The Great Society

The Great Society was a domestic social program created in the 1960’s by President Lyndon Johnson. While President Johnson acknowledged the greatness of the United States, he also recognized there was a large segment of the United States that was not part of the success story – people living in poverty.

While I am not saying that giving to the less fortunate is wrong or those who are at disadvantages because of uncontrollable circumstances should not be given an opportunity to help themselves, I am stating my beliefs that the so-called “Great Society” has not been effective in the reduction of poverty and in many cases may actually be contributing to the continuance of people living in poverty.

My initial notion when thinking about the less fortunate is welfare. I understand that welfare is necessary to help the most disadvantaged in times of crisis, but too often it is taken advantage of by people who use it as a permanent source of income. One of the things that was wrong with the way President Johnson set up the welfare system was there was no time limit as to how long someone was eligible to receive payment. This was corrected in 1996 by President Bill Clinton, who passed federal welfare laws limiting welfare support for any individual to a total of 60 months in a lifetime.

Another issue with welfare is how the recipients spend the money they have received. Some recipients use the money to support drug habits and other unnecessary

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expenditures instead of putting a roof over their children’s and their own heads. Part of the problem with this is the inability to order priorities, carelessness and procrastination.

If it was required to have a job to receive welfare (or at least sincerely look for one) would a good amount of the people on welfare soon be employed and able support themselves? The answer to this question is yes. Proof of this comes from the 20,000 businesses, who in the past ten years hired 1.1 million former welfare recipients. Why the increase in welfare to the workforce? Bill Clinton signed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act ten years ago on August 22 and already, American tax dollars are supporting 7.7 million less people through welfare. Perhaps welfare should be funded in the same manner as student loans - when people become self-sustaining, they gradually repay the assistance they have received or even a percentage of it. I’m sure this would help to lower our nation’s debt.

The reason I bring up student loans is because in the 2000-2001 school year 65 percent of college students took out student loans in which they need to start paying back, most likely within six months of graduation. Why is it that students, striving for academic success and willing to risk debt for education are required to pay back government issued money while (some of the) people on welfare are in the position they’re in because of their own mistakes and unwillingness to progress? As we’re here bettering ourselves with an education, even a few people on welfare could be sitting next to us by taking out a student loan to better their lives and possibly undo mistakes they’ve made in the