go to support him until he can change his school schedule next semester. However, it is because of people like the ex-coworkers, who take advantage of free money and the inadequacies of the government during these hard times that welfare is viewed so negatively.
Right about now you may be questioning certain things like they can only be on welfare for a specified amount of time, so what’s the big deal? Well, here is some food for thought. Some people have been on welfare their entire lives. Their parents received money from the government and welfare is the only income they know. President’s like Obama want to extend the number of weeks a person can be on welfare or add a weekly bonus to their check. In fact, just recently Obama increased every welfare check by $25 per week! Or maybe you’re wondering why the government wouldn’t look into the truthfulness behind filling out applications for jobs each week. After all, the only requirement for a weekly check is submitting the names of two businesses. But the sad truth is that in today’s economy, the government lacks the hired help to investigate every application. Because of this, people take advantage of the system.
So how do we solve the inadequacies of welfare when a system that is supposed to promote good is so negatively abused? Here’s an idea. Hire those on welfare to make up for the lack of hired help in our government and let them investigate the applications. After 3-4 months, cut off the weekly paycheck that is going to the able-working man who is sitting on his ass at home too lazy to accept a job after applying. Our government does not have money to throw away to the lazy in this poor economy, and either do I!
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