In Praise of Stigmas - "Seems like there ought to be a stigma attached to the use of welfare. "

[Are_grits_groceries]

In Praise of Stigmas

Today's NYT says that food-stamp usage grows by about 20,000 people per day:
MARTINSVILLE, Ohio — With food stamp use at record highs and climbing every month, a program once scorned as a failed welfare scheme now helps feed one in eight Americans and one in four children. ... While the numbers have soared during the recession, the path was cleared in better times when the Bush administration led a campaign to erase the program’s stigma, calling food stamps “nutritional aid” instead of welfare, and made it easier to apply.

Seems like there ought to be a stigma attached to the use of welfare. A little bit of shame can go a long way toward encouraging people to find jobs. The federal government may think it's doing people a favor by providing them with access to food, but it's doing them a disservice if it also robs them of the motivation necessary to break free from dependency.

John J. Miller's site if you want to know any more about him: http://www.heymiller.com/
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NDFkOWY1YWRiZDliM2RiZmYwYTFhMmJiMTgxMWZiMWY=

There ought to be a stigma attached to people who are cold-hearted assholes with no grasp of what is going on in the real world.
He's going to hear chains rattling at the end of his bed soon.

[Deep13]

1. Yeah, if it weren't for the stigma, I'd be using nothing but food stamps....

...well that and the fact that I don't need them. :sarcasm:

[Wapsie B]

2. One can use that same argument against those who receive corporate welfare,

It robs them of the motivation needed to break free from government handouts.

[izquierdista]

4. You beat me to it!

:hi:

[AzDar]

5. This. + 1000

:thumbsup:

[izquierdista]

3. I think there should be a stigma

One attached to closing down factories and offshoring jobs to China.

A little bit of shame can go a long way toward encouraging people employers to find provide jobs.

The federal government may think it's doing people corporations a favor by providing them with access to food cheap, exploitable labor, but it's doing them a disservice if it also robs them of the motivation customers necessary to break free from dependency buy the goods they manufacture.

[XOKCowboy]

9. Ever wish you could REC a reply? I do with this one..

Thanks.

[HillbillyBob]

13. I agree.

I am on disability, medicare, medicaid and food stamps..a whole 8 fucking dollars. I don't even bother to use the card that is the access to use them. I manage to get by..sort of on 800$ a month, it does not even really cover my share of the house hold bills. So I should be stigmatized and ashamed like the ny times dick believes?. Kiss my.....

[msongs]

6. there he goes again, crititcizing the US military nt

[unpossibles]

7. what an asshat. I'd say most (all?) of the people I know who have used WIC, welfare, food stamps

would all prefer not to have to. Do conservatives actually think people are proud to be on assistance? That the only thing keeping them from being gainfully employed is because it's so awesome to not have a job?

[surrealAmerican]

8. There ought to be a stigma attached to ...

... letting your fellow citizens starve.

[EC]

10. There is still a stigma

Do they really believe there is no embarrassment to sitting in Social Services all day just for the interview to qualify for food stamps or using the card at the store when everyone knows what the card looks like? I was so embarrassed I did my shopping after 9:00 at night. But hey those of us not used to using food stamps or applying for services just need to be embarrassed more then we'll go find jobs...yeah right...stigma is what makes people so trampled that they have a hard time holding their heads up in job interviews...but hey let's just pound them some more...really make them feel like shit...:sarcasm:

[Alcibiades]

11. The biggest welfare bums are on Wall Street

Washington has never thrown trillions of dollars at poor people, but when Wall Street wanted free money with no strings attached, the Bush administration gave it to them.

Where's the stigma for that?

[jtrockville]

12. I thought the reference was to Banksters, before I opened the topic.