• MarxMadness [comrade/them]
      ·
      3 years ago

      I would love to see a poll that asks people how much they think welfare schemes like disability and food stamps pays out monthly. Guarantee most people would grossly over estimate then be shocked by the real number

      Alternately, they may guess in the ballpark, but do "well-off people telling you how they could totally live on minimum wage" accounting to argue it's fine.

    • Pezevenk [he/him]
      ·
      3 years ago

      I don't understand why these people don't just do that if they think it is so easy to make money by welfare.

      • star_wraith [he/him]
        ·
        3 years ago

        Racism is a big part of it, too. The implicit assumption from a lot of reactionary white folks is that "the black people are lazy so of course they would rather have a meager handout and not work than make a little more by working". It's rarely if ever explicitly said but as with most racist bs like this it never is explicitly said. And IMO it's extremely pervasive among US American whites.

        • SoyViking [he/him]
          ·
          3 years ago

          Often racists make themselves believe that non-whites somehow has easier access to welfare than whites and gets angry about it.

          An example of this from my country is an urban legend that has circulated for almost half a century about how you know someone whose cousin has a colleague who knows a guy who works on constructing a completely new housing block in another city with all modern luxuries, and how only refugees and asylum seekers will be allowed to live there while whites have to stay on the normal waiting list for social housing. The story is complete bollocks but it illustrates the racist anger that somehow non-whites are coming here and taking our stuff.

      • BelovedOldFriend [he/him]
        ·
        3 years ago

        They'll go off on something about pride, self-worth, dignity, "the value of work", etc etc.

        You know...bullshit.

    • star_wraith [he/him]
      ·
      edit-2
      3 years ago

      I happen to have a few folks in my social circle who work in emergency rooms, urgent cares, and other patient-facing roles within the healthcare system. And the absolute contempt they have for anyone coming in who's on Medicaid/govt assistance is staggering. If you listened to them, you'd think every patient who comes in on Medicaid drives a Beamer and is scamming the system...

    • LeninWalksTheWorld [any]
      ·
      edit-2
      3 years ago

      I do know most Americans think like 30%-40% of our entire national budget goes towards foreign aid (specifically "undeserving" and "corrupt" African nations and such) when in reality it's less than 0.20%. The US doesn't even meet the UN target for aid which is 0.7% and is one of the stingiest countries in the global north with aid yet most Americans think we need to spend even LESS. :amerikkka: