I think that a lot of the people where I live are wonderful. Many of them are very nice and welcoming. One of the biggest problems facing them, though, is the problem of entitlements.
I live in a small village in Alaska that is much like a reservation in the lower 48. The village is comprised mostly of natives, at about 95% of the population. When the Federal Government came into Alaska and started taking land, they dealt with the natives differently than in the lower 48. They bought the land for the estimated value it had to the natives and allowed the natives to keep a certain amount of it.
The money from the sale went to set up several regional corporations. The one serving the village where I live is called the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, or ASRC. Every native born on the slope is given a share in the corporation. It is my understanding that the shares can be bought or sold from there, just like any other corporation. This corporation wasn't hit hardly at all in the recent economic downturn. Consequently, the natives still get dividend payments of $5,000-$7,000/person twice a year.
If that were the only entitlement here, things would be different, I'm sure. The Federal Government and local government provides nearly everything else for them, also. Health care is basically free for natives. If they need to fly to Anchorage for treatment, they will help cover the costs. Nearly all of them are eligible for WIC and Welfare due to various conditions up here. Also, in school every student gets all of their supplies given to them, including a laptop. There are no fees to students for use of facilities, including the pool. And the list goes on.
Are all of these things in and of themselves a bad thing? No, in fact I think that helping people who need it is our responsibility as Christians. However, having everything handed to them has made the natives that I have met feel like they deserve everything handed to them. It has destroyed the initiative of many of them. It has made many of them irresponsible. Many of them, in fact, when they try to move out and do things on their own find it extremely difficult because they aren't used to having to be to work on time or pay the rent on time (people not paying rent for months at a time has become such a problem up here that there are elaborate incentive programs to get them to do it--and they don't get evicted because it's owned by the local government). They will often move back a few months after leaving because of the difficulty they faced.
This is the problem! Entitlements destroy initiative and personal responsibility. Some people would say that providing for the "Common Welfare" means that every person should have every need, and most of their wants, taken care of by the government. It is dehumanizing to rob people of their ability to provide for themselves.
I think that those who want to increase entitlements and increase the definition of "needs" are thinking too short-term. You know, the whole give a man a fish thing.
ReplyDeleteThat's also why I really don't like this continual extension of the unemployment benefits. It may sound harsh and many probably would just say that I don't understand what it's like. That may be true considering I have been blessed with having a great job through the last two recessions, but I do have plenty of friends on unemployment and friends who lost their job and think I understand on a limited basis their pain. I just also know plenty of people, some friends included, who take those benefits and plan on taking them to the last day, because they're handouts. Rather than getting a job and earning what they make, they'd rather take the handout. It handicaps them in the long run.
It really does. And one more thing is that they get in a rut of not providing for themselves. It's kind of like when you sleep way in, then get up and watch tv, and before you know it, it's time to go to bed again. Throughout the day you're thinking to yourself, "I would be a lot happier if I got up and did something," but that doesn't change anything and you continue to sit there because it takes so little effort.
ReplyDeleteIn this way, I suppose the "entitlements rut" could be called a neurosis. You know that you could be happier, but despite your best efforts you can't help yourself.
Agreed. Undeserved ease creates dissatisfaction also. Look at the trust-fund babies that inhabit NY and San Francisco. Howard Dean is one, by the way.
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