Thursday, July 28, 2011

The Welfare State Entraps Generations in Poverty

[Charles Murray in his enlightening study, Losing Ground] goes on to prove statistically that when we began to financially support people who were not working, they eventually stopped looking (especially when they were penalized for having a job which paid them too much!) If you get free daycare when you receive a government check, but have to pay exorbitant fees for childcare when you work, aren’t you a fool to do so? In our desire to help the poor, all we’ve ended up is stripping people of their desire to work, along with their dignity. Somehow, we need to learn how to give that self-respect back. Tragically, after 40 years of handouts, the system is one, huge, ugly, bloated mess!

Barb Malek is one of the officers of a Christ-centered pregnancy center in Omaha, one that deals every day with the moral, economic and spiritual effects of the welfare state. Her ideas are thus based on experience and should be carefully considered.

Here is the full text of her column, "Government Run Welfare: Destroying Families and Ensnaring Generations in Poverty."