Remove All Social Safety Nets

I'm sure I'm not the first person to suggest this idea so I'm not claiming it belongs to me.

So I suggest we remove all safety nets in society. All of them. When a person can't feed themselves, they starve and die. When a person can't clothe or house themselves, they freeze and die. When they can't afford medical care they get sick and die.

Why?

Because things are very, very bad in this country when it comes to economic disparity. Not just in amounts of cash people have in hand, but the very fabric of our society is rigged against the majority in favor of the extreme minority. This will not change until large numbers of people wake up to the fact that things are very, very bad.

How will removing social safety nets help?

It will show everyone in this country how bad things truly are. Every time a discussion takes place about how things are broken and people are suffering, there is the typical chorus of Republican types talking about how everyone is still well fed, still provided with everything they need, and that things aren't actually that bad at all.

Well, the reason most still have enough to eat is because of these safety nets. The same ones the Republican types want to get rid of. The reason things don't appear to be as bad as they truly are is because there are so many hand-outs available to help people.

Take them away and people stop being fat and happy. Take them away and when the streets are littered with dead bodies and massive civil-unrest takes place that makes Ferguson look like a family BBQ people might actually pay attention. They might actually, finally, believe that things are broken. If the only thing gluing out society together is benefits for the poor, then our society is sick and needs changing.

So just imagine it. ALL food stamps gone tomorrow. ALL wellfare gone tomorrow. ALL help with medical care gone tomorrow. NO HELP PERIOD. Don't you think that would change something?

This isn't about republican ideology, so don't waste your time arguing about it. This thread is about what it will take to get enough people in this country to wake up to the true state of affairs. Short of purposefully making things bad I cannot fathom a way, can you?

Pull away the sheet, expose the TRUE disparity in this country. Show everyone how bad it actually is, make them feel it, make them understand it. When it gets shown how nearly impossible, and totally impossible it is for some people to stand on their own two feet because of the system that exists, then maybe more people will actually care about making a country where people CAN stand on their own two feet.

God forbid you ever need a helping hand.

a reply to: James1982

Then watch the crime rate go through the roof, you would not dare go outside your front door for fear of attack.

a reply to: James1982
I think you are about to get a lot of abuse from people who haven't understood your post however I think you make an excellent point.
There are a large number of ATS regulars obsessed with self sufficiency and small government. The reality is that this is impossible in todays world and the safety nets are the only thing holding society together.

a reply to: James1982

I don't get it.

Show how bad it is now by making the people that are already marginalized suffer more.

a reply to: AgentShillington
I don't think he is literally suggesting removing all support just making the point that welfare in its broadest sense is what holds society together.
Or I could be wrong and he is a sociopath..

a reply to: James1982

Nothing remotely close will ever happen. Even if it was a republican president, house and senate it would never happen.

We are forever stuck in a loop for better or for worse...

OP, your post makes me wonder....
If this did happen, would more people stand up and do what is right? Take people into their homes?

Probably not enough to help everyone, or even half, but I bet many would.

originally posted by: chrismarco
a reply to: James1982

Nothing remotely close will ever happen. Even if it was a republican president, house and senate it would never happen.

We are forever stuck in a loop for better or for worse...

There will always be a large segment of the population that will need assistance.

nah, lets go to the other extreme and give everyone government handouts.
The rich and the poor are already on the government gravy train and getting,subsidies, handouts, bailouts,kickbacks etc etc. so, how about letting the middle class in on the free stuff then we`ll all be happy.

originally posted by: ScepticScot
a reply to: AgentShillington
I don't think he is literally suggesting removing all support just making the point that welfare in its broadest sense is what holds society together.
Or I could be wrong and he is a sociopath..

Maybe I read the wrong thread but he seems to be quite clear.

So I suggest we remove all safety nets in society. All of them.

Your basically advocating mass genocide, but I guess seeing as we are in a financial crisis that's ok. What about the ones who can't stand up and fight, the ones who can't even stand up. You make Hitler seem like a sweet elderly relative

a reply to: James1982

So just imagine it. ALL food stamps gone tomorrow. ALL wellfare gone tomorrow. ALL help with medical care gone tomorrow. NO HELP PERIOD. Don't you think that would change something?

Oh it would change something all right...

It would put the world back into the same socio-economic structure it used to be before any safety nets were established. Two classes of citizens: the uber filthy rich and the uber starving poor, and nothing in between.

So which side of the coin do you think you would fall on ?

Be honest now and try not to overestimate what your true status is among the elite of society...

Remove All Social Safety Nets

Yes, starting with the banks and over wealthy rich scamming the poor...

There is no doubt "poor" people misusing the social safety, but there are way more people who actually need it and deserve it cause the overall system is completely flawed and reward the wrong people.

a reply to: AgentShillington
He then goes on to point out what would happen. I think this almost a parody of extreme right wing stand on your own two feet ideology.
As I said could be wrong in which case WTF.

originally posted by: James1982Why?

Because things are very, very bad in this country when it comes to economic disparity. Not just in amounts of cash people have in hand, but the very fabric of our society is rigged against the majority in favor of the extreme minority. This will not change until large numbers of people wake up to the fact that things are very, very bad..

I understand what you're TRYING to get at but the way you suggest would make things go from bad to worse.

The disproportionately Wealthy will just pack their bags, hit Enter on a keyboard which transfers their worth and be in a sunny island location within a matter of hours....

originally posted by: ScepticScot
a reply to: AgentShillington
I don't think he is literally suggesting removing all support just making the point that welfare in its broadest sense is what holds society together.
Or I could be wrong and he is a sociopath..

You seem to get it!

The argument that the system is broken never goes anywhere because for the most part everyone is fed, clothed, and housed (although even that is beginning to change) so the defenders of the status-quo point to this lack of wide-spread starvation, disease, and death as proof that the system isn't broken.

We can't fix the system until we all agree it's broken, and most people cannot be convinced it's broken until they see it. They can't see it, most of them at least, because there are so many band-aids and crutches in place to hide the fact that things are broken.

Say this country is represented by a person with a broken leg severe enough to require surgery:

At first people recognized the symptoms of that broken leg, so they tried to fix the symptoms. They pumped the person full of painkillers, they splinted the leg, and they gave the person crutches. Now the person can function. Now they can get around, but not nearly as well as they should be. Their leg is still broken and needs surgery.

So they let this situation go on for awhile, and things of course get a bit worse, infection sets it.

Now some people go around saying this guy really needs surgery badly or he is going to die. The majority go around pointing out the guy is still walking around, therefore he must not need surgery. The reason he is still walking around is because of the painkillers, the splint, and the crutches, NOT because he is healed.

So in order to prove to those people that surgery IS indeed required, you take away the painkillers, you take away the crutches, you remove the splint. THEN everyone can see how bad it truly is. THEN everyone sees that this man will die without immediate medical attention. THEN things change.

Yet we continue to hand out more painkillers, splints, and crutches to hide the true nature of the injury. As time goes on more painkillers will be required as the actual problem gets worse. And eventually that person dies from their injury or from painkiller abuse because too many sat around denying that they man needed serious help. Give him surgery up front and you don't need to supply him with painkillers and crutches for the rest of his life.

I'll go ahead and ignore the people who obviously didn't read/understand my OP as it's not worth my time, but hopefully this explains it a bit better.

originally posted by: ScepticScot
a reply to: AgentShillington
He then goes on to point out what would happen. I think this almost a parody of extreme right wing stand on your own two feet ideology.
As I said could be wrong in which case WTF.

I don't think so.

This thread is about what it will take to get enough people in this country to wake up to the true state of affairs. Short of purposefully making things bad I cannot fathom a way, can you?

I think the OP is seriously suggesting this course of action, because he cannot fathom another way.

If it's satire or hyperbole, he's no Jonathan Swift, and this thread isn't A Modest Proposal.

en.wikipedia.org...

Read the text here.

www.gutenberg.org...

You want some satire? How about feeding homeless children to the hungry so they don't become a burden on society.

He was the Colbert of the 1700s.

ETA:

Oh, I guess I'm wrong. In that case, the OP's point is muddled by bad metaphor.

ETA2:

Actually, I can't tell if he is seriously suggesting this or not. Even his explanations are poorly worded.

originally posted by: Mianeye

Remove All Social Safety Nets

Yes, starting with the banks and over wealthy rich scamming the poor...

There is no doubt "poor" people misusing the social safety, but there are way more people who actually need it and deserve it cause the overall system is completely flawed and reward the wrong people.

I don't care about people abusing safety nets, that isn't the cause of this problem, it's a symptom.

I've been poor my whole life, and still am, this would negatively effect me personally. It's what needs to be done. People are surrendering their power and their voice for benefits. Take away the benefits and people have no motivation to keep quiet, in fact they have motivation to speak up.

originally posted by: Tardacus
nah, lets go to the other extreme and give everyone government handouts.
The rich and the poor are already on the government gravy train and getting,subsidies, handouts, bailouts,kickbacks etc etc. so, how about letting the middle class in on the free stuff then we`ll all be happy.

someone has to produce everything and last time i checked its only the middle class that actually produce anything.

we literally are the only ones who get our hands dirty, manufacturing, mining, logging, construction, its all the middle class making that happen. were the ones who build everything were the ones who run the equipment where mostly the ones with the working knowledge of how to build and repair.

you could do away with the wealthy and you could do away with the poor and wed be fine but if you got rid of us in the middle guess what, everything crumbles. noone to build your house noone to manufacture your magazines and bibles, noone to serve you non of it, all gone.