Welcome to what we call 'The real world'. People don't always make rational, nor intelligent decisions. I've been preaching it for a very long time: Many poor people are poor because of thier choices. There are certainly outliers - people who have accidents that cause disability, or people born into a situation so dire that it's more difficult than average. Still, everyone can be the master of their own destiny.

If you wonder why people default on their mortgage, or go into bankruptcy, you've found the answer. Many people would rather spend their money (and money they do not have) on very temporary items like games & TVs.

My finacee works in the public at a library. They carry video games & DVDs. The sad part is that the majority (70% or higher) come in only to get materials not related to learning, or get on the internet to play World of Warcraft or get on Facebook. Many are unemployed or underemployed, and you have to wonder 'Why aren't you picking up a book and learning something new' but sadly, many people aren't that smart.

It is for these reasons that I and others adopt a harsher-than-it-should-be stance against government subisdization of the poor. We've been there, we've seen what they do. You can't subsidize bad behavior, because it only rewards and reinforces the behavior, which is self-defeating.

And Sommernatch -

American consumerism didn't drive our economy for centuries. It only began to change in the 80's and 90's when we began to see a trade imbalance - We imported more than we sold. It drove us to cheaper goods, but less goods we made ourselves, giving us the illusion of being well-off, when we were (and are) rotting from the inside. Not only this, we compounded it by saving less and less money (we went from saving 10% of our income a year in the 70s to saving 0% in 2007). America can survive without rampant consumerism. We did it before and we can easily do it again. However, it calls for intelligence, which is something the average American seems to have in short supply.

And ironman - How do people buy TVs and all kinds of stupid stuff without being able to afford it? It's called credit. Some people have a lot of it for absolutely no solid reason. It's a horrible thing to have.

Some people just milk the system for everything they can get. I knew this girl who got laid off from her job (it was as a house keeper at a hotel) and decided to spend all of her money on a new wardrobe. Of course, she put it all on her credit card and proceeded to pay that card off with another card. When it came time to pay the rent, she found that she couldn't come up with the 600 in rent but she did have a nice $4,000 worth of clothing to look pretty in.

People make stupid choices. This has been true since the dawn of mankind. Rather than save, some people spend until they are spending money they do not have. Some people just stick to the hedonistic lifestyle of doing whatever they want whenever and expect things like bills to resolved somehow.

In your line of work, you have every right to look at that person and question their judgment. :p

He has every right to judge, and every right to question how they spend their money.

If they were spending their own money, it's one thing, but they are spending everyone else's money.

Where our money goes is our business.

And YOU are JUDGING That Guy, who is giving a reasonable point, his opinion based in facts. Who are you to judge him?

my dad was a taxi driver until a few years back, and while the pay wasn't brilliant, it was enough for a family holiday every couple of years and a decent car in the driveway etc.. then his car was hit by a police car in a crash which caused nerve damage in his leg, he had to give up work. then got diabetes and all those related problems... my mum had to quit her job to look after him for a while. so, both my parents were on benefits for ages.. my dad got depression and bought himself a £1000 HD TV with his compensation money from the crash when it came through.

definitely not the right choice to make, but he probably figured that it was the last time in many years he would ever have the money to buy something like that. it made him feel better at the time.

whether people spend benefit on food or rubbish for themselves makes no difference to me. i used to be angry at it, but not any more. the tax i pay (when i do start paying taxes) is to cover MY costs throughout my life - NHS medical treatment, pension, etc.

what a couple of people posting in this thread seem to be overlooking is the fact that those people spending their checks on crap probably paid taxes the whole time they were working too. give them a break. yeah, they probably should be squirreling that money away to ensure their survival in the future, but ultimately its up to them, right?

There are cases and cases... I understand yours.

The problem is that the same people that spends the money this way, they complain about their lack of money to maintain their housholds, the economic crisis and so on. If they decide to spend their money like that, they shouldn't complain about their economic situation, then.

Your wrong when it comes to people paying taxes the whole time, as well as the notion that the taxes you pay goes toward your own govt. expenses. They go for everyone. Also, it's of note that you don't pay taxes at all yet. Wait till you pay taxes to start commenting. You'll be surprised how much you pay for things that will never, ever, effect your life.

Furthermore, many of the people in dire straits didn't pay taxes, or greatly reduced taxes. If they were anywhere close to the poverty level, they were already getting many tax breaks and credits from the government to offset their losses. For example, if you make low wages, you usually will get (in the US) much of it back after your tax return. Some countries also use progressive taxation favoring the poor(er) which again compounds the fact that they didn't pay out.

Some cases are absolutely understandable, such as your dads. However, many times this is certainly not the case, and government ends up bankrolling bad behavior. In America, we've done that with a lot of people lately - banks, homeowners, and more. It's not a good thing for government to put money with people that can't take care of it.

I also understand trashleg's situation, however as stated. Until you pay taxes you won't realize how much money you don't get. I lose a large chunk of my tax money and it went toward $ for clunkers. Possibly the worst program ever. I got $0 back and the $ for clunkers program ran out of money in a week (or something ridiculously short like that). Even if I wanted to get my own tax money back I couldn't have with that program.

The 8k I'm going to get back from buying a house isn't coming out of my tax dollars, I can guarantee you that much. I'm going to take it because it is there, but only to help pay off my house debt faster. I don't need the 8k, but putting that straight into my home loan will save me over 16k in the long run. However, I'd rather the government never offered this in the first place as it would be better for America in the long run rather than stealing money from others to help people who will waste the 8k on who knows what. Call me a hypocryte if you want, but I also like to look out for myself and my family.

My wife's cousins never worked a day in their life. They claim "they can't handle it" so they live off welfare and buy all sorts of stuff my poor sister in-law would love to have but her parents can't afford it. My sister-in-law would love a DS, but she's never got one, yet her cousins bought a Wii and DS and actually have the nerve to ask me which games I got with my own hard earned money.

Until you've seen your tax dollars wasted, you probably won't understand how someone like Mrstickball or myself can be so against government spending. I'm all for helping out the poor and I even donate money on top of being taxed. I would rather my tax money go straight to a private charity that is more efficient then our wasteful bloated government.

Of course, blame it all on the circumstances and not on parenting (or lack thereof) as well as lack of motivation, and entitlement mentality. You see, I was born in a poor family, we lived in a small town in a house that was badly in need of repair. Now I could have been like most other kids in the area, do nothing after highschool, work at the local supermarket, collect wellfare, and live in a cheap apartment. Or I could do what I knew I needed to get out of that slump. Go to college. My parents had no money, no savings, and 5 kids. So I had to pay for my education. Guess what, thats what I did, and I was actually able to make a decent living. I'm sorry, but I don't buy the "you are screwed if you live in the slums" argument. If the kids were not taught by their parents that they were entitled then they might actually go out and try to improve their lives instead of sitting around feeling sorry for themselves and waiting for the next hand out. YOU ARE THE MASTER OF YOUR DESTINY!   

And that's the key, nord. WE want to help the poor. Every study done shows that the poor are better helped by the people, not the government.

When the government implements it, it's a one-size-fits-all scheme that can have excesses and sad stories. With a charity-based program, it can flex and stretch to ensure people get what they need, when they need it, how they need it, and in the proper amounts. As I've stated many times, I worked in a private food pantry - We met government requirements, got food from private businesses, and distributed the food to the needy. $0 taxpayer dollars were spent on distirbution. $0 was spent on government subsidies, and the program housing is inside a church, which pays for rent, heating, and electricity.