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1 in 8 "Americans" recieve food stamps. Outrageous!

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her209 said:
Have you guys ever tried to live only on welfare programs?
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Its very easily done.

Most people who supposedly only "live" off of welfare programs also make a few nickels cash on the side.

Do you have any idea the amount of different programs a family can potentially receive funds from? Hell, I know a young entrepreneur that will help you navigate through all the crap to get you the maximum amount of "assistance" possible regardless if you need it or even qualify in some cases. Her fee is based off the additional assistance she gets you and people swear she gets results. It really is that bad.
 
her209 said:
Have you guys ever tried to live only on welfare programs?
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Although when I was a child my mother received help for a time, and years ago I did for a time, never 100%; HOWEVER. When I was in my early 20's I worked for a rent to own company for 4 years. Most of our customers were low income or welfare. And I can tell you most dont want for much. Hell, many people making half of what I did had nicer things in their house than I did.

The thing that gets lost in these types of discussions is that there is no political system in which poverty is erased. The other thing that gets lost is the definition of poverty. I have said this many times - our poor are middle/upper class in most of the rest of the world. There are exceptions of course (Qatar for example...poverty is virtually non existent, and their "poor" would be middle class to us. Their per capita income is around $70,000 US) but perspective is needed for these types of discussions.
 
stateofbeasley said:
Fail. Try eating 5000 calories worth of fruits and vegetables... that's right, YOU CAN'T, not without exploding!

Calories per unit volume of fruits and vegetables is much lower than that of processed sugars and starches. Calories from fruits and vegetables keep you full longer. People eat less when they eat real food, not cheap processed crap.

Simple sugars = digested quickly, and then you are hungry again! Which leads to more eating and too many calories.
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Hacp said:
Its called personal responsibility. Count your calories.
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A quick google search indicates that if you set out to consume 5000 calories you'd need to eat/drink:

58 Bananas
OR
106 Apples
OR
135 Oranges
OR
40 Cups of 2% milk
OR
1.2Kg of cheese

I don't think these foods are the problem.
 
While I know this isn't the norm I have personally seen living across the street from a friend of mine, who I grew up with, a family living in a house with Section 8, on food stamps, with a brand new jaguar and a brand new escalade parked in their drive ways. There are people who greatly abuse the system and there are the majority that don't. I do have to agree with HACP though, we should be giving them food stamps for the bare essentials. Rice goes a long way. I got like 20lbs for 15 bucks, I still haven't finished it all.
 
alchemize said:
Which is precisely why food stamps cause more problems than they cure. They encourage government reliance, encourage obesity, supplement our shitty agriculture practices. Nobody wants anyone to starve. And nobody starves in this country.

And the OP is not correct, it makes no sense to restrict the diet to crap foods. Here's a more modest way to improve food stamps:

No reimbursement on any processed foods (cereals, frozen dinners/pizza, pastas, fruit juice, etc.). You can buy fruits, vegetables, meat, dairy (non-processed), and whole grains.
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And how do you think Nestle and Kraft would feel about that? Let's not pretend that individuals are the only ones abusing the system. Ideally, I'd like to see the WIC programs and food stamps limited to locally grown/produced fresh fruits vegetables grains meats and dairy. I'm not holding my breath.

The biggest reason the government provides food stamps is to prevent food riots: hungry people are very quick to get out on the streets. $35 billion is a relative bargain when the government is spending, what, $4 trillion a year? They don't care if people are buying spinach or macaroni and cheese as long as they are pacified.

Hacp said:
Right now, I am a student working a minimum wage job part time. It's been dam hard to find good part time jobs since they raised the minimum wage. To answer your question, labor costs should be decided by the market.
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I had an interesting discussion with my brother about my father the other day; my father moved out of his parents house when he was 18 (1960) and worked a number of different jobs. He was not making much more than minimum wage, but minimum wage was probably equivalent to about $20/hour today. When he was 25 he moved to Egypt on a whim with my future mother where they taught English and art for a year. When he returned, he got a job as a carpenter, started a family, had three kids, and bought a house at the age of 30. All this without a college degree.

For me live the kind of life that he has lived today would be impossible. I don't know if you realize it, Hacp, but the middle class is on the verge of collapse in this country
 
Blackjack200 said:
And how do you think Nestle and Kraft would feel about that? Let's not pretend that individuals are the only ones abusing the system. Ideally, I'd like to see the WIC programs and food stamps limited to locally grown/produced fresh fruits vegetables grains meats and dairy. I'm not holding my breath.

The biggest reason the government provides food stamps is to prevent food riots: hungry people are very quick to get out on the streets. $35 billion is a relative bargain when the government is spending, what, $4 trillion a year? They don't care if people are buying spinach or macaroni and cheese as long as they are pacified.



I had an interesting discussion with my brother about my father the other day; my father moved out of his parents house when he was 18 (1960) and worked a number of different jobs. He was not making much more than minimum wage, but minimum wage was probably equivalent to about $20/hour today. When he was 25 he moved to Egypt on a whim with my future mother where they taught English and art for a year. When he returned, he got a job as a carpenter, started a family, had three kids, and bought a house at the age of 30. All this without a college degree.

For me live the kind of life that he has lived today would be impossible. I don't know if you realize it, Hacp, but the middle class is on the verge of collapse in this country
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Yeah, defining "processed" is a bit tricky these days. Cheese is "processed" as is most "dairy" and likewise "whole grains" aren't easily usable for normal use - hence you buy the processed form of "whole grain".

As to the second portion - I think you are part of the half empty cup crowd that scowls daily here in America based on your post. I'm living proof it can still happen in today's world - IF you work at it and don't expect things to be given to you. I have no degree, worked some "shit" jobs to pay the bills and eventually moved to where I could have an opportunity instead of just a "job". I've progressed far enough that now I can afford to have my wife stay home with the kids instead of both of us working.... but yeah, you're right it's a doom and gloom America where it's "impossible"...
 
981000b.jpg

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Produc...1&whse=bd_115&topnav=bdoff&browse=&lang=en-US

$0.17 per meal X 2 meals per day = $0.34 per day
$0.34 per day X 365 days per year = $124.10 per year.

If you cannot make $125 per year then you can get government help. Anyone actually working and making minimum wage CAN afford to feed themselves if the (gasp) CHOOSE to afford it.
 
Patranus said:
981000b.jpg

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product...se=&lang=en-US

$0.17 per meal X 2 meals per day = $0.34 per day
$0.34 per day X 365 days per year = $124.10 per year.

If you cannot make $125 per year then you can get government help. Anyone actually working and making minimum wage CAN afford to feed themselves if the (gasp) CHOOSE to afford it.
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Oh instant noodles how I love thee. Again rice cookers are pretty cheap and so is rice. I grab some frozen mixed veggies a thing of eggs and chicken or bacon(I got 3 lbs of bacon for 5 bucks) and make a weeks worth of fried rice for less than 10 bucks.
 
Patranus said:
981000b.jpg

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product...se=&lang=en-US

$0.17 per meal X 2 meals per day = $0.34 per day
$0.34 per day X 365 days per year = $124.10 per year.

If you cannot make $125 per year then you can get government help. Anyone actually working and making minimum wage CAN afford to feed themselves if the (gasp) CHOOSE to afford it.
Click to expand...

Cute, but let's discuss this in the context of reality.

Look at the nutritional info.

One cannot survive on 2 bags of dried ramen per day.
 
You guys realize you can buy other things and add them to the ramen noodles right? Like eggs, eggs are cheap, find a sale on some chicken, maybe some mixed veggies. It wouldn't be outside the realm of possibility to keep it under 500 bucks a year if you were really concerned about how the cost of food. That includes a balanced diet.
 
ebaycj said:
This explains a lot.
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I have a Good Enough Degree and I'm 24. I've done various odd jobs etc etc but I've never made less than what the average person with a 4 year degree and up until this year I've made significantly more than what an average person with a 4 year degree makes. It all depends on what you want to do and how motivated you are to do it. Sure plenty of things take a degree, but I didn't need one to learn to weld or work on turbines/compressors.
 
bfdd said:
You guys realize you can buy other things and add them to the ramen noodles right? Like eggs, eggs are cheap, find a sale on some chicken, maybe some mixed veggies. It wouldn't be outside the realm of possibility to keep it under 500 bucks a year if you were really concerned about how the cost of food. That includes a balanced diet.
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You first. Make a Documentary out of it. Dr checkup Before/After, 1 Year, Ramen mixed as you like, $500 Budget. I'll even Pay to watch it!
 
ebaycj said:
This explains a lot.
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Yep, I've earned what I've gotten and think many of you(I assume you have a piece of paper since you think it explains something) with an expensive piece of paper just expect things to be handed to you. But alas, in today's America where libs have control of the edu establishment it's no wonder people expect the gov't to take care of them - they want to be given things - not earn them.
 
sandorski said:
You first. Make a Documentary out of it. Dr checkup Before/After, 1 Year, Ramen mixed as you like, $500 Budget. I'll even Pay to watch it!
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I don't eat a lot of ramen, I already said before I eat a lot of rice. I already do this with rice I eat rather cheaply, I buy things on sale, I check all the ads especially the smaller local markets where I could pick up 10 to 15 lbs of potatos for a buck. It's not hard to eat cheap bud.
 
sandorski said:
You first. Make a Documentary out of it. Dr checkup Before/After, 1 Year, Ramen mixed as you like, $500 Budget. I'll even Pay to watch it!
Click to expand...

One could easily do it for under $500/year if they actually tried. Obviously a family would take more than that to feed but $500/person isn't out of the realm of reality IF one were really that poor.

Edit- yeah well..except for the whole ramen thing. I couldn't eat it that often but I'm quite sure I could do it without going the ramen route everyday.
 
CADsortaGUY said:
Yep, I've earned what I've gotten and think many of you(I assume you have a piece of paper since you think it explains something) with an expensive piece of paper just expect things to be handed to you. But alas, in today's America where libs have control of the edu establishment it's no wonder people expect the gov't to take care of them - they want to be given things - not earn them.
Click to expand...

No one wants to be given anything. They simply want the opportunity to study what they want. I agree there's a lot of bullshit degrees out there, but not every "expensive piece of paper" is a ticket to entitlement. It's merely a ticket to a better life. I wouldn't be where I am right now without my degree. My work is much more rewarding than welding boilers all day.
 
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