I+found+my+Shame+essay

Felix Garcia

7/22/13

Shame in Welfare

Dick Gregory’s life was a hard one. Anyone who’s had to live in a large family with

small income has a hard life, but they luckily have some help from government welfare. It

doesn’t fix everything but when supplemented with hard work it can lead to a great improvement

in many lives. Though many people are not willing to accept help, they don’t want to be looked

down or pitied by those who view them as a burden on the economy. People on welfare are

justified in feeling ashamed.

Too many people see welfare as a hand out given to the lazy people who just act like

parasites and suck the benefits from everyone else. For this reason many people who actually

work hard and want to be seen as productive members of society refuse to acknowledge the

donation. Far too many people, like Dick Gregory, are hard workers who could see more success

if they were willing to accept a little bit of help. Obviously it’s not their fault that they refuse

help, it’s not their fault that society has taught them that handouts are given to the poor, lazy,

stupid people who can’t help themselves. Society dehumanizes people on welfare because of

certain “bad apples” who abuse the system and ignore the fact that hard working people are on

welfare too. They generalize and force shame on the people who they have no choice but to

support with their taxes and donations.There are also cases of people on welfare who are hard workers but are unable to give

back to society. A lot of these cases are based on low job availability. People become trapped in

this inescapable pit of joblessness because of cutbacks, massive layoffs, etc. It’s tragic that these

people have actual skills to offer but are not given a chance to use them. Another tragic case is

the case of the disabled, ill, and injured people on welfare. Because of forces uncontrollable by

them they have become reliant on others for their survival. Of course it’s our obligation to help

them where they need it, because they can’t stop themselves from getting hurt or sick, but society

doesn’t think of them when they say people on welfare are parasites feeding off of their

livelihood. They don’t see the real people who need help or the people who can’t find

somewhere to work hard; they see what they want to see.

People on welfare are justified in feeling ashamed in my opinion. They work hard but the

rest of the world doesn’t see that in them, all they can see is money being taken out of their

paychecks and going to someone else. They get angry and force shame upon people who benefit

from welfare regardless of their predicament or their past or their life choices. “If you get welfare

checks you’re a lazy idiot who can’t help yourself, so the government takes my money to give to

you,” seems to be the general idea of society’s view on welfare. Because of all of this I can

understand why some people would be ashamed of being on welfare, but just the opposite should

be true. They shouldn’t have to feel ashamed because they need a little bit of help and we should

offer it to them with understanding and compassion.