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Nothing is free. One way or another, a price is being paid.The poor will always be with us. For many it is a pattern learned from their parents and the parents before them.
Years ago we lived in Birmingham. Just a few blocks from the downtown area was a rather large housing project. I rarely went there but sometimes I had to cut through to get to my destination. Generations of people lived there, apparently few had jobs. Nothing to do day after day but sit outside (weather permitting) and wait on the mail to arrive.
No matter how much taxpayer and charitable money is poured into these situations, nothing changes. Very few ever break free from the bonds of economic slavery and the constant stream of free services.
Dr. Ben Carson, grew up in a housing project and was raised by a single mother. He later became a world renown pediatric neurosurgeon, but those stories are rare.
Folks who get to 65 and are still living paycheck to paycheck (earned or given to them from the government) will not change their way of life. They were not willing/able to budget over the last 40+ years and that won't change when they start collecting SSA benefits. They will continue to be supported by charity and taxpayer wealth redistribution programs.
In 1964 LBJ declared a War on Poverty. There are more people (as a percent of the total population) on the public dole than there were then
In 1971 Nixon declared a War on Drugs . . . years later there are more people using drugs than before.
You can hope for change you can believe in but as long as there is someone willing to take all the free stuff and ask for more don't expect a different outcome. No amount of "awareness" will result in a different outcome.
