Dårhushögern hatar fattiga

Flickor i Bihar, Indien cyklar till skolan på cyklar de fått av delstatsregeringen. Foto Prashant Ravi, Reuters

Dårhushögern är på frammarsch. I USA försöker republikanerna skära ner på så kallade matkuponger som fattiga är berättigade till. De påstår att matkupongerna är för dyra och gör folk för lata för att arbeta. I Ryssland vill Vitaly Milonov deportera hemlösa till isolerade läger i glesbygden. Vitaly Milonov är parlamentsledamot för Putins parti Enade Ryssland och är en av arkitekterna bakom anti-gay-lagen.

Kostnaden för matkuponger har ökat i USA under lågkonjunkturen, men som nobelpristagaren Paul Krugman säger så är detta inget att vara rädd för. Matkupongerna gör att skolbarn kan äta sig mäta och koncentrera sig på skolarbetet. Och om folk verkligen är för lata för att arbeta så borde lönerna för enkla jobb gå upp, men de går ner.

Det är upprörande vilket förakt det finns för fattiga människor såhär år 2013. Som en av kommentatorerna till Krugmans artikel säger så är fattigdomsföraktet den nya rasismen. Jag tycker det är en bra kommentar så jag citerar hela:

I was talking to a fellow in the neighborhood the other day about the farm bill. He is a very easy going, down to earth, mild mannered fellow. A real model citizen.

He said that he was glad that food stamps were taken out of the farm bill. He said people have got to stop expecting all of these handouts. It will be hard for them at first, but they will be better off for it.

I thought, if this guy is lost, then the nation is lost. Handouts. It's all about handouts. The Federal budget exceeds $3.8 trillion but $80 billion to help poor folks (mostly kids) get something to eat is a handout that must be gotten rid of. I think we can find quite a few other dollars in the budget that truly qualify as handouts. Government contractors and mega-corporations do pretty darn well in the handout business.

This concept that poor people want to be poor and enjoy receiving assistance is the new racism of the 21st century. It's not skin color that's wrong with them, it's their income that causes them to be substandard. Will it ever end?

Giving Kids Bikes Can Reduce Drop-Out Rates. The Atlantic
It wasn't just easier for the girls to get to school with their new wheels. Tying the money to the bikes meant the girls' families couldn't spend it on other household goods, and since so many students received bikes at once, it made it much more likely that they would ride in groups and thus increase the safety of their commute. It was also a pretty good bargain for the government, at only $50 a student.

Hunger Games, U.S.A. Paul Krugman. New York Times
If employment is down because government aid is inducing people to stay home, reducing the labor force, then the law of supply and demand should apply: withdrawing all those workers should be causing labor shortages and rising wages, especially among the low-paid workers most likely to receive aid. In reality, of course, wages are stagnant or declining — and that’s especially true for the groups that benefit most from food stamps.

Famous anti-gay Russian MP mulls homeless’ resettlement to rural areas. Russia Today