LogFAQs > #952396448

I think Americans have a very twisted and irrational way of framing people's problems. You hear people say like "how can you even get addicted to drugs", "it's easy not to commit crimes", etc., but they almost always frame it based on their own experiences. Most of the people who have those kind of issues grew up in poverty or succumbed to undiagnosed/untreated mental illnesses at some point in their lives, they are basically raised in an entirely different world. And then we're all like "well I don't want to help them!" Then who is the help for? That's the point of help! It's not meant to be a luxury, it's supposed to go to people who need it. If a few people "mooch" then that's probably a problem with who gets it rather than the concept itself, but such a thing is overblown, and you generally would not envy people in such positions if you actually knew what their life was like. It's the same old "welfare queen" bullshit.

People aren't going to "help themselves" when they were basically implicitly taught they aren't given a chance if they have a certain standing in a society. Denying people we perceive as problematic help isn't going to make these issues better, it'll make them worse. If you are in a position where you don't need "free stuff" to make it you should consider yourself lucky, and there's no need to be mad at people who do get it.