Quote:
Originally Posted by aim
Poto - if you read the context of the arguments here, it's much more than just 'Democrats vs Republicans'. What we are witnessing on this forum and elsewhere is a convalescence of awareness on the whole political spectrum - Dems and republicans alike.
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yea, I know... I was referring to the thread title and the first post...
Quote:
Originally Posted by aim
Said differently, citizens from all parties are sick of the status-quo in American politics, and despite what the main stream media would lead us to believe, we actually see eye to eye on more issues than not.
I agree with XCMP on pretty much everything he said; we both agree that the world is fucked up for the under privileged and their families, we all agree the war is a waste, we all agree that the war on drugs, pork barrel earmarks, etc are all a waste.
The disagreement then isn't Republican vs Democrat; it's how to best use our tax dollars and help the disenfranchised. It's a dilemna almost impossible to answer. If you are talking about paying for their college, you are assuming that they have what it takes to actually attend school and get through a program; chances are they don't.
Regarding welfare, if you give them too much, you incentize them to maintain their current lifestyle. If you help them too little, they will pursue a life of crime & corruption, and end up in Jail, costing us lots of money. As XCMP pointed us, prosecuting and keeping someone in the prison system is EXTREMELY costly.
It would almost be better to just put these people in apartment complexed, give them some weed and xbox and tell them to not commit crimes. Or institute super strict laws like Singapore. I dunno. It's all fucked up, which is why it's so hard to fix.
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I also agree with most of what XMCP says...
of course, I've known people that were on welfare milking the system, buying big screen TVs and buying drugs with food stamps, etc... I've also known people that were in far greater need, but too proud to take government assistance... it's quite difficult to get help to the people that actually need it...
our system is dysfunctional and in need of repair... from a social welfare programs to taxes, bureaucracy has created a bloated beast of a system... still, what we have here in the states as dysfunctional as it is, it's much better than many 3rd world nations... our standard of living for our poorest is much higher than when compared to the poorest of most other nations...
imho, short of a revolution or major economic collapse... when the government doesn't have enough tax dollars to afford to house the millions in prison, then and only then will reforms have to be had... otherwise, I don't think much will change for the better... our 2 party system ensures too much incestuous corruption...