I’m in the midst of working on the “About” section of the Blog, here, and wanted to share a bit of attitude deep inside the dark matter that is my brain.
Some months back the local paper published a story highlighting the alarming drop in food stamp enrollment. The manager of the program was interviewed and quoted as lamenting the numerous local residents likely going hungry because they had not come for the assistance that they needed. The manager already had a plan to address the problem: More staff and money to engage in outreach to the population and education on the benefits of enrollment.
While that sounds reasonable, it ticked me off. I know it’s terribly politically incorrect, but I disagree that this is bad news. Nobody gives up free stuff (this is a critical point). If food stamp enrollment has dropped that means people have either become self-sufficient or they’ve left the area. Since our population isn’t going down (it’s going up) what can we conclude?
A liberal / progressive concludes that people are inherently weak and require government assistance. If you’re not taking advantage of an available subsidy, you are stupid. Conservatives, on the other hand, believe people are inherently strong, and given the opportunity will find their own path and prosper. If you’re not taking advantage of an available subsidy, you likely don’t need it.