Who's On Welfare?

Jack Bergel

1984

Published in:

Section 3 Newsletter, Nov. 1984, No. 15

An examination of social and economic conditions reveals a surprising conclusion: Here at home everyone is on some kind of welfare, either directly or indirectly, and those who benefit indirectly are totally dependent upon their benefits being validated by those who get some kind of welfare directly. If those receiving direct benefits were to have them curtailed or cut off completely, then those enjoying indirect benefits would find theirs reduced in corresponding amounts.

According to recent reports, there are 963 current social programs in the U.S. where some 80 million people receive direct benefits or services from the government. For instance, in l983 farmers reportedly received $9.3 billion in subsidies, more than double the previous high of $3.96 billion in 1972. All states participated in the benefits with individual farmers receiving an average of $3,922 each in 1983. Added to this are all the other welfare programs such as food stamps, educational grants, tax credits and shelters for high-income brackets, business bailouts, social programs for the elderly and disabled, and the list goes on. Without the above-referenced government programs, the millions who benefit from them would not have enough money-- or purchasing power--to absorb even a small part of the goods and services our high technology is capable of producing. This is just another way our government attempts to stimulate our lagging purchasing power.

These billions of dollars of debt creation pumped into the economy in the form of various kinds of welfare programs represent income for the rest of the population indirectly. Without Price System welfare, the entire economy would collapse. There would not be enough purchasing power left to maintain those who think they earn their living by the sweat of their brow. If one calculates the amount of nonrenewable energy it takes to support one individual during his lifetime, no one can "earn his keep" in a high-energy, high technology complex that is the North American Continent today.

Rather than point a finger at welfare recipients, we should direct our efforts to applying a technological solution to a technological problem. We need to adopt a technique of measurement and equal distribution of the fruits of our technology.

For those who think that the wealthy are not dependent on the purchasing power given to those on various welfare programs-- that the wealthy would get by with or without them--, take another look! Government creates debt in order to create purchasing power in order to stimulate the busines economy. Without this financial merry-go-round, money itself would soon become worthless and there would be no more income for anyone until such time that a non-Price System was installed.

Huge deficits created by necessary government spending and the continuous growth of the total public and private debt (now $6.4 trillion) will inevitably result in national bankruptcy. The present attempt to cut spending--even the rate of spending--if seriously pursued will result in national bankruptcy also, only it will happen much sooner.

We are fighting with the ridiculous, the impossible dream in attempting to fit a technological society that is capable of producing a sufficient amount of goods and services for all citizens into one of enforced scarcity and monumental debt. This monetary yoke confronting North American citizens and their offspring presents a bleak future.

Is this what we want? A Continent of welfare recipients? Unless we learn to accept the technological change that is here now and help to install a new system that is compatible with our technology and resources, we can look forward to complete chaos--the collapse of our social system.