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| It's on Facebook! It must be true! |
Okay, I've been seeing this for months and I had to say something. As near as I can tell it started here: http://www.mnprogressiveproject.com/diary/11080/rep-mary-franson-compares-food-stamp-recipients-to-animals-and-mngop-pulls-the-video.
A friend of mine reposted this and it finally broke part of my brain off. I know for a fact that this friend has been on government assistance for an extended period of time. And I'm not judging or faulting them for that. I'm judging them for reposting anti-themself propaganda. I mean, like 96% of Americans have received some form of government assistance, right? So who, exactly, is supposed to be ashamed of that?
I mean, it's not like we're being duped into shaming poor people for needing help so that when those lifelines get cut no one will complain, right?
The text of the meme runs:
"The Food Stamp Program, administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture is proud to be distributing the greatest amount of free meals and food stamps ever.
Meanwhile, the National Park Service, administered by the U.S. Department of the Interior, asks us to "Please Do Not Feed the Animals."
Their stated reason for the policy is because the animals will grow dependent on handouts and will not learn to take care of themselves.
This ends today's lesson.
First: the only known strong correlate for welfare dependence is drug addiction, which is a different problem, which is also not being addressed. Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1508566/pdf/amjph00023-0022.pdf
Second: the 'Culture of Poverty' theory is largely a myth. Poor people are not lazier, stupider, less motivated or more prone to addiction than the well off. Source: http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/apr08/vol65/num07/The-Myth-of-the-Culture-of-Poverty.aspx
Third: the reasons for 'Do Not Feed The Animals' signs is only to prevent dependence in the young who may not be able to locate food when they leave their parents area. Because they're animals and will assume that if there are humans feeding them Snickers when they're young that there will always be humans and Snickers everywhere. Other reasons that this meme fails to mention: human food is not nutritionally complete and can cause health problems. The animals may lose their fear of humans, be mistaken as rabid/aggressive, and killed. It can lead to overpopulation. It can cause an influx of other animals, leading to the spread of disease. Source: http://www.paws.org/feeding-wildlife.html
Fourth: Yes, one in six people needing food stamps is a problem. But the problem isn't 'Why are these people lazy/dependent?' The problem is 'why does no one have enough money for food these days?' Corporate profits are at record highs (Thanks to corporate welfare,) and the stock market is setting record highs (thanks to government assistance). http://www.businessinsider.com/corporate-profits-just-hit-an-all-time-high-wages-just-hit-an-all-time-low-2012-6 So if we have more money than ever, why does a third of the country not have enough to eat?
Fifth: I've been trying, for days now, to find the source of not only this supposed newspaper clipping, but also for the reports both from the Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior that were 'used' as 'sources,' but, like most right-wing propoganda, they don't seem to exist.
This ends today's lesson
