Welfare Drug Testing Essay Example for Free

Welfare Drug Testing Essay Welfare was originally designed to help out poor families in need. Throughout the years, there have been issues with people taking advantage of the system. The government has made efforts to try to help welfare recipients to get a job instead of seeing welfare as a lifestyle. The next step government should take is to drug test welfare recipients. If a person has enough money to get his or her drugs; he or she should have enough money to support their family. It is unfair for us tax payers to support other people’s family and addiction. It is clear that drug testing welfare recipients would benefit not only the system, but also recipients themselves, and tax payers. One of the first benefits the system would get by drug testing welfare recipients is decrease the number of people who take advantage of it. I personally know people who get all the government help they can without having a real need. I had a coworker whose husband would sell their food stamps in order to get his marijuana and other drugs. My coworker had 5 kids and would get about $800 worth of food stamps, plus WIC, plus section 8, and plus cash aid. She made sure she only worked enough hours not to go over the low-income limit requirements. Of course hours where available for her, but why would she get tired and work more when she can get more money by not doing much? And just like her, there are many people who do this. I think if a person is healthy he or she should have no problems getting a job. Talking about jobs, don’t we all must take a drug test in order to get hired? Why should getting welfare be different? Unconstitutional? Unconstitutional is using taxpayers’ monies to support other individual’s addictions. Individuals, who oppose drug testing welfare recipients, are either recipients who are afraid to be deny due to drug use, or confused tax payers. Confused tax payers might think that by drug testing all welfare recipients the government would have to invest more of our tax money on this programs. What tax payers should know that in the long run, this is very beneficial and needed for us. Recipients who are abusing drugs would think twice before applying for welfare. The number of recipients abusing the system will dramatically decrease. It could even be beneficial for the recipient who abuses drug, since if he or she really has the need they would seek help to stay clean. Usually when an addict recovers, he or she sees life as new beginning and his or her enthusiastic will more likely encourage being someone in life. According to US Department of Health and Human Services, U. S. Department of Commerce, and CATO Institute: â€Å"The government spends on welfare annually (not including food stamps or unemployment) $131. 9 billion dollars. There is 40 states where welfare pays more than an $8. 00 per hour job and even 7 states where pays more than $12 per hour. Hawaii’s welfare hourly rate is equivalent to $17. 50 per hour and our neighbor state California $11. 59 per hour. † I personally think is not fair at all that hard working individuals like me, have to struggle to pay bills, rent, groceries, health care etc. o support our family; when others are living so comfortable and buying drugs with our taxes. Research shows that 20 percent of TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) recipients admitted to using an illicit drug sometime in the last year. In addition, substance use is associated with increased duration (and cycling) of TANF receipt. With approximately $33 billion spent on TANF payments each year, it is alarming if over $6 billion is supporting drug users (Substance Abuse Policy Research Program, 2007). In conclusion, if the working class has to be drug tested to make their money, those receiving assistance should be drug tested to receive their check. The government would get numerous benefits if they start drug testing welfare recipients. Clearly, drug testing welfare recipients would benefit not only the system, but also recipients themselves, and tax payers. As of April 17, 2013, at least 29 states have proposed legislation requiring some form of drug testing or screening for public assistance recipients in 2013 (National Conference and State Legislatures, 2013).

Barn Burning - Sartys Struggle Essay -- essays papers

Barn Burning Sartys Struggle Barn Burning: Sarty's Struggle The theme of William Faulkner's Barn Burning is Colonel Sartoris Snope's desire to break away from the oppressive conditions of his family life. He is pulled between his family and his morality. In this essay, I will discuss Sarty's struggle between the two sides of his conflict and the point at which it becomes resolved. First, we will look at Sarty's pull towards his family. At the first trial, we find Sarty looking at his father's opponent sitting behind the table. Sarty identifies him as "his father's enemy", but he quickly changes his thought to "our enemy". Then after the trial, Sarty fights a boy twice his size because the boy yells out, "Barn Burner." These two instances are attempts by Sarty to fit himself into his family. He feels he might be able to do this by taking up his father's offense. Later in the story, after Abner has ruined the rug, Sarty says to his father, "You done the best you could! If he wanted hit done different why didn't he wait and tell you how! He won't git no twenty bushels! He won't git none! We'll gether hit and hide hit!" This is another attempt by Sarty to find his place. Although he knows his father is guilty of ruining the rug, he is willing to help his father hide the crop to avoid paying damages. His father, Abner, even tries to influence Sarty's decisio n. After camping the first night, Abner takes Sarty aside and tells him, "You got to learn. You got to learn to stick to your own blood or you ain't going to have any blood to stick to you." These attempts to defend his family and his father in particular are his way of exploring this realm of his conflict. He is trying to find out if there is a place for him. H... ... is at this point that Abner realizes that he has made his decision. Abner tries to contain him by having his mother hold him but Sarty gets free and runs to warn the de Spains. It is at this point that we know the end to the conflict has arrived. Instead of running back to the house to help with the fire, Sarty runs into the wood and continues to run. He is leaving and he is not looking back. He decides to stand on the side of morality and turns his back on his family. Sartoris Snope resolved his dilemma by exploring both sides of the coin. He then found something that represents his ideal situation, the de Spain plantation. Then he made his decision and he did not look back. The conflict that Faulkner brings to life in the Barn Burning is not uncommon. We each face a similar struggle at some point to find our morality. It is simply part of the human condition.

Benjamin Franklin in his Autobiography Essay

Similar to Benjamin Franklin in his Autobiography and Frederick Douglass in his Narrative, Pip in Great Expectations also demonstrates the archetypal boyhood to manhood narrative. Each story recounts a journey of growth and development, of maturation and self-discovery through experience. In addition, the protagonist of each novel has a purpose which directs his actions and decisions throughout the course of his journey. However, one significant difference exists between the two historical characters and the fictitious Pip-while Franklin and Douglass both strive for realistic and self-improving goals, Pip, like his imaginary character, entertains an idealistic dream. Pip desires to leave his former social class as a common boy and advance in life as a gentleman. This idealism quickly consumes Pip and becomes both the thematic center of the novel and the psychological mechanism that encourages much of Pip’s development. Ironically, many instances in the novel show that the symbols and figures of the wealthy class that Pip idolizes are in fact his greatest tormenters. From their unfavorable effects on Pip such as abuse, pain, and unhappiness, manifests the idea that social standing does not determine one’s happiness and well being, and most importantly, one’s self worth. Even before Pip becomes a member of the wealthy class, his mere exposure to it initiates a procession of pain brought about by physical, verbal, and emotional abuse. Miss Havisham, despite her eccentricity, represents the class, wealth, and advancement that direct Pip’s actions and emotions for a large portion of the novel. Upon hearing about Miss Havisham’s desire to see Pip, Mrs. Joe â€Å"pounced upon [Pip], like an eagle on a lamb, and my face was squeezed into wooden bowls in sinks, and my head was put under taps of water-butts, and I was thumped†¦ and rasped, until I really was quite beside myself† (52). Dickens’ clever use of violent rhetoric such as â€Å"pounced,† â€Å"squeezed,† and â€Å"rasped† and the metaphor, â€Å"like an eagle on a lamb† paints an unpleasant predator-to-victim scene in the reader’s mind. Mrs. Joe’s ecstatic reaction over the idea of Pip’s opportunity to befriend the wealthy class makes this scene the novel’s first hint of social advancement that will later consume Pip’s life. Consequently, Mrs. Joe becomes the first instrument of the upper class to inflict pain on Pip, carried out by the violent and painful bath. The physical abuse Pip endures here, so early in his childhood, also foreshadows the misery and pain he will later encounter among the upper classes. Moreover, closing the scene with â€Å"my ablutions were completed† (53) presents a resemblance between the simple bath and a ritual cleansing. The word ablution is most often associated with biblical allegories where priests were required to cleanse themselves before approaching the altar of God. Dickens’ word choice here seems to imply that Pip’s violent bath was necessary not only in cleansing him, but ridding him of the soil from his common life that might taint those in higher places. This bath scene serves as the novel’s first subtle but significant example that involvement with the upper class does not determine well being. The pain Pip endures from his first exposure to the upper class alerts the reader that an apparently positive development in his life (Miss Havisham’s invitation to her world) may have results to the contrary. Apart from physical abuse and torment, Pip’s first interactions with the wealthy class also cause him to suffer emotionally. The general magnificence and grandeur of Satis House exists not only as a symbol of the lives of the upper class, but as a symbol of Pip’s romantic perception of the upper class as well. In this aspect, it is also a source of misery for Pip and he realizes, â€Å"daylight never entered [Satis House]†¦ and under its influence I continued at heart to hate my trade and to be ashamed of home† (125). The ornate grandeur of Satis House has raised in Pip a new consciousness of his own low birth and common bearings. After his first visit, he even lies about his experience there, unwilling to sully his thoughts of it with the contrasting plainness of his every day world, for it must remain â€Å"far above the level of common doings† (72). Pip’s first visit to Satis House is a momentous event in his life. It raises in Pip an awareness of social contrast, robs him of his youthful innocence and sense of fulfillment and thus, further exemplifies the misery that is inherently linked with representations of the upper class. With the introduction of Miss Havisham and Satis House, the character Estella moves to the forefront of the novel as the ultimate symbol of Pip’s unattainable dream in Great Expectations, and the greatest cause of his sufferings. Ironically, Estella’s condescension and spite matches Pip’s feelings about himself in the world of Satis House. He accepts her condescension, â€Å"Why, he is a nothing but a common laboring-boy! † (60), without defending himself because he idealizes Estella and sorrowfully believes her to be right. This is particularly evident during times when the difference between their social classes manifest itself in the smallest things, â€Å"I had never thought of being ashamed of my hands before†¦ her contempt was so strong, that it became infectious, and I caught it† (60). Moreover, Estella consistently refers to Pip as â€Å"Mr. Pumblechook’s boy† (58), â€Å"silly boy† (266), or simply â€Å"boy†, using any word but his real name. This is a form of verbal abuse because it ultimately degrades Pip to a gender with no unique identity. Estella practices a deliberate cruelty on Pip that wins his deepest love and causes him to develop a passionate but unrequited devotion for her. This is one of the harshest examples of the pain and torment Pip must endure as he interacts with the upper class. Through these accounts, it becomes evident that social standing and wealth does not always determine well being. In fact, it may accomplish just the opposite-physical pain, emotional disturbance, and misery from the knowledge of one’s common bearings. Even when Pip becomes a gentleman and is received by society, there is a sharp decline in his confidence and happiness that accompanies this rise in social status. Pip’s unofficial entrance into the world of a wealthy gentleman can be marked as the event where he put on a real gentleman suit. Interestingly, Pip describes, â€Å"after this memorable event†¦ I felt rather like Mother Hubbard’s dog† (152). While a notable occasion such as this would have naturally allowed for happiness and celebration, Pip instead compares his elevated social standing to a common animal of a children’s poem. The demeaning effect of the suit, versus it’s intended dignifying effect, not only foreshadows the unsatisfactory life Pip will lead as a gentleman, but poses further doubt on the hopes and ideals Pip holds of the wealthy class.

Personal Statement My Career Goals - 984 Words

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