@muehlfield@social.tchncs.de Yup, thats pretty much what I was trying to say at the end. I agree. There is a reason I strongly support programs which are explicitly designed to support peope getting ahead, rather than programs that just dump money in their lap. Because if your poor you DO have a harder time and we should try to ensure anyone who is willing to do the work can make it.

I generally support ideas like this:

1) 100% tax payed education at all levels up to and including PhD

2) incentive based welfare. That is, everyone gets the bare minimum not to starve to death but if you want more than half a room and stale bread for dinner then you need to be commited to job training or education, but if you persue such things (which are free per #1) then welfare should be generous with both housing and food so long as you continue to perform

3) healthcare reform as well, a bit of a tangent but we need better mental health for the poor if they are to get over many of the issues they deal with, not to mention physical health.