Finding out why we need a safety net

For years we’ve seen our government slash and hack at social programs designed to help us when things get really tough. I think there’s been a sense that things could never get bad for us or that these programs were being exploited by people who wanted the easy life. Well we are them and they are us. We are all the same and things are about to get tough all over. We’re already seeing evidence of this. Today we read the number of food stamp recipients are at an all time high. Nearly 28 million Americans are no longer able to afford food without government assistance. That’s 28 million Americans who are forced to wait for enough assistance to afford food to trickle down to them.

It wasn’t long ago we were recklessly slashing funding for programs like Welfare that were formed to protect us all in times of crisis as if there would never be another disaster. We were told to be short sighted and think of only ourselves. We were taught to think of the poor ad dangerous and lazy. Were it only the case that life were that simple, that only the virtuous succeeded and therefore the successful were virtuous. Good people fall on hard times and now we’re seeing examples of that all over.

In West Virginia one in six is now receiving food stamps. That’s a staggering number that demonstrates a need for a major expansion of other social programs. The need has never been greater. Before we run to the aid of banks and investment firms, we need to put money where it’s truly, desperately needed. Into the safety net that prevents depressions from becoming disasters.