Welfare Reform suggestions

[donnashuggy]

Who should they target first? Or last?

[happyroo_bunji]

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icyfroth wrote:

I heard on the news this morning ppl who decline a job they live further than 90 mins away from will no longer be eligible for the dole.

There's a start.

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Will you pay for my petrol and wear and tear on my car?  The one bus a day here in my town is useless as it arrives in outskirts of Melbourne about 10am.  I can travel over 200kms in 3 hours.

[freakiness]

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@izabsmiling wrote:

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@carls*world wrote:

Now there's some great ideas. Force someone to travel 2 hours each way to a job they don't like, while denying someone living closer who would like the job, and keeping them as a dole statistic.
But I suppose it's seen as "doing something".

If there really were these thousands upon thousands of mythical proper jobs just going begging, we wouldn't have this situation in the first place. The ones with "attitude" who don't really want to work, are merely reducing the genuine competition for the few jobs the many are seeking.

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I agree and tend to think that it's the minority who have ":attitude" along with the non existant jobs that gives  the genuine job seekers a bad public image (to those who aren't well informed) which would/could enable a Government to get public support to believe that  those on benefits don't deserve them and/or get too much

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I think it's the people who insist on publicly calling other people dole bludgers and giving the impression that they have to get tough who cause the bad image.

If the message wasn't constantly reinforced that people without work are bludgers who need to be targeted people who hear and see that message would not see and hear it and not develop a hatred for their fellow person.  How many of those haters benefit from some form of welfare themselves?  Gina sure as hell does. Abbott would have.  Hockey would have got the baby bonus and they'd all be entitled to the $75000 parental payment Abbott has planned.

[boris1gary]

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@silverfaun wrote:

Never being an addict or the recipient of welfare was my decision in life.

I decided I'd work and educate myself to rise up in life and not go the easy way out and hit the bottle or drugs or worse, have a couple of children to see me through life without ever having to work.

I found it rewarding and fulfilling to be that way and I have seen what sit down money does and I've seen the destruction of families who never worked from one generation to the next.

Propping up the lifestyle choices of addicts is the soft option of governments instead they should take an altogether different option and not keep enabling this lifestyle choice.

Getting well and being a productive human being is better than anything else. The victim status placed on addicts is enabling them to continue their destructive lifestyle.

The poor me I'm an addict is pathetic.

Ever tried to quit smoking?? I did and it was hard, the hardest addiction to ever overcome, more addictive than heroin, psychologically addictive,  and that drug is legal.

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that's very good - maybe a little empathy wouldn't go astray -

em·pa·thy[em-puh-thee] 

noun

1.

the intellectual identification with or vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another.

[izabsmiling]

ciggarette's don't have the same mind altering impact as other addictions do .The comparison as far as need for help is not the same.

[buzzlightyearsgirlfriend]

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@poddster wrote:

So Alex..

No one can say that they had no idea of what the result of taking addictive substances would be,

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Who is Alex?

Taking an addictive substance does not have the same effect on every person.

The majority of people who first use an addictive substance have no intention at all of "becoming addicted" to it. Most people believe they are stronger than the drug and will be able to stop when they need to.

And then they find they Can't. Just. Stop.

Even with detox and rehab after rehab, success stories are few. Most addicts relapse.

[freakiness]

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@silverfaun wrote:

Never being an addict or the recipient of welfare was my decision in life.

I decided I'd work and educate myself to rise up in life and not go the easy way out and hit the bottle or drugs or worse, have a couple of children to see me through life without ever having to work.

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A few years ago I went to a series of forums into poverty run by one of the governments.

It was quite eye opening in that none of the people who went as guests to talk about living in poverty had planned on it and had plans to live a similar life to the one you described. 

There was one who survived a car accident that killed his family. Another who'd fallen down some stairs and suffered a spinal injury. I can't remember the other stories but each of those people thought they had their life planned and their future financially secured.

The fact is that sometimes tragedies and traumas happen and life doesn't always go according to plan.  Once you're on that health merry go round savings get gobbled up and people often find themselves on a downhill slide into poverty.

[buzzlightyearsgirlfriend]

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@icyfroth wrote:

Plenty of ppl travel to work in Sydney from regional areas like the Blue Mountains, Central Coast, Wollongong, each around 2 hours travel one way.

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Good for them. They are most likely on a career path.

You going to send someone from Wollongong to Sydney each day to make sandwiches? 

[boris1gary]

for those who don't understand drug addiction....

  http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/understanding-drug-abuse-addiction

Many people do not understand why or how other people become addicted to drugs. It is often mistakenly assumed that drug abusers lack moral principles or willpower and that they could stop using drugs simply by choosing to change their behavior. In reality, drug addiction is a complex disease, and quitting takes more than good intentions or a strong will. In fact, because drugs change the brain in ways that foster compulsive drug abuse, quitting is difficult, even for those who are ready to do so.

  What Is Drug Addiction?

Addiction is a chronic, often relapsing brain disease that causes compulsive drug seeking and use, despite harmful consequences to the addicted individual and to those around him or her. Although the initial decision to take drugs is voluntary for most people, the brain changes that occur over time challenge an addicted person’s self control and hamper his or her ability to resist intense impulses to take drugs.

[boris1gary]

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@buzzlightyearsgirlfriend wrote:

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@icyfroth wrote:

Plenty of ppl travel to work in Sydney from regional areas like the Blue Mountains, Central Coast, Wollongong, each around 2 hours travel one way.

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Good for them. They are most likely on a career path.

You going to send someone from Wollongong to Sydney each day to make sandwiches? 

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would barely cover the train fare.

[izabsmiling]

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@buzzlightyearsgirlfriend wrote:

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@icyfroth wrote:

Plenty of ppl travel to work in Sydney from regional areas like the Blue Mountains, Central Coast, Wollongong, each around 2 hours travel one way.

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Good for them. They are most likely on a career path.

You going to send someone from Wollongong to Sydney each day to make sandwiches? 

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even worse would be sending them there do that job and them only being given 3hr shifts per day