I feel that welfare has done no good to this country financially or independently for that matter at all. Welfare was designed to help those in need get back on their feet, but clearly it has since then become quite corrupt. Welfare needs to be gone with because people don't learn if you spoon feed them. The world is cruel, and the only way to survive is to be cold or acknowledge that fact, but those who are on welfare never have to face the world because the government takes care of them. It is highly unjust for people on welfare to get anywhere near the same luxeries as a hard working lower class citizen. So it must be done away with!

In all cases the government should do as little as possible. This means that welfare should be privatized. The churches for example could take over that function. At the very least the government should put a time limit on welfare (after which time you are on your own).

The best part about these debates is that whoever has never needed welfare would always think it's useless or pointless. The majority of people on welfare have situations leading to dependance on welfare. For people outside of that system it would seem like they're freeloaders or that they should easily be able to get onto their feet... unfortunately it isn't like that.. and you know yourself if you were in their shoes you probably wouldn't fair any better. However the problem is dependence on the welfare system rather than using it as a safety net.. something to help people get back onto their feet.

One thing I would like to say is that the US system is a better i.e. actually encourages people to get onto their feet as opposed to the British system where you can get away with not doing shit and being paid for it.

Welfare has done some good and there are people that have learned to get off the of it. One example is Whoopi Goldberg, she was raised on the welfare system. The problem is that we have a system that is all or none.

Supplement those that need help and those that want only a handout should be taken off of it. A single mom needs some help. Often what she makes working is what a babysitter type serves charges, no way get ahead. If some one that can work doesn't, then they are on their own. In some cases there is 4 generations that have been on welfare, this needs to stop.

Another problem is those that run these agencies have no ideal what these people go through. Gov't is great at assuming that a handout is just that, they make it very difficult to comply. I know of a guy that is actual not able to work, but does so anyway. I got him a job where his employer knows he is in bad shape. He make work 3 days and lay in bed the next in pain. He as done this for over ten years. Most employers would never put up with this, but this guy works really hard when he can. This guy gets no gov't help, but should. Over ten years of him being in and out of hospitals. Recently he came to work with a tube hanging out of him that went into some battery powered box. (I've learned not ask.) He does get some relief with medical bills, but it is a joke.

It's one of the greatest attacks on Individualism.

Americans are no longer independent of the government. If it isn't a welfare check, it's medicaid or food stamps. We need to cut the chord so that people can once again BE INDEPENDENT. Government assistance is another form of a dictatorship. Worse part is, if you're not the dependent weakling, you're the one who has to take care of the dependent weakling.

Government wounds the strong and brainwashes the weak. Fuckin' bastards.

Welfare, in the USA, needs to be drastically altered but I would never suggest that it be abolished. Currently it is broken and corrupt just like many American public social institutions but the solution isn't to just throw it away.

People who have not needed to live on any form of welfare are lucky and it is possible that those people could feel that they are unfairly paying for a service they don't need or utilize. It is easy to think that something is useless or a waste of resources if you don't need it but once you need it you will be wondering why it isn't more accessible or supported.

There are people who force themselves, out of terrible decisions they made, to be in a situation requiring welfare and it is frustrating having to support them but the majority of those who need welfare were forced to that point because of events out of their control. Little exists to help these people rise up. If you are in need of welfare you often are poor, in moderate or poor health and possibly in a sub par hygienic situation. These factors can make it difficult to get jobs or advance in jobs. People look down on you and politicians never really help because these people are seen as a drain on resources by those well off.

Welfare is to help those at the bottom rise up and currently it is failing those most in need. It needs to be made more efficient and less corrupt. It shouldn't focus on getting people off of welfare as soon as possible but on helping people increase their living standards to a sustainable and acceptable point. Only the most demoralized want to live on welfare for ever and usually they don't want to but the feel they are stuck. People have a natural desire to do something and to contribute to something; proper welfare gets them going and removes some obstacles that are oppressive and intimidating.