Welfare Response

I am not 100% sure what the style/content of this blog post should be, so I will just continue how I would respond if we were still in class.

I believe that overall welfare is a very excellent thing.  Obviously, I am not a welfare expert, or really an expert on anything.

However, I have rather strong opinions on life in general:

1.  Everyone has a right to do what they want with their bodies.
2.  No one should ever be bullied into anything.
3.  Respect for privacy is an utmost priority.
4.  Help everyone you can.

There are, of course, exceptions to every rule.  In the case of illegality or bodily harm my opinion changes drastically.  I realize now that this has very little to do with welfare, and more to do with my personal ideas about society.  I also believe that society should take care of people, but not to the point that people no longer take care of themselves.  I think people from Iowa have a certain kind of work ethic that is unparalleled.  I also don't really think that sentence made sense but it took me like three minutes to figure out how to spell "unparalleled" so I'm not going to change it.  Anyways, I personally think I would exhaust all other options before going on welfare.  It's not something to take lightly, and the fact that people  abuse it is sickening.  People who need it should be on it, no doubt about it.  But I would like to think people don't just go on it for fun.  It's a lot of paperwork and it is embarrassing.  No one wants to admit they can't take care of their family, so we should just give them a little shove in the right direction and send them on their way.  That's how I think welfare should be.

My ideals for a perfect society aren't actually solutions.  Or critiques really.  Honestly, they are in no way helpful to anyone at all.  I personally am not informed enough to find a solution.  And those who have insider knowledge typically don't have the resources to make their solutions known.

Oh wait!  Hang on a sec, I have a personal anecdote relating to welfare.  One of my friends has many chronic illnesses.  She has a problem with the muscles around her lungs that cause her to feel as though she is having a heart attack.  She also just learned (last month) that her body cannot process the metals in the air.  Because of this, she has deposits of metals sitting in her body and literally poisoning her from the inside out.  To deal with this, she is on a strict diet and has to take a specific medication to flush out the metals.  However, the medication (last I heard) cost  $200 dollars for a two week supply, and she needs to be on it for at least two years.  Because of her personal situation, she is eligible for Disability.  The disability money does not cover the amount that her treatments cost though, so she has to work instead.  Working enough to pay for both her medications and college tuition inflames her other symptoms and creates a vicious cycle.

Last weekend when I went home I learned that she had dropped out of UNI and is now taking online classes from home at Kirkwood.  That my friend cannot have the awesome college experience that I'm having simply because Disability can't cover her enough really infuriates me.  I don't know if anyone has ever seen me actually upset, but I can guarantee you wouldn't like it.  Somebody needs to get on the shtick and fix this.