Reply To: Government programs are not tzedakah

BarryLS1,

First of all, the only ones ever to cut those programs, like SS or Medicare, have been Democrats (Clinton and Obama). They talk a good game and scare the elderly that if you don’t vote for them, you’ll lose those benefits. That is EVIL!

What about the Social Security reforms signed in 1983, signed by Ronald Reagan, which increased payroll taxes on self-earners, taxed the benefits of high-income retirees, and set in motion an increase in the retirement age?

And do we ignore Paul Ryan’s proposed reforms just because they failed to become law?

The welfare programs have harmed society by destroying family life. My cousin was a welfare social worker in NY when those programs first started and he saw how the temporary split in families, who were intact, happened in order to get benefits, became permanent. That breakdown in family life has ruined society.

Umm what? Yes the majority of impoverished are single women with children, but is your cousin suggesting that women purposely divorce in order to receive benefits? Do people chop off their own legs in order to get on disability, or quit their jobs because they love unemployment checks?

Just because some Frum people benefit, doesn’t make it good.

That’s fair, but I would like to know what you would propose as a better amelioration of poverty?

People who scam the system, and there are many, makes for a Chillul Hashem.

Agreed about the chilul Hashem; however, do you really think that scamming among Frum Jews is rampant?

Also, it is not Tzedaka when you demean the recipient either, which the system does.

How does it demean the recipient?

Also, even if it were done with the best of intentions, the programs were supposed to be a last resort (ha ha), not the first option so you don’t have to earn a living.

For the kollel families that I know personally, the issue isn’t whether to earn a living or not, but choosing to earn less (and do with less) than is potentially possible in order to prioritize learning; e.g., the spouse works, the husband teaches on the side, etc. Receiving benefits is a last resort for these families too. I have yet to personally see a kollel family living the high life. Nor do I believe for a second that government benefits alone can lead to the high life.