The reality is that one could argue that those who get handouts will always want handouts, but I think this is a mistake. In America, at least since Clinton, our welfare benefits have not really been that generous, from what I can tell. In Britain you have multiple generations of people where NOBODY has had a job, but I don’t think that is how it works here. I think single mothers get food stamps, public housing, and in some cases perhaps even a stipend of sorts, but the whole thing pretty well sucks. It is not good living. It is not happy living. It is not “I’m going to go on vacation at the taxpayers expense” money, as they have in Britain and other nations.
We are not, in other words, so far along that we have a FULLY dependent class. What we have are people who see few jobs in their neighborhoods that are worth a damn, and who tend to drift into poverty and apathy, or poverty and efforts to leverage what good jobs there ARE, which normally is in drug dealing. High risk, but at least worth it if you succeed.
I think about this song from time to time: Breaking the Law
Here are the relevant lyrics:
There I was completely wasting, out of work and down
All inside it’s so frustrating as I drift from town to town
Feel as though nobody cares if I live or die
So I might as well begin to put some action in my life
Breaking the law, breaking the law
Breaking the law, breaking the law
Breaking the law, breaking the law
Breaking the law, breaking the law
So much for the golden future, I can’t even start
I’ve had every promise broken, there’s anger in my heart
You don’t know what it’s like, you don’t have a clue
If you did you’d find yourselves doing the same thing too
He breaks the law because WHY THE FUCK NOT? He was promised the good life, a good job, to be taken care of. Everything was supposed to be golden. But he voted for the good life, and got jackshit. That is what Obama voters get.
What Romney and Republicans need to focus on is the fact that most poor people want something better, and many–certainly not all–are willing to WORK for it, GIVEN THE CHANCE. They don’t get the chance, and THAT is why they vote for socialists like Obama.
But whenever they see a real CHOICE, if someone can convince them that they actually will create decent jobs–or to the point of my own political philosophy, not convince job creators not to hire–then Republicans are golden.
Democrats have delivered for Unions, union contractors, and some large campaign contributors. Everybody else, including the poor, has been shit on and tossed onto the garbage heap. Every couple years the Dem’s pretend to care about the poor, but they just want votes.
That makes this demographic primed for a take-over, by somebody CLEVER enough, and ARTICULATE enough to pull it off.
Romney, that is your mission, should you choose to accept it.