Which lifestyle choice produces better results - being a hard working
American or being a government parasite? Actually, when you look at
the cold, hard numbers they may just surprise you. In America today, we
deeply penalize hard work and we greatly reward government dependence.
If you live in a very liberal area of the country and you know how to
game the system, it is entirely possible to live a comfortable existence
without ever working too much at all. In fact, there are some
Americans that have been living off of "government benefits" for
decades. Many of these people actually plan their lives around doing
exactly what they need to do to qualify for as many benefits as
possible. America is rapidly turning into a European-style socialist
welfare state and it is destroying our nation socially and financially.
Ever since the "war on poverty" began our debt has absolutely exploded
and yet now there are more poor people in this country than ever
before. Obviously something is not working.
Now don't get me wrong. I deeply believe in having compassion for
those that are going through tough times and having a safety net for
those that cannot take care of themselves. We should not have a single
person in this nation going without food or sleeping in the streets.
But in America today it is absolutely ridiculous how many people are
climbing aboard the "safety net". At this point, an astounding
49 percent of all Americans live in a home that receives some form of government benefits.
So who pays for all of this?
The people that drag themselves out of bed and go to work each day pay for it all.
For a few moments, let's examine how the lifestyle of a typical hard
working American compares to the lifestyle of a government parasite.
In America today, the median yearly household income is somewhere
around $50,000. About half of all American households make more than
that and about half of all American households make less than that.
When you break it down, it comes to about $4000 a month.
So how far does $4000 go in America today?
Unfortunately, it doesn't go very far at all.
First of all, a hard working American family will need some place to
live. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the decent jobs are near the
big cities, and it is more expensive to live near the big cities. Let's
assume that an average family of four will spend about $1000 a month on
rent or on a mortgage payment.
The government parasite, on the other hand, has a whole host of
federal, state and local housing programs to take advantage of. During
the recent economic downturn, more Americans than ever have been turning
to the government for help with housing costs. For example, federal
housing assistance outlays increased by a whopping
42 percent between 2006 and 2010.
Once you have a place to live, you have to provide power and heat for
it. For the average hard working American, this is going to probably
average about $300 a month, although this can vary greatly depending on
where you live.
For the government parasite, there are once again a whole host of government programs to help with this. For example,
LIHEAP (Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program) assists low income households in paying their home heating bills.
Most average hard working Americans are also going to need phone and
Internet service. Let's assume that the hard working family of four in
our example is extremely thrifty and only spends $100 a month for these
services.
For the government parasite, cell phone service is not a problem. As I have written about
previously,
those that "qualify" can receive a free cell phone and free cell phone
minutes every single month from the federal government. In addition, in
some areas of the nation low income families can qualify for
deeply subsidized home Internet service.
In order to earn money, our hard working family is going to need to
get to work. In most households, both parents have decided to work
these days so both of them will need cars. Let's assume that the family
is very thrifty and that both cars were purchased used and that the car
payments only total about $400 a month.
The hard working family will also need auto insurance for the two
vehicles. Let's assume that both parents have a great driving record
and that they only pay a total of about $100 a month for car insurance.
The cars will also need to be filled up with gasoline. The average U. S. household
spent $4155
on gasoline during 2011, but let's assume that our family is very, very
careful and that they only spend about $300 on gas each month.
So what about the government parasite? Well, the government parasite
does not need to go to work, so this expense can potentially be
eliminated entirely. But since most other things are paid for by the
government or are deeply subsidized, in many instances government
parasites are actually able to afford very nice vehicles.
In addition, a new bill (The Low-Income Gasoline Assistance Program Act)
has been introduced in Congress that would give "qualifying" households money to help pay for gasoline....
Low-Income Gasoline Assistance Program Act - Directs
the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make grants to states to
establish emergency assistance programs to pay eligible households for
the purchase of gasoline.
A hard working American family is also going to need health
insurance. Well, we all know how expensive health insurance has
become. In fact, health insurance costs have risen
by 23 percent
since Barack Obama became president. But let's assume that our hard
working family has somehow been able to find an amazing deal where they
only pay $500 a month for health insurance for a family of four.
For the government parasite, health insurance is not needed. If
there is an emergency, the government parasite can just go get free
medical care at any emergency room.
And of course there is always Medicaid. Back in 1965, only one out of every 50 Americans was on Medicaid. Today,
one out of every 6 Americans is on Medicaid, and things are about to get a whole lot worse. It is being projected that Obamacare will add
16 million more Americans to the Medicaid rolls.
So what about food?
Everyone has to eat, right?
Well, the hard working family in our example is faced with an
environment where food prices are constantly rising but paychecks are
not keeping up. Let's assume that the hard working family in our
example clips coupons and cuts corners any way that it can and only
spends about $50 for each member of the family on food and supplies each
week. That comes to a total of $800 a month for the entire family.
So what about the government parasite?
Government parasites need to eat too.
Well, that is where food stamps come in. Right now, there are
more than 46 million Americans
on food stamps. Since Barack Obama became president, the number of
Americans on food stamps has increased by 14 million. Food stamps have
become so popular that rappers are even
making rap videos about using food stamp cards.
Okay, so after all of this where do we stand?
Well, the average hard working family so far has spent $3500 out of the $4000 that they have to spend for the month.
We still need to find money for clothing, for paying off credit card
debt, for paying off student loan debt, for dining out, for
entertainment, for medications, for pets, for hobbies, for life
insurance, for vacations, for car repairs and maintenance, for child
care, for gifts and for retirement savings.
But wait.
There is actually no money left at all because we have forgotten one of the biggest expenses of all.
Taxes.
When you total up all federal, state and property taxes, our average hard working family is going to pay
at least $1000 a month in taxes.
So that puts our average hard working family in the hole every single month.
Meanwhile, the government parasite does not pay any taxes because he or she does not earn enough money to be taxed.
Are you starting to get the picture?
In many ways, life can be so much easier when you are constantly
taking from the government instead of constantly giving to the
government.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie recently
put it this way....
"We'll have a bunch of people sitting on a couch waiting for their next government check"
Once again, I am not dumping on those that have been through all
kinds of nightmares because of this economy. As I have written about so
frequently, the U.S. economy is simply
not producing enough jobs for everyone anymore, and this is creating major problems.
Just about everyone needs a helping hand at some point, and we should always be compassionate to those that are in need.
However, there is also a growing number of Americans that are content
to simply give up and live off of the government, and that is
fundamentally wrong.
It is not the job of the U.S. government to take care of you from the
cradle to the grave. What the U.S. government is supposed to do is to
make sure that we have a well functioning economy that operates in an
environment where hard working individuals and small businesses can
thrive, and sadly the U.S. government has failed
miserably in that regard.
We desperately need the U.S. economy to be fixed, but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for that to happen.
As economic conditions get even worse in this country, millions more
Americans are going to turn to the government for assistance and at some
point the safety net is going to break.
What is our country going to look like when that happens?