The time is long overdue for us to reframe the manner in which we think about social safety nets and assistance programs. For far too long, the status quo has been to think about these societal positives as poorly thought out and under-regulated handouts. This type of thinking feeds the erroneous notion that these vital programs are a kind of governmental reward for willful nonconformity bankrolled by the populace without their explicit consent. This is a short-sighted mentality that breeds resentments and only further exacerbates the societal ills that all involved would rather see resolved as opposed to the current alternative.
In reality, these programs are vital lifelines that allow those of us that find ourselves trampled on by the circumstances made possible by the parametrical realities of the the current socioeconomic order under which we all live. The same circumstance to which we are all susceptible to varying degrees but never immune from. As such, these programs act as a levee against the myriad failures of the society's deeply lopsided socioeconomic order. A levee that prevents what is currently a blatantly obvious moral failure (and a less obvious degree a productivity failure) from becoming unignorable structural failure at the heart of an imminent societal collapse.
It is clear that we must adopt a new more effective frame of mind in regard to social safety nets and assistance programs. These are not unregulated handouts so much as they are direct action solutions hindered by bureaucratic incompetence fed by the weaponized apathy of the masses born of informational malnourishment perpetrated by those that stand to gain the most from keeping large segments of the population chained to an unwarranted economic struggle for daily survival.
Now is the time to understand that the public money that is spent on lifting those of us that currently having to live at the bottom of our society is not a handout but an investment. This is a direct investment in public health and safety; environmental health and aesthetics; property values; economic productivity and efficiency, and petty crime reduction to the point of near extinction just to name a few of the benefits. Like with any investment of funds the efficacy of the investment in producing an expected return is directly tied to the efficiency with which the investment meets the set parameters for success. In this case, those parameters include but are not limited to ensuring that all members of our society have equitable access to appropriate housing, quality nourishment, a high level of educational opportunities, living wages, transportation and healthcare.
The upfront investment may be unpalatable to a society so conditioned for instant gratification but the guaranteed long term returns are without rival. A better future is not just possible it is essentially a guarantee. The time to invest is now.
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