I think both FH and Annoyed have valid points. It probably would be difficult to find US citizens or legal immigrants to the US to work on farms primarily because many of us have lost the work ethic that once made our country great.
As for welfare, I do think that there is more abuse of it than most people realize. This is mainly because the government has made it far too easy to live off welfare. Back when it was more difficult to live on welfare it provided more of an incentive to find work to support themselves and their families. Now on welfare I've seen people use their EBT cards to buy pre-made baked goods from bakeries. What's wrong with this picture? Today I see a lot of people buying junk food with their welfare benefits instead of food necessary for survival. So basically it's become too easy to live off welfare, at least here in the US, robbing people of incentive to go out and find work.
As for the "Natives were displaced when European colonists arrived" argument, I will say that our ancestors did make some mistakes in their relations with the native peoples. However the Native American peoples aren't exactly innocent either. When the first colonists arrived they actually did their best to cultivate friendly relations with the tribes that welcomed them. But as is often the case in such events, after allying themselves with friendly tribes, the colonists explored more and more of this then new country and eventually encountered tribes of Native Americans that weren't so friendly and were in fact downright violent, and were more often than not also enemies of the friendly tribes. So what likely happened was that encountering the less friendly tribes soured their relations with Native Americans as a whole which led to the many and varied skirmishes that led to their eventual placement on reservations.
But I do agree with Annoyed that it's best to help people who are down on their luck help themselves. You know that whole "teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime" thing. But I do also agree with FH that having some sort of centralized services for emergency situations is necessary. And from where I'm sitting it looks like both Annoyed and FH, and myself, agree that government assistance should be temporary.
Going back to the "Americans don't want to work on farms" thing, I would've gladly worked on a farm as an entry level job to support myself through school.
As for welfare, I do think that there is more abuse of it than most people realize. This is mainly because the government has made it far too easy to live off welfare. Back when it was more difficult to live on welfare it provided more of an incentive to find work to support themselves and their families. Now on welfare I've seen people use their EBT cards to buy pre-made baked goods from bakeries. What's wrong with this picture? Today I see a lot of people buying junk food with their welfare benefits instead of food necessary for survival. So basically it's become too easy to live off welfare, at least here in the US, robbing people of incentive to go out and find work.
As for the "Natives were displaced when European colonists arrived" argument, I will say that our ancestors did make some mistakes in their relations with the native peoples. However the Native American peoples aren't exactly innocent either. When the first colonists arrived they actually did their best to cultivate friendly relations with the tribes that welcomed them. But as is often the case in such events, after allying themselves with friendly tribes, the colonists explored more and more of this then new country and eventually encountered tribes of Native Americans that weren't so friendly and were in fact downright violent, and were more often than not also enemies of the friendly tribes. So what likely happened was that encountering the less friendly tribes soured their relations with Native Americans as a whole which led to the many and varied skirmishes that led to their eventual placement on reservations.
But I do agree with Annoyed that it's best to help people who are down on their luck help themselves. You know that whole "teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime" thing. But I do also agree with FH that having some sort of centralized services for emergency situations is necessary. And from where I'm sitting it looks like both Annoyed and FH, and myself, agree that government assistance should be temporary.
Going back to the "Americans don't want to work on farms" thing, I would've gladly worked on a farm as an entry level job to support myself through school.
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