Mackenzie+S’s+2016+OpEd+Article

=America and the Issue of Welfare=

Why am I in school? I’m in school because I want to go to a good college, I want to get a good job, and I want to create a good life for myself. I am not going to school to make money to fuel everyone else’s lives.



The Great President Obama and his Democrat puppets claim that “when you spread the wealth around it’s good for everybody”. What a great idea! Then we will all be equal! Steal from the rich! Give to the poor! Class structure will decrease, everyone will achieve success and the American Dream will live on forever! On the contrary, this will not help America prosper, but it will instead only make things worse. First of all, it is not the government’s decision if I make too much money, and it it not their decision who I have to share my money with. Under no circumstances should my hard earned money be taken from me in order to provide for someone else. This is in fact the exact opposite of the American Dream. The American Dream encourages hard work to achieve success, not dependency on the federal government.

“You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.” -Abraham Lincoln

At this time in my life, I don’t have a job or pay taxes, but I’m ranting about this because in my near future, when we have a new president. I will be paying taxes. And I don’t want a giant raise in my taxes so that my money, which I EARNED, can be used to fuel someone else’s lives. Of course, I am referring to welfare.

I am not opposed to all welfare, because I understand that some people do actually need it. However, welfare should not be used as a means to support you your entire life, but instead to help you get back on your feet. I love the way that Reagan puts it:

“We should measure welfare’s success by how many people leave welfare, not by how many are added.”

“Welfare’s purpose should be to eliminate, as far as possible, the need for its own existence.”

According to CNN and Fox News, 110 million Americans, almost ⅓ of the country, are on welfare of some kind. And while the programs are meant to help citizens in need, the programs are instead creating an incentive not to work. When the people receiving the benefits combine several welfare programs, it can pay better than an actual job. In some states, the benefits can reach a minimum wage of 20 dollars! This is much higher than the average minimum wage, which is $7.25. Because of this, the welfare system is actually encouraging people to not work. Hardworking taxpayers’ money is going to people who aren’t even trying to earn money! And with the pollution of Obama’s governmental programs, the situation is only going to get worse.

When Obama leaves office, there is a possibility that our next president could be a Socialist (although Obama is pretty close as it is now). I really hope that this is not the case, because under Socialism, the welfare program will become even more out of control. Socialism produces a victim mentality and teaches characteristics such as envy and jealousy. Instead of encouraging ambition and success, it blames the rich for the problems of the poor. The rich should not be despised because of their wealth. They are rich because they worked hard. Sure, some may have inherited it, which means their parents worked hard, or their grandparents worked hard, but they should not be hated because of their success. If anything, they should be appreciated, because through their success, they have provided millions of jobs for the American people.

In order to become successful in life, we need to have self-discipline and personal responsibility. Socialism will create an America of people who are overly dependent on the government to provide them with all of their “free stuff”. The government needs to stop funding welfare recipients who don’t actually need the money. It's not fair to hardworking Americans who go to work on a daily basis to be required to pay taxes that fund unemployed, unmotivated, and lazy bums.