Help should always be given to those who need it. That is not a question. However, the kind of help is disputed. Welfare has become nothing but handouts, and across the country there are complaints about the behaviors of many welfare recipients.

A family with an alcoholic or drug-abuser is instructed not to give support to said addict. Any offerings of food, shelter, money, or even personal contact are considered to be forms of enabling. This process forces the addict to survive on his or her own, and often the only way to do this is to get clean. Taking away the support forces an individual to address his or her problems.

Couldn’t this basic psychological concept be applied to welfare? Maybe the best way to propel people into the workforce is to take away any incentive to remain jobless. Quite paying people for doing nothing, and eventually they’ll have to do something in order to survive.

It sounds heartless. It would feel terrible to implement this plan, but perhaps the resources that would be put toward welfare could be reallocated into different sources of aid. Instead of handing out food stamps, service-oriented jobs could be put into place so that people could earn their stamps. Clean up the park, get six meals. This not only gives people help in a financial way, but also allows them to retain a sense of pride in what they do. They aren’t taking someone else’s charity; they’re helping to strengthen the community. Daycares could be set up for which attendance would be free, provided that parents meet strictly enforced economic qualifications. The daycares could only be used if parents could prove that they were at work in the time that their child was there. Without welfare, these programs could easily be financed, and they would ultimately be beneficial for the country as a whole.

Of course there would still be disability benefits in place for those who are rendered unable to work by a physical handicap. For everyone else, there are better ways to help them reach a level of financial independence. Something earned is something valued, while something given can be squandered without guilt. Handouts are not effective. The government serves the role of a parent to American citizens, therefore its job is to teach. Despite the unpopularity of a plan of this kind, parents are willing to sacrifice their public image if it is for the greater good of their children.