Bureaucrats, pimps, politicians, and drug dealers: birds of a feather with different means, same ends

 

On a daily basis,  I am amazed at how hard government works to keep people dependent on the bureaucracy.  Working hard and reaping rewards of your labor doesn’t matter.  What matters is how grateful you are for all the money and services bestowed upon you by the bureaucracy.  The statists are not interested in you growing and prospering on your own.  They want to control you, and get their cut of the fruits of your labor.  Just like pimps with their whores and dealers with their junkies.

UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS:   A friend of mine lost his job thanks to BarryO’s mismanagement of the economy.  My friend has been working hard to find a new full-time job.  He’s been on unemployment during this job search.  My friend has come across some part-time opportunities that pay less than his old job AND less than what he’s getting in unemployment.  Basically, he could sit home on his butt and collect unemployment and make MORE MONEY than he could by working these part-time jobs currently on his radar screen.  But my buddy has too much pride and too much of a work ethic to just sit home and collect a check.  He’s doing the part-time work.  But how many others would take this route?  Why would government make being on the dole more lucrative than working for a living?  It’s all about CONTROL, and NOT about helping you out of a mess.

COLLEGE FINANCIAL AID:  In addition to authoring and editing this journalistic masterpiece, I also teach college curriculum courses at some area campuses.  I have one young lady who is really struggling through one of my courses.  She is a single mother via divorce, who works full time as a convenience store clerk while working on a college degree.  She is taking 15 hours this semester (5 classes), while working 40-45 hours per week and raising two children.  She regularly appears exhausted when I see her on campus, and her grades are suffering.  I suggested that she reduce her course load so she can balance out her schedule, get more rest, and put more energy into her school work.  The woman told me she would lose her financial aid if her load fell below 15 hours.  She said she CANNOT afford — at this time — to pay for her schooling out of her pocket.   I investigated this further, and found it to be true.  The bureaucrats want economically-disadvantaged people to sit on welfare or unemployment while receiving financial aid to go to school.  The demand for a minimum of 15 hours per semester really punishes students trying to honestly work their way through school, gain more education, and improve their overall financial situation. I know THIS woman is a rarity.  But I respect the hell out of her, and wish I could personally help her with her tuition.

Leftists talk a good game about trying to help poor and lower-middle class people accrue education and improve their lives. But this policy with financial aid discourages the idea of working your way through school while supporting your family.  Bureaucrats and politicians keep adding red tape to our college and university systems.  Edu-crats — who don’t even step into classrooms — keep getting hired in droves at exorbitant salaries to “manage” all of this red tape.  All of this drives up the cost of education, forcing people seeking degrees and advancement to: (1) lean on parents or other wealthy relatives, (2) work themselves to the bone to  pay bloated tuition bills, (3) drain their savings or subject themselves to decades of debt, or (4) enter into a dependency relationship with the government.

If you REALLY are interested in encouraging people to advance themselves via higher education, look for ways to cut the overall cost of attending college.  If you’re going to offer financial aid, adjust the policy so that it is reasonable enough for students to balance their work and family responsibilities with their classroom responsibilities.