After All, If Generous Aid To The Poor Perpetuates Poverty, The United States — Which Treats Its Poor

After all, if generous aid to the poor perpetuates poverty, the United States — which treats its poor far more harshly than other rich countries, and induces them to work much longer hours — should lead the West in social mobility, in the fraction of those born poor who work their way up the scale. In fact, it’s just the opposite: America has less social mobility than most other advanced countries. And there’s no puzzle why: it’s hard for young people to get ahead when they suffer from poor nutrition, inadequate medical care, and lack of access to good education. The antipoverty programs that we have actually do a lot to help people rise. For example, Americans who received early access to food stamps were healthier and more productive in later life than those who didn’t. But we don’t do enough along these lines. The reason so many Americans remain trapped in poverty isn’t that the government helps them too much; it’s that it helps them too little.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/07/opinion/krugman-the-hammock-fallacy.html?ref=todayspaper (via shhaauun)

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Asshole of the Day, November 19, 2013: Tom Brower

by TeaPartyCat (Follow @TeaPartyCat)

Hawaii state Rep. Tom Brower has decided who deserves to have possessions and, more importantly, who doesn’t. And despite being a lawmaker, he decided the law wasn’t enough, so he has been going around town smashing the possessions of the homeless with a sledgehammer. Really.

Much like Batkid, Hawaii has found its own superhero. Except that instead of protecting the powerless from harm, he roams the streets with a sledgehammer and looks for homeless people in order to literally smash their possessions.

Remarkably, this vigilante isn’t just some random Hawaiian, but five-term State Rep. Tom Brower (D).

Noting that he’s “disgusted” with homeless people, Brower told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser about his own personal brand of “justice”: “If I see shopping carts that I can’t identify, I will destroy them so they can’t be pushed on the streets.” Brower has waged this campaign for two weeks, estimating that he’s smashed about 30 shopping carts in the process.

You see, he’s disgusted with homeless people, so that justifies his actions in his own mind. And he’s such an asshole that he thinks telling a newspaper is going to make him a hero. Let’s hope Hawaiian voters see him for the bully he really is.

After we posted the nomination of Rep. Brower, this reply came from Twitter which sums it all up:

@assholeofday Compassionate to homeless? No. Returned carts to stores that paid for them? No. Destroys property? Yes. Just a common criminal

— Heather (@SunLovingMama)

November 19, 2013

Just a common criminal. And we hope this asshole of the day is locked up.

Full story: http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/11/19/2966371/hawaii-homeless-smash/

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