I was just wondering but...how many of you have ever actually received any money from the government that was from other taxpayers? In my mind...I dont trust the government to be responsible with giving that money to the poor. I think that they just say that its going to the poor, but they use 90% of the new taxes for supporting their own governmental functions/needs/desires....anybody else agree? If the government had more integrity, I would be ok with a good portion of taxes going to the poor.
Perhaps this is the case in the US...not in Canada.
My father died just after I turned 14. That made me qualified to get an orphan benefit. The government sends me a cheque every month of $213.99. I have a job now. But obviously for years when I was still too young to work, I was getting money from other taxpayers. I get this benefit until I'm 18 (I'm almost 19 now) - or if I'm a student (which I am) until I'm 22 years old.
There are benefits for couples so they can get subsidized daycare. There are even more benefits for low-income families. Not to mention the universal healthcare we have here. Obviously not everyone is a taxpayer, but that money is going directly towards people who need it - poor people with medical issues.
There are benefits for people upgrading their homes to be more energy-saving to encourage green technology. There are benefits for pretty much everything. Some people object to these policies because they claim it takes away people's hard-earned money to give to people who don't deserve it. It's a rather cruel way of looking at things. I wonder how these people would like it if they were homeless and eating out of dumpsters and nobody bothered to give them a helping hand because they assumed they are too lazy to find a job. Or to be denied life-saving medical care because they can't afford it. Or to struggle to find money for a daycare for their kids so they can go to work and make money to feed them. Are these people really so heartless? It's this mindset of "Me, me, me!" that is causing the problems in our society. They also don't understand the purpose of taxes is for the benefit of the collective country, not the benefit of the people who are not struggling.
Don't get me wrong. I love America and Americans...but that's the main reason I would never live there. You couldn't pay me to. It's that "Capitalism or gtfo" nonsense.
The biggest problem we have in dealing with impoverished Canadians is dealing with the Native Canadian population. But it's for reasons that are REALLY complicated and I don't want to veer far off-topic by explaining why this is a difficult issue for the Canadian government and people to tackle and why it's a huge problem. Personally, I view it as Canada's biggest problem. I would be happy to tackle it in another thread, though, if anyone wants me to pursue this line of topic.
The very reason I prefer to live in Canada is because we have a more human system that looks at lives and not dollars. I understand the importance of making money. But for some things, profit cannot be the main concern. Maybe that's why you're disillusioned with your government. You feel it doesn't have much integrity and don't trust them. Obviously we have different governments.
Do I agree? Depends on the integrity of your government, I guess.
