Food Stamp Nation

This article was in the Review Journal, but I could not find it on the RJ site so I used another site.

'The lessons of history ... show conclusively that continued dependence upon relief induces a spiritual and moral disintegration fundamentally destructive to the national fiber. To dole out relief in this way is to administer a narcotic, a subtle destroyer of the human spirit.'

These searing words about Depression-era welfare are from Franklin Roosevelt's 1935 State of the Union Address. FDR feared this self-reliant people might come to depend permanently upon government for the necessities of their daily lives. Like narcotics, such a dependency would destroy the fiber and spirit of the nation.

What brings his words to mind is news that 41.8 million Americans are on food stamps, and the White House estimates 43 million will soon be getting food stamps every month.

A seventh of the nation cannot even feed itself.

The government just released figures that show that more people are living below the poverty level than ever before.

Welfare isn't working. Before food stamps and welfare, this article points out that,

No one was starving. There had been no starvation since Jamestown, with such exceptions as the Donner Party caught in the Sierra Nevada in the winter of 1846-47, who took to eating their dead.

Sure there was poverty, but people and charities helped to prevent starvation and helped people through their tough times.

I just don't think that increasing taxes to pay for more services will help. In fact, I believe that more taxes will cause more poverty and problems.