Survial is a Great Incentive

                                                   

     Of all the ludicrous reasons why we should not give assistance to the poor, is the belief it will kill their incentive to improve themselves has to be on the top of the list. This archaic idea, though often well intended, has been lingering in the psyches of many people since Rosevelt proposed the"New Deal". What these Ayn Rand disciples failed to recognize is the poor have been with us for centuries before any social programs were enacted to mitigate the suffering and despair of those less fortunate than we are. What could have been more of an incentive for the poor to work than to feed their families?  Still, many kids went to bed hungry. What more incentive could a parent have had to "find a job" than knowing that they might have to give up their child? The greatest incentive of all-survival- has been with impecunious souls since the earliest civilizations. Yet, abject poverty persists.  I doubt that the reduction of food stamps will spark the maladroit to rise to the occasion or to enhance their patience to wait for the rising tide of a "trickle-down economy" to raise their boat.