Entitlements and Personal Responsibility

I almost feel the need to define personal responsibility based on the number of people that appear to not know what those two words even mean. If you live your life smoking 2 packs per day, eating fast food for 2 meals per day, drinking soda daily, only to go home and sit on your ass in front of the television, you do not deserve ANY tax money to cover your medical bills. You are not entitled to that money no matter how poor you are. Now, if you take it upon yourself to eat healthy foods regularly, exercise, and maintain proper health, and you are still morbidly obese then I sympathize with you. Enough on that for now.

Last week I was at a local Marsh buying groceries to make lunch and dinner for the upcoming week. Yes, I am a college student using my own money to buy groceries to make my own healthy lunch. McDonalds would be cheaper as would a shorter lifespan. Anyways, the two women in front of me had a cart half-full of reduced price beer. Nothing wrong with this picture yet. Here it comes...they then proceded to pay with said beer using a food stamp card. I love beer just as much as any American, so everyone please join me and saying you are welcome to these women for supporting their alcohol consumption and their children's now nutrient depleted diet. Let's take those cards and put a few dozen restrictions. Maybe only allow the purchase of healthy foods?

Finally, how about this whole unemployment thing? For the past couple of summers I have worker with my father at the junk yard. I see a lot of people come through there that work hard for their money just to get by. I have enormous respect for those types of people - nothing more respectable than coming home sweaty after a hard days labor. Now, one conversation I had with a man named Matt Wycoff changed my perspective on this. My dad, being the saint that he is, always offers to help anyone who walks through the doors of his shop. Don't believe me - try it. Dad hired Matt to work the shop after he found out Matt's family could use the money. Matt didn't last long - working for my dad is laborous and not for anyone without a solid work ethic. Even after quitting, my dad continued to offer Matt employment as Dad knew he needed it. Matt consistently refused. So I had to find out why the heck he didn't want a job. Matt said the work was hard and he was making the same amount "junkin'" (that is slang for collecting recyclable metals and selling them to metal recyclers like my father). I often dealt with Matt's payment directly and knew this could not be so. I asked Matt how that was possible knowing exactly how much money he received for every visit to the shop. His response: Oh, this junkin' money is for beer, I collect unemployment. Isn't unemployment for those actively seeking a job after being laid off? Matt quit and was not seeking another job. Why? He receives the same amount from the government as he would in a paycheck from my father. As you can see here, unemployment clearly DESTROYED one job. How many more cases are there like this one?