alaska welfare

By Duncan Galland

News flash . . . Mississippi has the most obese people in the nation. Hmm, what else is Mississippi known for being first? Ooh, yeah, it's the poorest state. Wait a minute! What’s wrong with this picture? Aren’t poor people the ones who need all of our help and tax dollars just so they won’t go hungry? Isn’t this the purpose of welfare, to meet the most basic needs of the most needy among us? If the purpose of welfare isn’t to meet only the most basic needs, then what is it for?

Welfare as originally envisioned was just that, a minimalist form of subsistence intended as a stop-gap against people starving to death in the most prosperous nation on earth. We are the US of A. We don’t allow our people to beg in rags by the side of the road to sustain themselves like some banana republic (well, maybe in Anchorage but only if they want to). It was intended as a safety net, but as the evidence suggests, the safety net has become a hammock. The welfare rolls are packed with people who have settled in upon a life of leisure at the expense of the hard-working men and women of this country. Read more