The Liberal American Dream: America's greatness is measured by the number of compassionate government programs and how many people take part in such programs.
The Conservative American Dream: America's greatness is measured by the number of people who have prospered so much through hard work and personal initiative that they no longer need to rely on such programs.
Personally, I think it's a lot more compassionate to encourage people to fend for themselves than to leave them hopelessly dependent on the subsistence level of the government dole.
To deny a person the satisfaction of a job well done after struggling to accomplish it is the worst kind of misplaced compassion. It's the difference between eustress vs. distress.
When you're so "economically secure" that you have no motivation to reach for greater things, you've missed out on one of the true joys of life.
"Women who experienced a spell of welfare receipt during childhood are almost three times as likely to become welfare participants as adults as are women whose parents did not receive welfare." [Emphasis added]
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The Liberal American Dream: America's greatness is measured by the number of compassionate government programs and how many people take part in such programs.
ReplyDeleteThe Conservative American Dream: America's greatness is measured by the number of people who have prospered so much through hard work and personal initiative that they no longer need to rely on such programs.
It that "compassionate conservatism"?
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think it's a lot more compassionate to encourage people to fend for themselves than to leave them hopelessly dependent on the subsistence level of the government dole.
ReplyDeleteTo deny a person the satisfaction of a job well done after struggling to accomplish it is the worst kind of misplaced compassion. It's the difference between eustress vs. distress.
When you're so "economically secure" that you have no motivation to reach for greater things, you've missed out on one of the true joys of life.
There is no reason to believe that getting the help you need destroys your motivation to do even better.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete"There is no reason to believe that getting the help you need destroys your motivation to do even better." [Emphasis added]
ReplyDeleteNo reason?
From the research paper "New Evidence on Intergenerational Correlatiions in Welfare Participation" by Marianne E. Page (April 2002):
"Women who experienced a spell of welfare receipt during childhood are almost three times as likely to become welfare participants as adults as are women whose parents did not receive welfare." [Emphasis added]