April article: The Welfare State
Stop! Thousands of years ago, Jesus said “you will always have the poor.” Not much has changed but, accepting the stigmatic label of being part of broken homes full of lazy, addicted dependents often prone to crime and the exploitation of welfare opportunities is a grave error: You are not A repetitive, self-inflicted commodity to pacify with preordained meager rewards and punishments. That’s what waits for many living below the poverty level! But it’s your choice; to use or abuse resources and opportunities. You are an intricate part of a “catch all” safety net protecting a necessary political economic monster seemingly out of control and driven by fear, resentment and greed. But Jesus went further to urge the well off to “extend the poor a helping hand.“ Perhaps, weathering out possible “anarchistic” effects from the great depression, Franklyn D Roosevelt’s 1936 “New Deal” sought to keep citizens above, not below the poverty level. Institutionalizing his economic relief package hurl...