Random Politics & Religion #20

Just looking around through the people I know irl or online, a part of this is the sad reality for a group of children. There, on the other hand, also are parents who just have had bad luck and who try to turn their situation to the better, people for who these free meals do make a big difference in their daily budgets.
Then there's also a group of people who dont know where to go for said help or who refuse to get it

Wellfare/healthcare/goverment funding is difficult to oversee. In the end those who need it the most get punished by those who take advantage of the system.

I live in a (to American standards) socialist country, the safety net we have is a lot broader (I think) for people who lose their jobs/get ill/get unlucky in life/people with drug problems. yet these problems persist, they even get worse year after year according to statistics.

Some people do lack empathy but some feel this way with good reason... a lot of these programs are run so poorly that it's almost crazy... that and then some people feel like they don't have enough already or what's theirs is theirs so keep your hands off and with how poorly some of the programs are run it lends a certain weight to their argument...

Some people also fall in the middle... those that are just above that arbitrary line who struggle to get by and see others get the something they work so hard for for what they see as nothing... they sometimes feel those people are better off than them as well... not fair right?

You on the other hand seem to be more of a bleeding heart that thinks everyone should get sight in the safety net and be provided for... unfortunately the way things are here right now it's just not realistic...

As a nation I personally feel like we should be able to feed and shelter all of our citizens... not putting them up in a 5 star hotel and feeding them steak like some would like to put out there to clobber the idea down before it's finished leaving my head... but basic sustenance and shelter... we go about it all so wrong in this nation though and part of it I think is partly to blame on how our society of individuals functions... we all need our own stuff we all need the best stuff and those that have mock those that don't... if you live with your parents for longer to save up money you get mocked and collectively we take each others words too seriously... we let them dictate our actions leading us to make poor decisions while everyone points the finger at everyone else....

In any case there is a balance somewhere that we seem unable to find as we're more focused on our own side winning than doing what's best for ourselves... the answer isn't to give everyone everything either... there is something to giving a hand short term kind of like teaching a man to fish instead of just giving him one but we also have to change a lot about this country to make that a feasible path we can take..

I got some free time and I'm bored... sue me :)

My lawyer will be in touch.

Mine too.

We should probably but for one it's not really possible to even know that let alone enact a plan to carry it out especially if no one is even asking for help...

When wealthier people take advantage of the system that's just being smart though... in any case that has nothing to do with welfare programs for the most part..

Yeah feeding kids in schools because their parents suck isn't really a reward... it's our responsibility to take care of things like that but we usually fail magnificently.. to give you a better idea of one thought process though some people feel if you feed the kids then the parents might just go spend food money on something frivelous hence rewarding them by lifting a burden..

I can only offer anecdotal evidence but the struggle is real in some places for kids... my little brother teaches at a school in the where he coaches and ends up taking some of the kids out to grab a burger because they don't get enough for whatever reason...

I look forward to the cordial exchange of counsel contact information...

No...

Well like you said the flaws with public education are multi-faceted. It has been politicized and there are red-herrings and inaccurate generalizations abound in every direction one looks.

One of the main issues I see is defunding of public education and attempts to de-incentivize Teaching as a career in of itself. This comes in the capacity of states promoting privatized charter schools that don't have adhere to legal standards, and evaluation processes that will render many a new teachers career dead on arrival before it even starts.

But hey I'm just an IT professional that freelanced his way into his current gig...But I hear I'm a liberal and a member of global progressive moment and therefore do not have a real job. Whereas my wife is a diehard midwestern Conservative who has a real job and benevolently looks passed my socialist agenda because of my revenue stream, endowments and bedside manner.

Its funny how words like progressive and liberale are dirty words on here. If I'd have to place myself in the political spectrum I'd probably be burned at the stake in this thread.

Did you see some teachers at charters in Chicago are trying to unionize? The irony is palpable...

And who pays for that? Nothing's free, that money had to of come from somewhere, most likely someone else's tax. So someone else is paying 320€ a month for you to have kids, and if they have kids themselves they are paying the money to you and to themselves (if the amount is universal and not restricted by income).

Or it's coming from employers, which just means your getting paid 500€ less a month in order for the government to give you 320€ a month, cause they also need to pay the administrators of that program and all the associated costs of running the agency that manages that benefit. Likely it's a combination of both, taking from the companies and from the individual tax payers so it's more like the government taking 1000€ a month from various entities to provide you 320€ a month in benefits. The real tax rate in socialist countries with large benefits is atrocious, I would have to earn double what I am now in order to maintain the same lifestyle. This is why people who worked their *** off for years in the workplace and built a successful career tend to not vote for Democrats who just want take more money from those people and hand it to those who didn't do ***their whole life but watch Oprah and make babies.

US Liberal / Conservative is really different from European Liberal / Conservative. The only similar term is Progressive and that's in reference to the Global Progressive movement, as in "world citizenship", "multi-cultism to replace nationalism" and "labor class unite to overthrow capital owning class". Many European Countries have immigration policies that would curdle Zero's toes.

Does Belgium have a political party that not only encourages illegal mass immigration to your country from poorer countries, but wants to give citizenship and voting rights to all those illegal immigrants so they could vote for that same party? European Countries tend to handle illegal immigration pretty harshly.

I know where that money comes from, social security is a normal thing here and most people dont have problems paying taxes for it. People do have problems with people abusing our social security.

In the states you're expected to save up money for kids, retirement, unemployment yourself. Here the government holds your hand and does it for you.

ok chopped up replies since I'm at work.
I'd like to think that child support is used to keep said children out of future poverty and it helps people to stay out of wellfare/healthcare because that amount of monthly money makes sure people can provide in basic needs for their (young) children. It would be the math for a statistics bureau to see what in the long run costs a country the most.
-A preventive funding in the form of childsupport compared to wellfare
-no funding and wellfare
Like I said before, the system is not holy, people do abuse it (sadly enough)

Not really but keep presuming.

You cant compare that, Belgium doesnt border to a non EU country, People from our surrounding countries are not seen as illegal immigrants. Our socialist party gave legal immigrants the right to vote though (bout a decade ago) in the aftermath you could say this was a move to get more voters for said party.
And I think the fact that we treat our illegal immigrants harshly is because they can get wellfare and social security from almost day 1 that they arrive in the country.

No excuses!

Someone needs to work and give money to social security! :p

Same here. There isn't much outrage when it comes to paying taxes (except that the payments themselves are unevenly assessed, and those who pay little to no taxes (even getting money from the government for existing) are telling those who pay the most to pay even more).

The problem is, those who abuse the system are the ones who demand more payments from the rich the most. It's hard when 1% of the population pays 45% of all income taxes, 20% of the population pays almost 90% of all income taxes, and greater than 50% of the population pays zero income taxes.

And that's just income taxes. That doesn't include state, property, personal, or any of the thousand of other taxes assessed.

The fairest tax in this country is the sales tax. Everyone pays equal amounts proportionate to their taxable purchases.

I don't work and I still give money to social security.

So, there goes that!

/hands Vienner an axe.

Now go mine for fish!

National laws are different.

What the EU project (experiment is the more correct term) was supposed to do is eliminate trade barriers and allow free passage and economic advances (like having a single currency for one) that larger nations enjoy the benefits for. Just imagine if the USD wasn't the national currency, and there were 50 different versions of dollars being passed throughout all of the US!

Nope I'm trying to bake cookies, which will prolly fail, used to much eggwhite /facepalm.

Sales taxes...thats the percentage taxes they add to every product being sold? If its that, we pay 21% here on most things (cept bread, milk, basic stuff, thats 6%)
even electricity and water we pay 21% atm (which is an outrage)

Can I recommend the Simpsons ?

No you would be burned at the stake cause you aren't American...just be glad you aren't Canadian...

Belgium isn't a real country...its a waffle a chocolate....and I'm sure many more important things that I don't care to learn about.

Beer

Also I don't hate liberals....that much !

The first step in recovery is admitting you have a problem !