The following debate originally took place upon the Facebook wall of my friend, Brooke N…
Brooke N.:
Gene K.: And another thing….. some of the “Reddest” states receive the greatest amounts of welfare…… and HATE that people get “handouts” from the government…. I need somebody to explain that logic to me….
Brooke N.: Not logic, greed and blindness. I know Libertarian people who are on Disability and want to get rid of Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid. I don’t think there’s any to accuse this of being logic.
Gene K.: Yes, I know a lot of people of many persuasions that hate anything that smacks of socialized medicine. It is like they think that medical bills are paid by the Medical Bill Fairy and are not subsidized by all of the people using the medical care system.
Folks, there ain’t no free ride. Sorry. There. Just. Isn’t.
Brooke N.: But it’s possible to make life a little easier for 99% of the people instead of utterly effortless for the 1% 🙂
Rayn:
Regarding your comment about Libertarians and/or libertarians, Brooke, the above photo perfectly illustrates this common non-sequitur reasoning fallacy among Statists. In reality, Individuals who speak against State control of a gigantic, nationwide, compulsory-based systems of retirement, disability and medical insurance with very little public oversight or public input, does not, in any way, indicate that these same individuals wouldn’t exercise the free-will, consent-based choice to purchase disability, retirement, and medical insurances within the framework of a truly free market**, where competitive policies and pricing would prevent much of the corruption that comes from the inferior, government-based, fraud-ridden variety. It is a complete leap in logic to believe otherwise. Not everyone is willing to faithfully bow down to the religion of the State. And, many Americans are finally critically thinking their way through the cognitive dissonance of Statheism, rather than ignoring it, and in doing so, soon come to the harrowing conclusion that they are not actually obligated to place trust in a criminal-caste of unproductive, morally-bankrupt, bureaucratic parasites, holding a huge grab-bag of ill-gotten tax dollars hostage, just because the “majority” of Americans apathetically and blindly do so, especially when these criminals have been caught time and time again with their cloven hooves in that cookie-jar, pillaging the American tax-serf at every turn, for their own luxury and leisure.
(**free market should not to be confused with America’s current, government-created corporate, crony, capitalist nightmare system)
Here’s some more ill logic, and doublethink: the next president will be yet another member of the 1%, just like the majority of Congress has remained for some time, now, but Americans apparently MUST trust these same sociopathic scum not to steal our tax dollars, because… you know… MUH DEMOCRACY, MUH REPUBLIC, and MUH CONSTITUTION! Lest we forget, from their very inception, these same things very dutifully protected Native Americans, Africans, plus all women and children, from abuse and exploitation. 😉
Even more ill logic, and doublethink: the American government spends billions of dollars brutalizing, kidnapping, and filling up jail after jail with Individuals who have done nothing more than exercise self-ownership, and/or medical self- determination, by engaging in the victimless “crime” of ingesting the non-toxic medicinal herb, cannabis, while the government simultaneously continues to call the scientifically-established medicinal quality of said herb “a joke,” so… OBVIOUSLY, this same group of stooges should be running a nation-wide compulsory health-care system, because… you know… MUH SOCIAL JUSTICE, and MUH CONCERN FOR THE POOR!
Genaire: Speaking for the Libertarians. Yes I generally don’t want to see my taxes going to people that are capable of taking care of themselves. Nor do I want to see it going to bailing out the banks, corporations, spentinI excess on the military… The list goes on and on.
I work literally 24/7 for weeks at a time while training others to drive. I’m obligated to train as well as drive my hours so I get little to no sleep most days. If I’m willing and capable of doing this some lazy smuck can work an 8 hour day.
If you see the field you have chosen isn’t earning you enough to support yourself change professions. I’m 40 years old and haven’t taking a dime from this social welfare system, no: food stamps, no wic, no welfare, no social security, shit I didn’t even take a dime of money from workers compensation when I broke my eye socket at mt last job.
Yes the elderly and the handicapped should be taken care of by our society not people who have made stupid life choices.
Brooke N.: The system is way slimmed down now, at least in NC and I doubt many people get much if they are handicapped or elderly. I know the kind of folks you are talking about, but they are usually disabled eventually due to their life choices. It’s difficult. I’d say get rid of elegibility and all the bureaucrats and give everybody from the homeless guy to the Koch Brothers say, $15000 a year. The Swiss give everybody a minimum of $26,000, actually. Much cheaper than bureaucrats. Then cut back on corporate welfare and defense and we’d have plenty to lower taxes and educate people. I know, I’m a stateist. I just think certain things, social justice and a safety net are best done by the government. I KNOW that mental health services were better run when they weren’t privatized and that the government runs better health services with Medicare and the VA (unless you’re a recent vet), than private insurance provides. The government doesn’t BUILD highways, but taxes provide for them, likewise schools. Truth is, this is a very complex world and everybody isn’t bright enough, educated enough, with enough family support to make it. Sometime when you’re here we’ll talk about it. 🙂
Genaire: I’m generally never speaking on a state level. As far as knowing the kind of folks I’m not completely sure you do I’m also referring to the well meaning college student that decides to major in what they live instead of what’s going to lead them down the path of success our at least self sufficiency.
Those that become disabled due to poor life choice and not some type of traffic accident should be assisted by charitable organizations not people’s tax dollars.
I don’t give anyone anything they haven’t themselves earned and reduce the welfare given to Israel and other at the teet nations.
What should be free is job placement assistance that will help those that are having trouble finding an adequate profession. Intern shop programs should also be made more really available.
Brooke N.: Education? Basic education? You have to be fairly educated just to function in this economy.
Genaire: Most trade professions can be very profitable with little to no higher education. I’m a prime example of this. Although I went to a technical college I more then double what I would have made as a computer repair tech.
Brooke N.: Just knowing how to use a computer for something besides music and games requires a little education. And we do need things other than tradesmen.
Brooke N.: And everybody isn’t as bright or as driven as you are.
Genaire: We do that’s true but the trade professions are also needed and lead to people not having to rely on government assistance. People aren’t as driven as me because they no they can be bailed out. From an early age I’ve learned I will live and die under my own power. My family has put me in the street while doing everything I was suppose to do (ie getting good grades in school/ working) so I’ve learned not to rely on anything or any one, more people need to adopt this trait. Survival isn’t an option it’s a necessity.
Brooke N.: I had much the same experience. Didn’t finish high school, got married at 14 and had kids. Went to college on a National Defense Loan and college foundation loans. Got AFDC, Section 8 and Food stamps when I was living in a rural place, and went to graduate school. I am sure that I’ve paid much more taxes than I cost the government and it was a good investment. Being able to get assistance while going to school is vital sometimes. And women don’t make great plumbers, lacking upper body strength. Sometimes there are no good choices. Next time you’re here I’ll tell you about a young man I worked with whose best choice, at least in the short term was a life of crime.
Rayn: Genaire is a “stateist,” as well, Brooke, so don’t feel too bad. 🙂 I’m the Anarchist (aka political atheist), in our relationship, who loves and lives Self-Ownership, The Non-Aggression Principle, and Voluntaryism. 🙂
Rayn: Interestingly enough, in February of 2013, I had a very similar debate with an aquaintance. It’s located here:
State-Run Programs for the Poor, or Individual Responsibility for Helping Those in Need?
https://acidrayn.com/2013/02/10/state-run-programs-for-the-poor-or-individual-responsibility-for-helping-those-in-need/
Here’s some of the points I made in the debate that are worth mentioning, here:
“…Forcing an apathetic public to finance a corrupt, soulless institution (whether the ‘State,’ or otherwise), purely in the HOPE and FAITH that a lack of direct concern for (and interest in) the ACTUAL welfare of others will miraculously translate into anything other than systemic ABUSE, NEGLECT, AND FRAUD… Those individuals are living in a PURE FANTASY LAND!
My experiences have long ago opened my eyes to the fact that those hired by the State to ‘aid’ the needy not only loath the poor and destitute, but also actively seek to punish, demean, degrade, demoralize, and strip the dignity of those they are duty-bound to assist. State aid for the poor is nothing more than a rotten fraud, and a dismal failure – giving the apathetic an excuse not to help those in need (nor, to lift so much as a finger, or to get their own hands dirty, for that matter), and the sadly misinformed, yet good-intentioned, a reason not to act!
For a solid three and a half years, from the ages of twelve to fifteen, I lived within the confines of the NYC shelter system. I did so with my three siblings and two parents – enduring NINE different locations in total, spanning four of the five boroughs. And, I can honestly state that I would rather be DEAD, or LIVING ON THE STREET, than to EVER endure such a systemically corrupt and evil nightmare AGAIN in my life!
Where do I begin? Let’s see… We were REPEATEDLY robbed by the administrators, case workers, and security guards, alike, who all had full access to our possessions, and our mail. At the Auburn family shelter in Brooklyn, I witnessed administrators and staff sell ALL valuable state-paid goods, from fans to brand-name cereal – right out the back door, regularly – pocketing the cash for themselves, while us, the lowly occupants, went without (with an entire truck load of fans delivered, then subsequently loaded back into another vehicle, and sent off, you can rest assured that not a SINGLE occupant of that nine-story, ex-hospital of a Hell-hole building was allotted even a single one in the summer of ’92 – EXCEPT FOR ALL SECURITY, CASE WORKERS and ADMINISTRATORS)! That same shelter arbitrarily attempted to force occupants to only eat their almost inedible, jail-house quality shelter food, and wouldn’t allow ‘outside food’ under the guise that they were trying to prevent ‘rats.’ Yet, they had no problem with occupants bringing the toxic trash from the cafeteria up into their living quarters. We were actually kicked out of that very shelter because we were caught ‘smuggling’ beverages in through our window at night.
In ALL shelters, adult occupants were subject to arbitrary curfew times, as though children, or probated criminals. In a number of shelters, all parents were arbitrarily forced to take ‘parenting’ classes, regardless of circumstances, or situation – including those burned out of their homes, etc. – signifying a complete and total WASTE of tax dollars – not too mention, lining many greedy pockets!
Security guards often engaged in covert relationships with female occupants, then showed them favoritism, allowing them to skate around the more ridiculous of the shelter rules. And, many of the guards were pure sexual predators, REGULARLY soliciting minors for sex, with the offer of food and/or cash.
Every time a family is moved from one shelter to another, a mandatory TB test is given. This is done without ANY regard for the fact that a potential occupant might have JUST had one administered less than a month prior. This led a great many of us occupants to receive a “false positive,” including my own mother, quickly resulting in quarantine protocols, and denying those stigmatized with entry. This ouroboros of a scenario signifies not only a complete waste of tax dollars, but also an unnecessary medical procedure, guided purely by bureaucracy, with NO regard for KNOWN bio-safety protocols, not the homeless – adults and children, alike!
My family and I were actually treated with more dignity, respect and compassion by the staff running the donation-based ‘Meals on Wheels’ van, and by the staff at the various privately-run and church-run soup kitchens than we EVER were by the scum-sucking State! And, we were provided with QUALITY food by these places, too, not some slop unfit for dogs – like the garbage supplied by State ‘aid,’ which was really just leftover dregs after State employees finished stealing and dealing away anything worth a shit.”
Rayn: Here’s some more of that debate:
“Speaking of State-sponsored medical malpractice, shortly after finally leaving the shelter for good, at the age of 16, my parents began bringing me to the ‘Board of Health’ building in Brooklyn in order to receive ‘free’ dental work – a service offered to all low-income children. After two visits, I was told that I would need a root canal. What came next changed my entire life…
The dentist began the procedure, drilling into my molar tooth #30. He then filed out the roots. After this, he slapped a temporary filling on the crown, and sent me home, with an appointment for SIX MONTHS LATER (absolutely dangerous, unethical and insane – I would learn later)! Well, two months later, the temporary was WELL worn down, and I began to taste the dentin of my tooth EVERY TIME I ate. So, my parent called the ‘Board of Health’ dental center and told them what was happening, and they explained that the dentist would not be able to finish the procedure until the day of my appointment, but that I could stop by and he would take a look at it. So, we went back to the dentist, he checked the tooth, picked at it with his instrument and said, ‘Oh. I see. The temporary has worn down.’ He rinsed the tooth, and promptly slapped a new temporary filling onto it.
Three days later, the discomfort started. It was the day before Thanksgiving, 1997, but remember it like YESTERDAY. Two more days passed, then came the REAL pain – the likes of which I have yet to experience again. I’m not ashamed to say that I sat on the edge of my bed, and wept, and wept, and wept – so much so, and for so long, that my parents ended up bringing me to the emergency room against my will, as I did not want to endure any more procedures at that time.
Coney Island Hospital simply prescribed me some extra strength ibuprofen, and referred me to the dental center at Bellevue Hospital in NYC. Afterwards, my face finally began to swell, indicating the presence of an abscess. By the time I reached Bellevue, my face was severely swollen, and I was rushed on for emergency dental surgery. Through the inside of my mouth, the doctor sliced and drained the abscess, then sutured two rubber tubes into the incision, to keep the area draining. Afterwards, I felt very horrible and in pain, but was told to come back the next day for a follow-up. When I returned, I was promptly diagnosed with dehydration and infection, and I was admitted to the hospital, and spiked with an IV. I remained there for an entire week, with those drains painfully sewed into the inside of my cheek. By the time I returned to school, I was so behind, that I had no choice but to drop the AP Calculus class that I had been doing so well in… I was basically set up to die by the non-aid of the worthless, unconcerned, unethical, uncaring State, and when I recovered enough to speak with a lawyer, I soon discovered that victims of the City of New York are only allotted 90 days to file a lawsuit, and I was too late…
I have many more personal experiences with the joke called State-based ‘aid,’ and I’ll be happy to list them here, if you’re interested in knowing what it REALLY looks like on the INSIDE, from human eyes – not just how it looks on paper, and in statistics!”
Rayn: Here’s what I didn’t bother stating during that debate, since it was only with an acquaintance, and not a real friend, like yourself, Brooke:
When I was 10 years old, my father, who was struggling with Narcolepsy, and no longer able to work, finally filed a disability claim with the Social Security office. And, even though the State automatically took money out of every one of his paychecks for his entire working life before this, under the claim that a government-sponsored garnishing of his wages to pay into a government-managed “disability”/”retirement” insurance plan would keep him and his family from the clutches of poverty, when my father attempted to collect on this empty State promise, it became an epic court battle of bankrupting proportions!!! And, in the end, the State stole almost $30,000 in back-payments from my father simply because he didn’t have the genetic markers for his rare disorder, as one of the rarer cases of brain-inflammation-based Narcolepsy. This allowed the State to ignore my father’s own doctor, deny his original disability date, and conveniently replace it with the date that STATE doctors diagnosed him, instead. With my father being refused the large portion of disability insurance money that was “legally” owed to him by the State, our house, which my parents had bought through loan just one year prior, was now under threat of foreclosure by the bank. And, to make matters worse, my parents had purchased our home right before the government-corruption-assisted housing bubble of the late 80’s burst, leaving them with pre-recession-portioned mortgage payments to deal with in a then-nationally-tanking economy…
Soon after this, armed state agents raided my family’s home in order to arrest and imprison my parents for victimless “crimes” in the name of the “War on Drugs.” During this time, my three siblings and I were rounded up by armed men, while other cops maliciously destroyed as much of our family’s property as possible (they even gutted and beheaded much of our stuffed animal collections, as we later discovered…). And, right in front of my sibling and I, they also twisted my mother’s arms behind her back until she was screaming, as they told her to “stop resisting,” simply because they refused to acknowledging that she was too round to be cuffed in the back the “conventional” way. Even though she had calmly explained this fact to them when she first complied and placed her hands behind her back for them, they still insisted on violently attempting to force her arms together, anyway, in complete ignorance of her words. Of course, the pigs eventually had to implement two sets of cuffs to bind her wrists behind her, only further proving that their use of force was completely arrogant, incompetent, and abusive! Meanwhile, the cops also roughed up my father while cuffing him, simply because he attempted to get to my screaming mother whom they were assaulting. Apparently, it was my father’s job, as a good little citizen-slave, to ignore his wife’s cries of pain, and instead, blindly submit to himself to State handcuffs.
To my relief, following all of this madness, my parents transferred my siblings and I to a new school for the rest of the school year (there were only six weeks left until graduation). However, when fifth grade started, I was forced to go back to my mandatory state school classes, to endure even more ridicule, scorn and ostracization than usual from most of my pathetic little scumbag “classmates” and “schoolmates.” And, to make matters worse, almost immediately upon returning to this nightmare, I was called into the school nurse’s office, to shockingly discover that the State’s “Division of Youth and Family Services” (DYFS) had decided to open an investigation into my family, and that she had been ordered by the State to check on me, to ensure that there was no “abuse” taking place in my home. With this, I was subjected to the ABUSIVE and downright HUMILIATING experience of pulling my shirt up for this worthless old fucking shit-bag, then pulling my pants down, where she immediately pulled the elastic waistband of my underwear away from my body, in the front – exposing my genitals, in order to visually inspect them – then afterwards, repeating the same procedure in the back – exposing my buttocks, to visually inspect them, as well. To “save children” like myself from the mere, completely unfounded possibility of familial violence or neglect, the State dutifully submitted me to a sickening, sexually-humiliating, and undignified experience.
Besides this, not having much of a choice, my parents signed my siblings and I up for the school’s assistance-based “free lunch program.” What this meant, of course, was being forced us to carry a conspicuous, red “poor kid” ticket book into the lunch room every single day, which served as a not-so-subtle way to alert the entire staff and student body of the school to my family’s financial situation, eliciting more mockery, ridicule and scorn from them all.
And, as expected, at age 11, after all of these repeated targetings for disenfranchisement by the financially-criminal State syndicate… unsurprisingly, my family and I finally became homeless. But, this was not before learning that the shelter system in NJ would not guarantee our entire families the right to all stay together. So, my parents refused to let our family be split up by the State yet again, and when I was 12 years old, we entered the confines of the NYC shelter system prison, suffering through scorn, abuse, malice, theft, disenfranchisement, and sabotage at the hands of State agents for a solid three and a half years, as described in the debate I posted before this comment.
Rayn: FUN FACT: On the very first day my family and I stepped into Auburn family shelter in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, administrators forced my parents to sign an intake/curfew log book held by two security guards at the front desk. My mother put down a brand new booklet of food stamps, and leaned down to sign her name. When she was done, she stood up to discover that the food stamps she had placed beside her were gone. One of the security staff had apparently stolen them from right under her nose! And, the stamps were supposed to cover an entire month of food for our family, so the incident was very emotionally devastating for my mother. Hoping to alleviate her despair, later that week, my older brother and I went out for the day to collect cans from the garbage pails in and around the Fort Greene park area, and return them to various stores in order to collect the five cent State-mandated recycling deposit for each. Capitalizing on the wasteful nature of the government’s recycling program, we were able to bring home $45 tax-free dollars to give to our parents, enabling them to feed the family for an entire week! And, yet, if my brother and I had been “discovered” by authorities, our peaceful, voluntary activity would most certainly have led to State intervention, and probably foster home placement, too!
My siblings and I also eagerly spent a great many days “packing bags” at the C-Town and the Bravo supermarkets in the area. We did this for free, with the hope of collecting tips for the service. Of our own accord, during that summer, we would eagerly wake up before the sun came out, leave at 6am to secure ourselves spots before others could grab them, and make about $20 to $30 tax-free dollars a day, working anywhere from eight to twelve hours, straight. It truly was about the closest we ever got to an “allowance” in our horrible situation. And, yet, this peaceful, voluntary and helpful service is not only “illegal” by the standards of US child labor laws, but even as poverty-stricken, homeless children doing free work in hopes of earning tips, we were still legally considered “stealing” from the government because we weren’t paying our “fair share” of taxes… LOLOL!!!!!
ANOTHER FUN FACT: My older brother was not happy with the daily abuse and tyranny of living in the NYC homeless shelter, so he ran away about six months into our stay. He was 16 years old at the time. It was a very painful event for my family, and left us feeling torn apart. Happily, were at least able to finally reunite with him about ten years later, when he was 25 years old!
YET ANOTHER FUN FACT: When I was almost 13 years old, upon my family and I enduring our first nine grueling months fighting to hold our place in our first shelter, which was a Tier 1 residence, we were finally granted placement in a Tier 2 spot, on Nelson Avenue in the Bronx. By Tier 2, I refer to a building full of private apartment-like shelter residence with lockable front doors. Meanwhile, by Tier 1, I refer to a building full of large, two-way-swinging-door-entranced, hospital-like rooms, which typically squeezed multiple families within each unit, and had them divided from each other by bed-sheets. Well, after just FOUR MONTHS of living in our hard-earned Tier 2 residence, one morning before school, the FBI raided our “apartment,” and arrested my parents yet again, claiming that they had “violated probation.” Apparently, even in the emergency situation of being homeless with four children, with my parents also informing the State of their situation and new address, they were still supposed to wait until they were “granted” the honor of “permission” to leave by the State, pending review, with the possibility that their “request” might even be rejected… In other words, the State demanded the right to legally break up our family with their own inadequate and inhumane shelter system solely in their own tyrannical, self-interested desire to deliver demonic Accusatory injustice upon peaceful individuals. And, because the State was not able to successfully execute their devilish plan, my parents were sent to jail, and my family was temporarily disrupted and split up by the State, yet again…
When my parents were released, and my family went back to collect our belongings from Nelson Ave, we discovered that administrators and staff had packed the contents of our “apartment” into tied black garbage bags for us. Upon retrieving them, and leaving, we then took an inventory of our possessions, only to discover that we had been robbed by shelter staff, yet again, with a number of items now missing. And, this particular scumbag staff was so low-down and sneaky, they even stole our family guitar, then filled the empty case with our own books, to trick us into believing it was there, so we would take our things and leave, none the wiser, and unable to demand immediate accountability.
Rayn: STILL ANOTHER FUN FACT: Try and guess how many times during this time that my family and I endured a 48-hour sidewalk “eviction” (with our belongings tossed into garbage bags) from the NYC shelter system for “violating” their COMPLETELY ARBITRARY 10pm “curfew” rule by 12-15 minutes? (Oh, and be sure to keep in mind that both of my parents are disabled)…
FINAL FUN FACT: When I was fourteen, my family and I lived in the H.E.L.P Bronx, on 171st St. About two months before Christmas, the shelter informed us of a “Secret Santa” letter-writing campaign for us homeless children, that would be directly answered by the public. So, my younger brother and I both wrote letters requesting roller blades. Now, every day, when we came home from school, we typically waited for about two hours, standing outside the shelter, waiting for my parents to return from their drug treatment “program.” The reason for this is because the State would not allow my 16 year old sister to babysit my 12 year old brother and I in our “apartment.” It was against the “rules.” 18 only, or special permission, which they refused to request. When the temperature had begun to drop, in December, my siblings and I asked the security guards at the front desk if we could at least sit in the lobby, to escape the cold, and they agreed. So, two weeks before Christmas, I directly witnessed a large package delivered to the front desk in my name. I rushed to the desk to ask about it, and staff on duty that day confirmed it was mine. Of course, in these Tier II residences in NYC, the homeless occupants didn’t receive their mail directly, nor do they even get it quickly. Instead, without any explanation, administrators and staff held on to all incoming mail, for an average of three to four days, then finally, redistributed it to the various residents addressed.
So, I waited… One day… Two days… Three days… Nothing… Finally, after a week, my parents finally asked staff members my package. Security guards on duty at the front desk replied by saying that no package had ever come in for me. Their lies were really upsetting, so my parents decided to inform their “case worker.” My younger brother had not received his “Secret Santa” request, either, while many of the other children living in the shelter already had. So, a week before Christmas, two security guards brought the two of us to one of the few “apartment” units that H.E.L.P. had set aside for themselves, instead of filling with occupants. When they unlocked and opened the door, the entire room was filled about two to three feet high with toys. They were both old and new items, but all still in their store packaging, or had tags. Most of these toys were for little children, but the guards told us we could each pick two items for ourselves, to make up for our “missing” Secret Santa gifts. Basically, the Statist thieves you support “alleviated” homeless children of ACTUAL CHARITY from those who REALLY CARE, then REPLACED IT WITH ANOTHER ROUND OF DREGS!!!
Brooke N.: You had told me about this episode.
Rayn: Indeed, very few Americans seem to know about or discuss corporate welfare, or just how much tax dollars go towards it, so I am sure to expose the truth about it whenever the opportunity presents. Here’s a few of my written examples:
Drug Test Floridian Welfare Recipients, or Protect the Constitutional Rights of All Americans? (June 2011 article):
https://acidrayn.com/2011/06/09/drug-test-floridian-welfare-recipients-or-protect-the-constitutional-rights-of-all-americans/
From the article: “If our society wants to CRIMINALIZE WELFARE RECIPIENTS, LET’S START WITH RECIPIENTS OF CORPORATE WELFARE! Corporate welfare uses SO MUCH MORE of our tax dollars than social welfare EVER DID, so why do these HANDOUTS go UNNOTICED!? Does McDONALD’S really need ‘help’ from our government in order to advertise in third-world countries? I THINK NOT, MY FRIENDS!
According to the Cato Institute, the U.S. federal government spent $92 billion on corporate welfare during fiscal year 2006, and this number reached well over $150 billion in 2010! Recipients included BOEING, XEROX, IBM, MOTOROLA, DOW CHEMICAL, & GENERAL ELECTRIC!!! And, this information has been STARING US IN THE FACE for YEARS and YEARS! Yet, for the most part, we REMAIN SILENT!!!!
Now, CRITICALLY THINK, and ask yourselves the IMPORTANT, SOUL-SEARCHING QUESTION: in the face of information like this, readily available for ANYONE WITH AN INTEREST IN TRUTH to discover, why do so many people fixate on CRIMINALIZING recipients of SOCIAL WELFARE to the BLARING EXCLUSION of CORPORATE WELFARE? We can’t all REALLY be okay with RICH MEGA-THIEVES ROBBING US, DAY BY DAY, while we content ourselves by bickering over which PETTY THIEF used their food stamps for cigarettes and alcohol, can we?!?!?! Of course not!!! So, why, then? The answer is simple: because the mainstream media pushes the destruction of social welfare as a regular agenda, pretending most welfare recipients are minorities who scam the system. This is FALSE, and PURELY PROPAGANDA! I did a report on this VERY TOPIC in H.S. & discovered two things: (1) The MAJORITY OF WELFARE RECIPIENTS ARE UNDERAGE WHITE FEMALES WITH CHILDREN, & (2) the VAST MAJORITY OF WELFARE SCAMS ARE PERPETRATED BY WELFARE SOCIAL WORKERS! Anyone interested in reading it, let me know, and I will post it!!!!
Aesop was correct! ‘We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to high office’.”
Rayn: A second example:
Has Obama Been Helping to Restore America, or is He Just Another Warmongering Corporate Puppet? (Oct. 2012 article):
https://acidrayn.com/2012/10/15/has-obama-been-helping-to-restore-america-or-is-he-just-another-warmongering-corporate-puppet/
From the article: “Over 100 Million Now Receiving Federal Welfare (August 2012 article):
http://www.weeklystandard.com/article/over-100-million-now-receiving-federal-welfare/649589
Food Stamp Usage Continues Climbing To Highest Level Ever (August 2011 article):
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/03/food-stamp-usage-highest_n_917038.html
Speaking of foodstamps, what a perfect opportunity to segway into some important statistics about corporate profits:
Report: JP Morgan Makes Over Half a Billion Dollars Off Food Stamps (October 2012 article):
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2012/10/01/report-jp-morgan-makes-over-half-a-billion-dollars-off-food-stamps/
[…]
List of Top 12 Corporate Welfare Queens (June 2011 article):
http://www.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/2011/06/soaring_to_new_heights_thanks.php
(In order, that would be: Boeing, American Electric Power, DuPont, Exxon Mobil, FedEx, GE, Honeywell, IBM, United Technologies, Verizon, Wells Fargo, and Yahoo. ‘Together, Citizens for Tax Justice asserts, these corporate behemoths, rather than paying taxes on their collective $171 billion in profit from 2008 to 2010, actually got 1.5 percent in tax refunds–$2.5 billion–from Uncle Sam. They also received $62.4 billion in tax subsidies.’)
Corporate Welfare Cost Taxpayers $100 Billion in FY 2012 (August 2012 article):
http://townhall.com/tipsheet/townhallcomstaff/2012/08/07/corporate_welfare_cost_taxpayer_100_billion_in_fy_2012vv”
Rayn: A third example:
Hemp Finally Returns to America! (June 2013 article):
https://acidrayn.com/2013/06/05/hemp-finally-returns-to-america/
From my article: “So long as Americans don’t cave in to more pathetic ‘drug war’ propaganda and lies, the timber, cotton and oil industries can say finally begin to say goodbye to their government-enforced monopolies over the vast majority of the world’s textile, paper and fuel production – which incidentally rely heavily upon a wasteful and obsolete business model of artificial scarcity and price gouging in order to continue reaping the enormous profits they have grown so accustomed to over the centuries, while also keeping them in constant receipt of corporate welfare (AKA ‘subsidies’), and unreasonably rewarding them for destroying the entire ecosystem! These are some of the same industries that have continuously lobbied for government-sponsored military intervention in those commodity-rich sovereign foreign nations that are unwilling to be subdued and imperialized in the name of ‘progress’ and ‘industrialization,’ both currently, and historically!”
(All original portions of this work, by Rayn Kleipe, are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, while all redistributed links, images, sounds, videos, and writings are protected under 17 U.S.C. § 107: Fair Use, or under Public Domain)