Someone mentioned to me "he's just gonna spend it on booze" (there wasn't really any evidence for that but they assumed). A friend of mine made an insightful comment "Considering his life so far, maybe he actually could use a beer more than us." (We were going to a local bar)
Someone wants some skittles or something, fine by me. The idea that we should tell someone they can't have a treat because they're poor, I agree that seems cruel.
Folks who really want to get those folks help / get them out of the system, they're not sweating skittles.
My wife works in the school system and one of the poorer kids told her that sometimes their aunt and uncle come over and take their food. THAT is a problem, not skittles.
Who dares to have a critical view into a proper history book?
Everybody better read "Fahrenheit 451" too, as long as the Bro-lords don't go after it (again).
> On the way to an Inklings meeting, he gave some money to a street beggar, and I made the usual objection: "Won't he just spend it on drink?"
> Lewis answered, "Yes, but if I kept it, so would I."
https://web.archive.org/web/20210717220213/https://www.ncron...
Is there anywhere else in the world that has a similar program to SNAP that micro-manages what kind of things people can buy? Everywhere else I'm familiar with just gives people in need cash that they can spend however they want. The closest thing I can think of is food banks (which also seems much more rare elsewhere, only recently popping up in the UK after their austerity programs)
A big difference is intention, in the US the focus is "anti-sin" and avoiding joy for undesirables. Many protein bars or "natural" juices are just morally aesthetic candy and soda. The labeling in Chile is data driven* (i.e, It's pretty much an efficient way to read the nutrition info, it killed vitamin water) so the objective is closer to public health.
I would also think that straight cash is preferable, the limitations are fine for complementary benefits of college students, not for actual families. Diapers and lentils are a better use of government money. Anyways if people want to buy drugs, converting food items to cash is simple.
- https://www.theexamination.org/articles/a-decade-after-its-p...