I may make a series of threads regarding these answers as the comments are too long for just one thread. I want to have a mature discussion and as always, I am happy to get a dissenting opinion and discuss it with anybody.

I do not understand why so many of you loathe the poor. I also do not understand how any of you can support welfare for the rich when it basically takes advantage of the middle class while the poor still receive government welfare.

Quora-What is Republican's advice for poor people

quote:
(1) Try harder.

(2) Don’t have children.

(3) Live without… anything: no health insurance, no automobile, no mobile phone (or landline), no Internet access, and no heat in the winter. If you can’t afford the power bill, do without power. (To be clear: I’m talking here about Republican politicians, not Republican voters!)

(4) Get smarter about eating healthy on a limited income so that you don’t have disproportionate numbers for diabetes, obesity, and heart disease. This is important since you won’t have health care. If there are no supermarkets in your neighborhood with healthy food, get yourself to another neighborhood to use your TANF credits.

(5) Move out of high-crime neighborhoods. All this ignores that the majority of poor people have jobs. Very conservative people (not just politicians) assume that people who get “benefits” like Medicaid and TANF are unemployed by choice, that they prefer to “scam the system” rather than to work at minimum wage in a part-time job. Turns out, that’s not even close to true. Something like 73% of those on Medicaid is employed, at least part-time.

There is a demand for more talent for available jobs, but those jobs require special training or advanced education. Funds for this training are being gutted in the Republican 2017–2018 budget. Most of the other 27% have incapacitating disabilities, are taking care of young children, or are simply unable to land jobs, no matter how hard they try.

“Get smarter” is a kind of arrogance and ignorance that many people exhibit— not just Republican politicians. If you have an IQ of 80 or less, you are 25% of the population. Your cognitive potential is extremely limited. Available jobs are moving into the arena of computer-facilitated work. So, now we’re talking about people who need— minimally— an IQ of 100. 50% of the population has an IQ below 100. There are, of course, still jobs that do not require this kind of “intelligence.” Those jobs are not likely to increase substantially, even if there is an increase in fossil fuel production and a penalty to corporations that export unskilled jobs. The proposed federal budget also eviscerates support for programs that have been bringing children into levels of competency that could lead them to be able to participate in the 21st-century economy.

As an example, consider AmeriCorps’ Reading Partners program, which leverages volunteers throughout the nation with an extremely well-developed program and curriculum to help children who are significantly behind grade level in their reading comprehension ability. This program also teaches children many concepts essential to success as older children and adults. The same is true for AmeriCorps’ Playworks program— also headed for the chopping block.

This post was edited on 6/28/17 at 11:08 am