An Unnatural Disaster: A Hurricane Exposes the Man-Made Disaster of the Welfare State

[Supreme Cmdr]

Discuss!!

[Eclipse]

I read that a few min ago. Very interesting conclusion he has drawn inthat article. while what he said may not be 100% of the cause, I can see how the welfare state does hurt the work ethic, look at the common store system in Jamestown to see how that turned out.

[Guest]

I don't know what there is to discuss, it's true, it's not the end all be all, but is definitely cause for concern, and major cause of the lawlessness and outright Anarchy that has taken control there.

People should be prepared to care for themselves, and help rescue others etc, but a good portion of theses people wanted a babysitter.

HELP ME, HELP ME....

The local government failed in their duty, and the citizens that were unable to be evacuated, Because of the city ignoring it's own evacuation plan, left ALL these people in the middle of the devastation, and so they preyed upon each other.

It is a sad indication of how far this country has fallen...

When the first thing out of someones mouth is, "where's the government.." we have a systemic problem...

The most frightening thing that ANYONE could say to me is, "We're from the government, and we are here to help."

That will get me to duck and cover, then run like hell, like nothing else would...

[Guest Remo Williams]

I think he hit the nail on the head. The welfare state has gone on for far to long. These people can't keep getting money for nothing. If they want this welfare money make them earn it instead of just giving it to them. I say put them to work doing anything or they don't get the money.

Put them to cleaning up our parks and highways, or building new parks have them cleanup the city buses or subways. Those that say that can't work because they have kids create daycare center and have them work there watching children with professional guidance of course.

Make them attend classes to learn a trade with study and hands on experience. Have them do any thing but set back and do nothing and get paid for saying poor, poor me.

Their goings to get paid anyway make them earn it doing anything but nothing. Keep them busy allowing them to feed themselves with their own two hands and mind. Give them some worth by accomplishments.

This welfare state mentality is a disgrace on us all we have let it go on for far to long. Its time for a change in the system and the only people able to change this is the hardworking people of this country. We are the people written about in the constitution, we tell the government what to do or else theyÔÇÖre out of a job. We elect the people who make the laws! Enough is enough its time to put and end to the welfare state. If they won't work to earn that welfare money cut them off, and see how long its takes them to come to their sense with an empty stomach with no way to fill it because there is no more handouts without work

[Soback]

ROFL, Atlas Shrugged.

[John Prezioso]

This article almost mirrored my EXACT feelings on the subject. It was almost as if I wrote it myself. Eery.

I can hear the cries of racism now, probably from that fraud, Jesse Jackson. Someone really needs to tell this guy, "Jesse, it's not always about you." Just today I heard good ole Jesse whining that the term "refugee' is racist. EVERYTHING is racist to him. Call me crazy, but half of the people in the church near me who evacuated N.O. look distinctly NOT black to me. Oh, I forgot - THOSE "refugees" don't matter to him, as he can't use them to perpetrate his perpetual lie. Silly me. I would suspect the last thing ANY of these poor people care about is what they are called.

The hand-out mentality of the welfare state has removed the dignity from much of the economic lower class regardless of race. Such a shame this is what America has come to.

[Darkling]

I think that the Local Government's decision to let prisoners out, was the FIRST BIG MISTAKE and second was the Media HYPE over what was going on. I remember a few days after the storm, where there was this reporter standing on a bridge talking about the "Pandemonium", the "Lawlessness", the "Near Riot Conditions"! Yet, his words, didn't match the video feed. There were people walking up to him (mostly blacks) wanting to give a shout out to their families, to let them know they were OK. Also Family Members looking for other family members, so I waited and waited and waited, Nope! No video of the "Pandemonium", the "Lawlessness", the "Near Riot Conditions"! It's almost as if they WANTED the people to break out in a riot while they were doing the news story.

Yes there were CRIMINALS that were acting like, ... Um let's see, what's the word I'm looking for.... OH YEAH, CRIMINALS! So why were these criminals let out? Didn't New Orleans have a plan? Could they maybe have tried building their prison on higher ground, so they wouldn't HAVE to evacuate prisoners? This whole story is about one thing and one thing only, it's about the total lack of accountability, response, or leadership of a local government, looking to pawn off their problems to the rest of us, via the US Federal Government.

[Kalshion]

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so I waited and waited and waited, Nope! No video of the "Pandemonium", the "Lawlessness", the "Near Riot Conditions"! It's almost as if they WANTED the people to break out in a riot while they were doing the news story.

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If you had taken the time to check the new's story on the net then you would've discovered that he was talking about the conditions in the Stadium, where there was Pandemonium, Lawlessness, and Riots

People there killed one another for some item's like shoe's and socks.. also for non-essential item's like a clock, a tv, and even cell phones

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Who are going to stay? The people who can't leave, who dont have a car or family in an other state who can help them, ie the poor. Which happens to be largly black in New Orleans

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Thats no excuse, just because you don't have a car doesn't mean you can't WALK yea.. it's those two limbs attached to the lower part of your body, there called legs

Thats why I find it pathetic that people didn't just walk out of town, all there positions where ruined anyway after the Hurricane hit, there's NO power, NO clean water, NO gas, NO Propane.. what exactly are these people hanging on to?

Personally, my life is more important than some silly old TV that I can just replace somewhere down the line, or a music CD that I bought a few days ago that i can also replace after I get my life back in line.. a person's life is more important than some non-essential item's. Food, Water, those are the thing's that keep a person alive.. not a TV... not a CD... and diffenantly not a Car

People these days are spoiled, they think they have to have a car, they think they have to have HDTV.. what people don't realize is that modern technology has ruined humanity and made them become lazy (hence the "I need a car to get out of the city before the hurricane hits" part where as they have TWO LEGS and can WALK)

I'm sorry, but I have no sympathy for those in New Orlean's who didn't at least TRY. And what I mean by "try" is that they made an attempt to walk out of there city, and where would they go? Hell.. ANYWHERE is better than there

[Darkling]

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Originally posted by Kalshion:

... they think they have to have HDTV..

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Hey I can't live without my HDTV so don't EVEN ask!

Seriously though, once my car broke down at my then girlfriends store (my wife now) and so I thought, hey it only takes me what 10 min. to get here, I'll walk. It took me an hour to get home. Sure it's easy to say Walk. But if it normally takes ONE hour to get out of town in a car, then guess what, You're walking for at least 6 Hrs. Is that realistic for someone like me? I have 6 kids. One is only a year old. True I'm "Rich" by most people's standards, but still. If I was poor and didn't have a vehicle, I think I would have taken my chances. It would have been TOO much of an effort for a MAYBE.

[Grizzle]

I think it's a gross exaggeration. Sure there were some problems brought on by a few "unsavory" elements, but BY FAR the majority of folks did the right thing and DID help others out. I almost hate to say it, but I surfed the three major cable news networks and FOX tended to concentrate on the negative aspects and criminal acts a lot more than the other networks.

I'm not surprised at his take on the whole situation given the fact he states he and his wife watched FOX news.

As for the welfare aspect, I agree it's become a dismal failure and think Remo has the right idea about how to solve the problem. Model it after unemployment benefits and add some job training. Limits need to be placed on benefits as well, say 6 months to a year then they're on their own to take the skills they learn in job training and make a living for themselves.

[Darkling]

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Originally posted by Grizzle:

As for the welfare aspect, I agree it's become a dismal failure and think Remo has the right idea about how to solve the problem. Model it after unemployment benefits and add some job training. Limits need to be placed on benefits as well, say 6 months to a year then they're on their own to take the skills they learn in job training and make a living for themselves.

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I don't know about other states, but here in Florida there is a 2 year LIFETIME time limit. Once used up you can no longer collect Welfare, EVER! Ever since they implemented this program, along with Job training and subsidized child care, the welfare rolls were reduced by almost 40%, and MOST didn't wait for the entire 2 years to roll by, becuase they wanted to save a safety net for themselves for the future, in case they ever needed help again. Other states need to follow Florida's example.

[John Prezioso]

That is an awesome way to avoid just throwing someone out on their @$$ while still pressuring them into getting off said @$$ to look for a job.

[Darkling]

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Originally posted by Prez:

That is an awesome way to avoid just throwing someone out on their @$$ while still pressuring them into getting off said @$$ to look for a job.

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True, what's funny is that I remember when the 2 yr. time limit started coming up on some of these people, there was this articla in the Sun Sentinel where they were SHOCKED that this woman actually had to move in with her 4 Children's Father, since she was no longer getting any welfare benefits. The Shock and dismay, how dare the state make these kids father take responsibility for his Kids. Unbelievalbe.