Thomas Sowell is one of the greatest minds of the last century and he could perhaps be considered to be the most brilliant living intellectual on the planet.
#37. It seems prudent to make welfare systems very uncomfortable, in a way - painful. If we are going to have a "safety net," then it should be designed and operated in such a way to induce its users to get off the safety net as quickly as possible. The vast majority of people on welfare should be made to ask themselves and others, "How can I get back on my feet (and quick)? ...because I can't take this much longer!"
It seems the best we've come up with so far is a definitive expiration of benefits a la Newt Gingrich, 104th Congress and (begrudgingly) Bill Clinton. It wasn't so much painful to be in welfare but everyone knew they had to be off by a date certain ... and the welfare roles decrease.
If we are going to have welfare: Due dates are useful, but don't work well with procrastinators. Immediate and ongoing "pain" is the cure for this ailment.
Yes. The problem with an expiration date is that it doesn't hurt at all until you hit it. You need something that makes people want to get off welfare from day 1. And let's face it, there's an inherent contradiction: We want to help people who are in trouble, but we also want them to stop needing help as quickly as possible. If you make welfare easy and generous, you provide the most help to people in need. But if it's too easy and too generous, people have no incentive to get off of it.
Thank you for the mind candy. Great minds are rare, but thankfully do exist. Thomas Sowell has one of them, and all would do well to read this compilation of quotes. They are a condensed, easy to understand philosophy of what and how to make people and a country excel.
A rational person examines the evidence and follows that evidence to its logical conclusion. But that's not how most people think. Most people come to a conclusion first, based on what they want to believe, and then look for evidence to support it.
#37. It seems prudent to make welfare systems very uncomfortable, in a way - painful. If we are going to have a "safety net," then it should be designed and operated in such a way to induce its users to get off the safety net as quickly as possible. The vast majority of people on welfare should be made to ask themselves and others, "How can I get back on my feet (and quick)? ...because I can't take this much longer!"
It seems the best we've come up with so far is a definitive expiration of benefits a la Newt Gingrich, 104th Congress and (begrudgingly) Bill Clinton. It wasn't so much painful to be in welfare but everyone knew they had to be off by a date certain ... and the welfare roles decrease.
If we are going to have welfare: Due dates are useful, but don't work well with procrastinators. Immediate and ongoing "pain" is the cure for this ailment.
Yes. The problem with an expiration date is that it doesn't hurt at all until you hit it. You need something that makes people want to get off welfare from day 1. And let's face it, there's an inherent contradiction: We want to help people who are in trouble, but we also want them to stop needing help as quickly as possible. If you make welfare easy and generous, you provide the most help to people in need. But if it's too easy and too generous, people have no incentive to get off of it.
Thank you for the mind candy. Great minds are rare, but thankfully do exist. Thomas Sowell has one of them, and all would do well to read this compilation of quotes. They are a condensed, easy to understand philosophy of what and how to make people and a country excel.
Decision making is very complicated for people who have no morals.
A rational person examines the evidence and follows that evidence to its logical conclusion. But that's not how most people think. Most people come to a conclusion first, based on what they want to believe, and then look for evidence to support it.