More welfare state..

Here's the problem. We did not have a welfare state until the late 60's, with Johnson's 'war on poverty'. Before that, people toughed it out. They got 'assistance' from charitable institutions, extended family, & neighbors. Heard of 'Hoovervilles?' Those were basically refugee camps for okies & other people fleeing the dust bowl conditions during the depression. Ever read 'Grapes of Wrath?' See the movie? This was an historical event, so we can learn from it. It also tells us a lot about human nature & motivations.

Ok, so we had thousands of people traveling like refugees to California. They were not given govt. assistance. They were abused. Local people were not happy about Hoovervilles springing up all over, & people wandering around looking for work. The 'okies' were persecuted & discriminated against. If you're not familiar with the history, read 'Grapes of Wrath'. I don't know how modern historians report it & teach it in schools. But as this was a fairly recent occurrence, & many people are still alive when it happened, the reality of what happened should not be in question.

What happened to these people? Are there still 'Hoovervilles' in California, with generations content to live in those conditions? No. Under extreme hardship, outside discrimination, & no govt. assistance, most of those who lived & grew up in depression conditions worked their butts off & got out. They became the 'Greatest Generation' that Tom Brokaw wrote about. They built most of the infrastructure in this country, delivered Europe & Asia from tyrannical oppressors, & pushed the US into becoming the most powerful nation on earth.

So, using our own history & people as examples, which system works better? The welfare state, which few seem to escape from, or freedom & self-reliance? We've been pumping increasingly more money into our welfare state, but instead of helping people, it traps them in a racist, crime ridden system that is very difficult to escape from. Instead of helping them, we have handicapped them & done them a great disservice. The socialist agenda has failed in this venture, because they do not understand human nature & motivations. Govt housing, food stamps, ADC, & welfare checks do not help people in the long run. They do not help a community. They are not good for the culture. The KKK could not have come up with a better racist agenda to oppress & enslave minorities. They give the 'poor' just enough to survive, but it's also enough to take their motivation. They herd them into govt housing projects.. lots of history there.. how is that working? They are just gulags for the poor.. concentration camps to keep ethnic poor trapped in poverty.

The govt is an 'equal opportunity' oppressor, though. There are other races that are lured into the gulags.. promises of easy money.. don't have to work.. something for nothing. They usually build the 'camps' along ethnic lines, so there is not a lot of racial tension. But of course, gangs form & the unmotivated young, with no goals outside of the camps, & nothing to look forward to except a life of oppression & despair, group together in criminal families.

We've got to learn from history, or doom ourselves to repeat our mistakes. The welfare state does not work. It does not work in America, Canada, Europe, Africa, or Asia. I know the liberals mean well.. at least some of them do.. but there comes a time when we have to wake up & smell the coffee. Lets get real. Lets recognize human nature. Let's stop oppressing ethnic groups & those in financial hardship with these racist, failed social programs. They don't work, & now we need to begin the long process of dismantling them. That will be hard, too, since we have built generations of dependency on these programs. There will need to be some weaning in our welfare state. But to free people, it will be necessary.

What does work? Freedom. That is what has built America, that is what other nations have been trying to imitate & move towards. We have not had a 'ruling elite' in America. Anyone with a little luck & hard work can succeed. It is the 'land of opportunity'. At least it was. ..if we can keep the left from pushing us into a euro socialist utopia, with a ruling class, & everyone else herded into work camps. To have the freedom to succeed, you also have the freedom to fail. But failure makes us work smarter, & teaches us the variables, so we don't repeat our mistakes. Give people freedom & self-reliance & you will have an industrious, responsible, successful nation. Yes, there will still be poor... many reasons for that. But has the welfare state 'stamped out poverty?' No, it has only institutionalized it. The poor are more than ever, & still growing. More money thrown at the problem will only increase those who depend on it.

The welfare state is like a wall, built to keep the poor on one side, & the ruling elite on the other. Some escape & climb over the wall. The longing for freedom is great, & there are those who will not live under oppression. But the wall remains, oppressing those who cannot climb over it, & trapping generations in a life of poverty & oppression. 


The solution is simple:

'Mr. Obama, tear down this wall!'