Are Liberals Born From Conservative Thought? Actually,
I thought about titling this article “What the Hell is Wrong with People?”
simply because this was the thought that kept running through my mind as I read
the letter (below) as well as various articles and comments regarding the
letter. I eventually thought better of though. Maybe we can consider it a
subtitle. At any rate, before I go any further, what follows is an email I received
yesterday.
This was written
by a 21 yr old female who gets it. It's her future she’s worried about and this
is how she feels about the social welfare big government state that she’s being
forced to live in! These solutions are just common sense in her opinion.
This was in the
Waco Tribune Herald, Waco , TX Nov 18, 2010
Put me in charge . . .
Put me in charge of food stamps. I'd get rid of Lone
Star cards; no cash for Ding Dongs or Ho Ho's, just money for 50-pound bags of
rice and beans, blocks of cheese and all the powdered milk you can haul away.
If you want steak and frozen pizza, then get a job.
Put me in charge of Medicaid. The first thing I'd do
is to get women Norplant birth control implants or tubal ligations. Then, we'll
test recipients for drugs, alcohol, and nicotine and document all tattoos and
piercings. If you want to reproduce or use drugs, alcohol, smoke or get tats and
piercings, then get a job.
Put me in charge of government housing. Ever live in
a military barracks?
You will maintain our property in a clean and good
state of repair. Your "home" will be subject to inspections anytime
and possessions will be inventoried. If you want a plasma TV or Xbox 360, then
get a job and your own place.
In addition, you will either present a check stub
from a job each week or you will report to a "government" job. It may
be cleaning the roadways of trash, painting and repairing public housing,
whatever we find for you. We will sell your 22 inch rims and low profile tires
and your blasting stereo and speakers and put that money toward the “common
good..”
Before you write that I've violated someone's
rights, realize that all of the above is voluntary. If you want our money,
accept our rules.. Before you say that this would be "demeaning" and
ruin their "self esteem," consider that it wasn't that long ago that
taking someone else's money for doing absolutely nothing was demeaning and
lowered self esteem.
If we are expected to pay for other people's
mistakes we should at least attempt to make them learn from their bad choices.
The current system rewards them for continuing to make bad choices.
AND, While you are on Gov’t subsistence, you no
longer can VOTE! Yes that is correct. For you to vote would be a conflict of
interest. You will voluntarily remove yourself from voting while you are
receiving a Gov’t welfare check. If you want to vote, then get a job.
To begin with, this letter was not written by a 21-year
old female from Texas. It was written by Alfred W. Evans, a retired Army sergeant
from Gatesville, Texas. In reading this letter (and many have since it went “viral”
throughout the internet last year – Source), I can clearly sense the frustration felt
by its author, as well as the authors of the numerous comments. Included in the
various comments sections across the web, are liberals spouting forth the usual
epithets of “racist,” “hate monger,” “idiot,” etc. In fact, by and large the
majority of the comments were either in support (often vehemently) of Mr. Evans
proposals or they were against (again, often vehemently) his proposals.
Quite frankly, I find both the letter and the vast
majority of comments (both for and against) to be terribly offensive. As far as
the comments made by liberals, well, I expect them for the most part. There are
some intelligent liberals out there who are not governed by their emotions and
their sense of entitlement, and although they still have some odd ideas and
philosophies about American politics, at least they are civil when having a
conversation. It is the conservatives, however, that truly surprise me. In fact
I would say that I am fairly dismayed by what some of the conservatives wrote.
In spite of the obvious frustration that the author of
this letter feels, relegating those on welfare to the status of something less
than second class citizens is appalling. The author (Mr. Evans) states that if
he were “in charge” those receiving food stamps would be allowed to purchase
only rice, beans, blocks of cheese, and powdered milk. That’s it. Also on Mr.
Evans proposal is forced birth control and sterilization for all women
receiving Medicaid, and being gainfully employed would be a mandatory
requirement for anyone wishing to reproduce. Margaret Sanger, hero of socialist
left, would be very proud of the “conservative” Mr. Evans.
Mr. Evans goes on to advocate the confiscation of
personal property and the revocation of the Constitutional right to vote for
all who receive welfare benefits. He does attempt to soften his proposal by
stating that all of these things would be strictly voluntary, but this is
clearly an afterthought on Mr. Evans’s part. An obvious attempt by Mr. Evans to
provide himself with an “out” should anyone disagree with him. But this is as
obvious as the old “Well, hypothetically speaking” preamble used by those who
do not wish to implicate themselves when discussing a distasteful topic. Obviously
no one receiving welfare benefits would ever voluntarily submit to these
provisions, and it is equally obvious that Mr. Evans truly wants his proposal
enacted and enforced by the government. And that is what I find so disheartening, as
Mr. Evans calls himself a conservative.
I will admit that there is massive welfare fraud going on
this country, and the welfare system is needs to be revamped and better
regulated. There are far too many able bodied men and far too many baby making
machines receiving unneeded and undeserved welfare benefits. There are also many
who received disability benefits who neither deserve nor need them. I have
personally witnessed one “disabled” individual who claimed he could not walk
without assistance, and yet when he thought no one was watching, he could walk and run, without any problem whatsoever.
But why would someone who calls himself a conservative
allow himself to be so governed by his emotions and be so quick to throw reason
and logic out the window, as to say that anyone who receives welfare benefits
should be required to meet his proposal? Isn’t that like throwing the baby out
with the bath water? There are many people who receive either food stamps or Medicaid
or SSI that do so through no real fault of their own. They did not make “bad
decisions” as Mr. Evans calls them. Perhaps they lost their job and in spite of
a determined effort to find work, have been unable to do so. Don’t forget that
the jobless rate is sickeningly high. Perhaps they also have a family to provide
for, and because of the economy they cannot. Perhaps they are truly disabled.
