Benjamin Franklin said: “I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion of the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. In my youth I traveled much, and I observed in different countries, that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer.  And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer."

Such has been the nature of humankind for as far back as history has been recorded.

Our government makes it more rewarding for an able bodied person to sit back and receive welfare checks, subsidized housing, food stamps, and Medicaid than to have to work for these things.  There used to be a stigma attached to being “on the dole” that no longer exists.  We have several generations of families who have never held a job and have been living off the taxpayers their entire lives.  A large segment of our society has become demoralized as a result of the current welfare system.  There should be limits to the length of time someone can remain on welfare.  At the very least, there must be some effort to require the able bodied people to work in order to receive welfare benefits.  There are a lot of places where they could volunteer.  The satisfaction and personal pride one derives from work is immeasurable in building character and ambition.  The majority of the very poor in America have shelter, electricity, television, and telephones.  We must change the way the system rewards those who refuse to work.  America is not a country for freeloaders.