NECESSARY INDUSTRY VS. CULTIVATED SLOTH: Welfare Lessons From Mexico City

A recent trip to Mexico City illustrated an alarming problem we experience here in the United States.

Granted, Mexico City is practically a third world country all by itself, with the immense, tightly packed population and somewhat primitive living conditions, but the people living there are not an idle bunch.

There is little to no social programs available. If a person doesn’t work, the person does not eat.

The job situation is not always the best, so the solution to this dilemma is creating your own job.

Everywhere I went, someone was selling something in order to provide for themselves and their family.

From hawking suckers and headphones on the subway, peddling sweet bread and tortillas in the neighborhoods, and roadside kiosks offering local food and drink favorites, the denizens were hustling to put food on the table.

There was even a four to five year old girl singing to the accompaniment of her older brother on guitar for tips. A little girl and boy of that age should be playing with toys and going to school, yet they were working. It is hard to imagine what conditions had caused them to take up this path at such a tender age.

In the United States, the following statistics are available concerning the breakdown of welfare:
39% of whites
38% of blacks
17% of Hispanics
This roughly 8 % of each group mentioned.
http://www.answers.com/Q/What_percentage_of_people_in_US_are_on_welfare

Getting temporary help when times get rough, or when one becomes sick or disabled is understandable.

Everyone needs a boost sometime, and help should be available on a temporary basis to those in need.

However, easy government assistance and programs often foster sloth. It can be just as lucrative to the unskilled, or uninspired, to sit home and be on the dole. If viable employment was found, they would not receive their government check and could experience a reduction in income. This is not an enticement to gainful employment.

Honest work is necessary for the good health and self-esteem in a human being.
Encouraged sloth leads to behaviors that destroy a person, and by doing so, the dependent person is more easily controlled. They have no skills to support themselves and create a legacy of helplessness.

If the government that sends the checks out monthly should collapse or change policies, the slothful would panic, chaos would reign and people would die, either from the violence that would ensue or simple ignorance.

Having to embrace the mother of invention from birth, the people of Mexico City would manage to survive. They have learned to make do and re-purpose everything. Nothing is thrown away that can be used. They aren’t afraid or hesitant to reinvent themselves as necessary.

While social programs can be helpful, an excess leads to the atrophy of the people’s minds and spirits.

It is time for the people of the United States to demand that healthy young people stand on their own feet. It is a detriment to our society to enable a generation of cripples.

If it is not done soon, the future looks very bleak!

Image: https://logatfer.wordpress.com/2013/06/03/street-cart-food-china/