Compassion or Enslavement?

Jim Harbison

The recent Republican presidential debates have largely focused on media-generated folklore intended less to edify than to attract attention and sell air time. One such issue is the claim that mean-spirited Republicans want to totally eliminate welfare, unemployment, food stamps and all other social safety net benefit programs. It is true that conservatives oppose these programs, at least as they exist in their current forms. Conservative objections have never been about the need for assistance to the unfortunate; but rather on how to develop programs that create the climate for long term opportunity for employment, job security, independence, economic growth, and self reliance.
What is missing from meaningful public discussions are accurate portrayals of the alternatives conservatives advocate to replace this unfortunate and growing dependence on well meaning but singularly misguided and spectacularly failed government programs. There are more Americans dependent on food stamps today than at any time in our history. The inescapable truth is that after nearly 50 years of the "Great Society" programs and over $40 trillion of well-intentioned assistance, generations of Americans still live in ignorance, poverty, crime, and government dependency. These programs offer transient relief but no viable path out of dependency; and, as a practical matter, represent little more than a 21st century form of government sanctioned economic and social slavery.  Read rest of column here: News New Mexico

Compassion or Enslavement?