Quote:
Originally Posted by chiefst2000
I had a similar experience to Mr. Gobin with regards to Section 8 tenants in some buildings I owned in Brooklyn. The program is for life as long as the recipient does not get a job. Of the 24 tenants we had over the course of 6 years that I was involved there was never a situation where someone was removed from the program.
The reason I posted it is to point out one of the flaws in our safety net system. This program essentially punishes people for trying to lift themselves out of poverty. I would take it further and say that it essentially forces people to remain in an impoverished state. In one situation we had a lady living in an APT with her 7 kids. When the oldest girl turned 18 she applied to get on the program. She had 2 kids by the age of 18. Eventually she got her voucher and we set her up in the apt downstairs.
The point is that these programs are flawed in that they don't provide a path to exit poverty. They actually and functionally do the opposite. They force people to stay in poverty and even serve to encourage future generations to remain impoverished.
I say again is it so bad to look at these programs and try to find ways to tweak then so that they encourage people to pull themselves up and become self sufficient?
|
I understand. I didn't intend to imply there was no merit to the points presented in the argument. Additionally article Buster quoted uses anecdotal evidence to segue into a discussion on climate change that includes a greater scope of evidence, and is far more persuasive than "2012 was hot in the U.S.".
My intention was to point out the hypocrisy in disregarding an article that begins with an a anecdotal instances, then precedes to provide greater context, moments after posting an article of a similar format yourself. If anything, questioning policy as a result of specific circumstances occurring as a direct result of that policy, is more appropriate than citing a particular data point where your goal is to prove the truth of a trend.
As to the article you quoted, i agree that the welfare system currently incentives poverty. There are a lot of potential solutions, but sadly there is unlikely to be significant change in the near future.