Welcome to the Virtual Home of the Virtual Person - Larry Linux
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place to post my thoughts and opinions.
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My
Most Recent Entry
"The New Face of Welfare"
For
years the media has portrayed the face of welfare as lower class and
predominantly black. Over and over again when presented with the idea
of "Government Assistance" we see poor inner-city faces. Although it
may be true that statistically speaking a higher percentage of
African-Americans receive help from government agencies and
programs than
do white Americans, we must remember that almost all of us
accept government help in some way.
Now
before we stick our chests out and say "I don't get any
government assistance!" think about all the programs currently
available to people who aren't normally consider welfare recipients.
What about student loans, disaster relief, small business loans, and
government stimulus checks just to name a few. Please understand, I am
not belittling those who use government assistance, some of them need the help. Nor am I saying that
I agree with the principles behind all of these programs - I do not. I
am simply saying that most of us, including myself, have used
government help in some way.
Now comes the new
face of welfare - corporate bailouts. For those of you who were
still under the assumptions that we have a "free market" economy, the
events of the last few months must have surely convinced you otherwise.
The last bastion of hope for believers in the illusion of American
wealth and prosperity, our financial markets, have all but collasped. This illusion,
which was created by an over-inflated stock market, excessive real
estate holdings and fragile 401k's, has finally come crashing down.
Now
even the high and mighty financial companies are in need of government
assistance. These institutions which were once the bright and shining
stars of our so called "booming" economy, are standing in line for hand-outs
from Uncle Sam. Of course the big question is why help businesses whose
irresponsible practices have driven them to the brink of financial ruin. I think
we all know the answer to that one, but many now wonder when we will just admit
that the terms "democracy" and "capitalism" no longer apply here.
Never
mind the fact that we could not afford the programs and policies we
already had prior to the Wall Street meltdown and bailouts, now we are "spending"
billions more in tax dollars that don't even exist. The financial grave
we had already dug for ourselves will soon be so deep that no amount
American ingenuity or excessive overtime will be able to get us out of
this hole.
So much for financial independence and early retirement, say
hello to hard times and reality.
LL
Posted: 10/24/08
"Play Chess, Not War."