Stephen Shanahan 6:04 pm on March 11, 2016

In my personally opinion after thinking of the…

In my personally opinion, after thinking of the question: “Can the poor b e trusted?” I have come to the conclusion that no, the poor can not be trusted. I would love to politely debate this with anyone who would like to reply, but here is my argument. I know some people including family and friends who are using government aid of some sort from financial aid, to income assistance and food stamps. One of them used financial aid for college, dropped the class, then used the college refund, which he didn’t pay for, to buy video games. Another uses his income assistance checks to work less and be a member of a local country club. People will do anything they can to improve their lives, poor people included, so giving them help, is necessary, but is often abused and taken advantage of.

Michael DeLaGarza 3:28 am on March 12, 2016

My father grew up poor. He lived in the worst parts of Detroit and Texas, moving around to different foster homes. When he was thirteen he started a job as a janitor and worked as hard as he could. He put himself through a little bit of college and he went on to have a good paying career (not as a janitor though haha) and raise a family of his own in much better cities. His sisters and brothers grew up in the same conditions and made themselves into productive members of society. My uncle is retired now, but he was a higher ranking officer in the military, serving multiple tours. He came from the same conditions. A friend of mine who is in the air force and is training for a career in aviation grew up poor (not quite as bad as my father and uncle) and his hard work has gotten him very far. He is one of the nicest people I know. Tough skinned, but very kind none the less. These people in my life never abused the system and only rarely used it when they absolutely needed to. They worked very hard and understood that the only way out was to capitalize on the opportunities that were given to them. To say that all poor people cannot be trusted is too general to be accurate. There are many poor people who are very humble and with the little they have, they help others in need. I politely disagree with the statement that people will do anything they can to improve their lives, and as an example, your statement earlier says it all. Your friend would rather play video games than get an education. I would consider that to be doing anything you can to be lazy. I absolutely agree with you on the point made about people abusing the system to get more, but that isn’t everyone. It comes down to the person and what you are entrusting them with. There are just as many rich people i wouldn’t trust as there are poor people.
Eli Zumberg 4:30 pm on March 12, 2016

To be honest I don’t give to much credit to anecdotal evidence. When you use it like that it paints a false picture where outlier cases such as your friends are more common than they are. based on my experience they might use the assistance to splurge every once in a while but you should also remember that the amount of children and elderly who rely on these programs is not insignificant.
- Michael DeLaGarza 3:17 am on March 13, 2016
  
  Well said.
Sam Tran 3:36 pm on March 13, 2016

In my experience, most people who abuse the system are “victim” of generational poverty. When people CHOSE not to work and live off the system, often they are showing their children to do the same. We were far from rich growing up and my parents worked really hard to provide for us, often we went without certain things. However, my parents wanted nothing more for their children than success and to eventually become productive members of society. We were taught that we had to work for things we wanted, I’ve had a job since 14 years old, because, well we had to work for whatever “luxuries” we may have wanted. My family couldn’t afford that ipod or those name brand shoes, I had to work for it. No we didn’t have government assistance but more times than not these are the types of families getting help. Just because we were poor, didn’t mean we weren’t to be trusted. Trust me, I’ve seen the system abuse, I work with people like this daily, yes it makes me angry, however, there are so many people that utilize the system that have no choice, they work and it still isn’t enough. Without the help they would likely be hungry and homeless.
Michael Ruben 7:03 pm on March 16, 2016

Here’s my two cents… rich or poor, it doesn’t matter to me. WHO you are does.

I don’t trust the poor woman who asks me for money because she lost her leg in Vietnam (although she clearly still had both) nor do I trust the vagabond who I did open my heart to and gave money only to watch him then turn around and give it over to the kingpin who was running the circuit.

On the flip side of the coin, I don’t trust “visionaries”. By this I mean people who mobilize others into fulfilling their ideas. Typically these are individuals with access to resources… and if they don’t have resources then it’s usually no problem, because they have such dynamic and magnetic personalities that people will inexplicably hand over everything they have, from time to capital. I’ve met way too many CEOs and Presidents (aka leaders) who stand on a righteous mountain, hosting/ supporting charities, but are just capitalizing on others’ suffering or ignorance.

I’ve trusted an immigrant thief more than an Eagle Scout.

Basically, I am willing to extend trust until you prove me otherwise.

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In my personally opinion after thinking of the…