JohnDee
Well-Known Member
hanimal,How many welfare moms have you known during your career that have done this? That is shitty if they are popping out kids just to get more money, but, I would imagine it has to be a crazy small number of people that have kids in the juvenile system, much less the percent of them doing that to pay for healthcare for their delinquent kids.
It is easy to generalize and complain about 'them' who ever it is, but it doesn't make it reality. Mostly kids do well enough in school/life to benefit our society as a whole. Unfortunately as economic resources decrease it becomes more of a struggle and higher probability of bad things happening which make it difficult (in a nation that is very quick to punish people for the rest of their lives) to be successful.
I'm an old 60s guy and back then, interest in Buddhism was high. I chose my career as an expression of "right livelihood", and in addition, I chose to work in under-served areas. Juvie hall was just one of those places which included prisons and mental hospitals.
I worked at Juvie for two years and made several calls a week to the Moms in question. Most had a small gaggle of tykes.
When there's a good deal, people network and tell others about it. I grew up on the North Dakota, Minnesota borderline. It was a big sugar beat area and all those freshly planted fields needed weeding and thinning. They paid us by the row. I was 14 years old.
Many fields were hoed by Mexican migrant workers...who could hoe circles around us. Found out later that the farmers withhold payment till the end of the season. They all lived on generous Minnesota welfare and housing provided by the farmer.
When they got paid...they were gone. Back to Mexico. No taxes paid. Had food stamps, health care, housing. Never any shortage of migrant labor in Minnesota.
I'm not making a statement about this loophole...but I am pointing out that...over in conservative North Dakota, that situation did not exist due to stricter laws.
Years later, I even met some Mexicans who were on their way to Minnesota. Kinda like the hippie trail. Word of mouth.
Another similar situation was when I worked close to the border in southern Cali. Mexican mothers sensing labor was close...headed for the border so the Nina would be a US citizen and she could move here to be with her child. Citizenship through childbirth. Happens all the time. I delivered two babies...one in the back seat of a taxi.
.I was all ready to blast you...but, really, I suspect that we just live in very different worlds. I wish people behaved better...and it's not too late for me. I'm trying.
Take care,
DrDee