How Much Is Enough?

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If you didn't like my prior posts about SNAP benefits and learned helplessness, then you might want to stop reading now. The attached diagram shows what % of people in each US state receives SNAP benefits. The diagram says 12% of the United States population is on a food assistance program. I gleaned from the internet this represents 42 million individuals. Further delving into this and 1.5 million of those 42 million are illegal immigrants who are not citizens of the United States. Okay, so don't you think that 12% is a rather large number of people on food assistance? Shouldn't the number of people needing help be around 5% or less? Why is there such a high number of food stamp recipients? So I looked into the qualifications to receive SNAP benefits and they include: 1. Household gross income at or below 130% of the federal poverty level. For a family of three in 2025, this is approximately $33,576 annually. Net income (after deductions) must be at or below the federal poverty level, which is about $25,000 annually for a family of three. 2. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or certain lawfully present immigrants and must reside in the state where they apply. 3. Most households can have up to $3,000 in countable assets (e.g., bank accounts). If at least one member is elderly or disabled, the limit increases to $4,500. Home, personal property, and most retirement accounts, do not count against these limits Those are really very generous criteria. Now let's break it down even further. If the gross income for a family of 3, for which you would generally assume both adults are working person is working, is $33,576 , that means each person is making at or around $8 per hour. The SNAP program even has a special section: Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWDs): Individuals aged 18-52 must meet work requirements unless exempt. So please explain to me why an able bodied person shouldn't be able to make at least $8 hour when every restaurant, including White Castle, is offering jobs starting at $15/hr. Please explain to me why people aren't able to earn this very basic amount if they are able-bodied and not disabled. I'll give you some personal examples from my own circle of friends. They don't want to work. One of the card-playing girls has 2 grandsons in their 20's and they don't work. They bounce from job to job, from DUI to car wreck and end up living in her basement. The other card-playing girl has a 40-something year old daughter who is married with 3 teenagers and she'll just flat out tell you, "I don't want to work. I shouldn't have to work. Someone should take care of me." You all think that I am looking down on SNAP recipients, which couldn't be further from the truth/reality. I understand that many of you here are disabled and in dire straits. But what I'm trying to express is that often many people on benefits are getting them because they just don't want to do anything about it. It's become a way of life for them. " Learned helplessness" is a psychological condition where individuals believe they have no control over their circumstances, leading to passivity and a lack of motivation to change their situation. I have generations of my own distant cousins who have lived their whole lives on welfare, snap, and every other benefit available to them because they don't know how to go out and work for themselves. They have a victim mentality and a million excuses for why they can't get ahead in life. Our government unintentionally created a "Nanny State" when it started offering liberal and generous benefits to those who went beyond a temporary status of needing help and made it profitable for them to live on the government's dime. While they aren't out helping themselves, they still complain about what they don't have and they never seem to have "enough." Don't you see it? Don't take this personally if you are on government assistance. I'm talking about the systemic problems in the system, not individual people who truly need help.