🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <CyG94D.E7o@metronet.com>, jhuber@metronet.com (Joseph Huber) writes:
> In article <CyEDEy.3sCz@austin.ibm.com> johniac@austin.ibm.com (John Iacoletti) writes:
> >In article <38p7ll$4fr@news.utdallas.edu>, goyal@utdallas.edu (Mohit K Goyal) writes:
> >|> I was referring to welfare alone, not all those other items you mentioned.
> >Of course they do.  I need for YOU to pay me 100K a year for doing nothing.
> >When can I expect my check?  Of course I don't really WANT it or anything.
> 
> Yes, we've all seen the abuses of welfare on the TV news magazines, which are
> appalling, but consider this:  
> 
> Our country and our economic success depends significantly on the service
> industry. By the service industry I mean those jobs that we so flippantly call
> "dead end" and "menial": burger flippers, maids, physical laborers, janitors,
> maintenance people, delivery truck drivers, etc., etc., etc. 
> 
> What do these people get paid?  Minimum wage, maybe a little more if they
> are lucky. 
> 
> Are the wages enough to live on?  No. 
> 
> Do these people get health care etc, at work? Some do, many don't.
> 
> So, our economy needs these people to survive, but we have decided not to pay
> them enough to live on. They get the rest of what they need to survive from
> welfare. 
> 
> My guess is that private enterprise loves the welfare system, because it
> allows them to pay low wages and maximize profits.  The middle class, who pays
> the bulk of the taxes that support welfare, get's to make up the salaries that
> business should be paying these people in the first place.  
> 
> I'd love to see minimum wages raised so people in the above mentioned jobs
> could get off welfare, but business would just pass that on to consumers. 
> Looks like the middle class is going to pay no matter what happens.

Very well put.  I totally agree that many of the people at the bottom
of the ladder are getting a bad deal.  It would be better that the 
middle-class payout go through private industry to reach these people
than welfare taxes because:

- it gives people a sense of worth
- they have more opportunities (hence less crime)
- it motivates people to work to get off welfare
- it motivates people to work harder and keep there job

The gap between the rich and poor in this country is simply too big.
Why does a CEO get millions when the cleanup crew working under contract
get minimum wage.  Just how much money is too much?  Is there such
a thing as having too much money?  Is it fair to society that 
individuals can consume a *huge* percentage of the resources
(the amount of money is limited) to the detrement of many?  

I am convinced that one of the leading causes of crime is the gap between
the rich and poor.  Another country may have a lower overall wealth but
if the gap is smaller then crime is probably smaller.  People naturally
compare themselves to the others around them.

Consider how you would feel after a demotion at work.  Pretty darn awful.
But then you find out half the people in your department were fired and
many were demoted.  Now you don't feel so bad (maybe even lucky) because
of the relative position of others even though it has no bearing on your
current status.

Or pay raise time comes around and you get what you consider to be a big
raise.  You are happy, gleeful.   Then you find out the average raise was
double what you got and you become angry and depressed.  Your status has
not changed, just your perception.

The same is true for society.  If many individuals lack of sense of worth
and accomplishment then they are more prone to crime.   I am not referring
to specific individuals, but the effect statistically on a large group of
individuals.