'Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.' Somewhere within the daily grind that is the entity of U4Prez, I saw this statement being debated within a blog thread. The debate was more of it's origins being biblical or not than the actual statement itself so I decided to take a look at the "Fish Story", as it was referred to, in relation to what it means in our time.
Literally it makes sense. If you give a man a fish, he has food for that day. What happens past that is not known, but for that one day he has a fish to eat. If you teach him how to fish not only will he have a fish to eat but he will have the knowledge and skill necessary to catch another fish for the next day and beyond. Pretty simple concept and I believe undeniable in it's wisdom.
In modern times the story gets related more often than not to our welfare system. The basic premise of our welfare system is a good one. Assistance to those who cannot physically do for themselves or who have fallen on difficult times due to circumstances beyond their control. I don't think there is anyone who disagrees with doing such. We need to help those who are unable to help themselves permanently as well as help those who have fallen on hard times until they can get back on their feet. Temporary assistance. The "Fish Story" as it relates however points out a grave flaw in our system. The loss of the word 'temporary'.
Many of those who have lost their jobs have to rely on existing programs to pay the bills they no longer can afford. Many of them are very proud, hardworking people who just need a little help until they can once again find gainful employment to support themselves and their families. On the other side of those individuals are the individuals who could find gainful employment and are physically capable of doing so, they simply do not know where to start or are void of a marketable skill to do so. Then there are those that simply refuse to make an attempt. They are content with eating the fish they are given on a daily basis.
I know the argument will be that "we need to help those people as well. We can't just let them starve." I agree with that statement totally. But the question we need to ask ourselves is are we actually helping them? As the "Fish Story" points out, are we helping them by merely giving them a fish to eat? Or would we be better served by teaching them to fish so they could help themselves? Some see giving them a fish as helping them. They are fed, they are alive. But is their standard of living any better? Did we help their quality of life by handing them a fish? Wouldn't a better form of help be to give them a fish while we are also teaching them how to catch their own? I believe the latter would be the better route. Why just help them eat when we could help them feed themselves and better their entire life, not just their stomachs?
I have my own alternative to the "Fish Story" called "The Hole". If you found a family living in a hole would it be better to help them so that they could survive in the hole or would it be the better option to help them get out?
Our current system allows them to survive in the hole. If we are serious about actually helping them we would stop using the bucket to lower them help into the hole and we would use the rope the bucket is tied to to try and pull them out of the hole. So ask yourself again, does the current system help?
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Kinda reminds me of the Batman 2, when the joker drives through Gotham city throwing out wads of cash. Then gases them with Smilex gas.
did anyone see the nimrods in Detroit all lined up for the latest stimulus handout? It went something like this. newsman: why are you here? nimriod: to sign up for money. newsman: where is the money comeing from? Nimrod: detroit. Newsman: where did detroit get the money? Nimrod: from Obama. Newsman: where did Obama get the money? Nimrod: uuuhhhhh I don't know, he's the president.
Second interview... Newsman: why are you here? Nimrod 2: to sign up for some money. Newsman: where is the money coming from? Nimrod 2: from Obama, thats why I voted for him. Newsman: where did Obama get the money? Nimrod 2: from his stash.
Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy doesn't it? these are Obama's peeps, they love him!
If a person graduates with a high school education? Then why are they not able to get a good job with that. We have socialized education in this country. But if you put down that you graduated high school, then you are going to get the entry level position. You could have gone to the best high school in the world and it wouldn't matter.
i agree- im just trying to look at it from as many angles as possible. but we need to start some where. i say we should run for congress we could write the Smashey/Kt welfare reform act of 2009....
Very true statement and it is one of the many issues with the system. There is a lot to work out but it definitely needs worked out. Usually however congress just goes fishing (pun intended).
the only problem i see- is that people use their children to stay on it. affordable day care can be an issue for some (i pay out the ying yang for preschool) but surely some people will try to stay on for the sake of theior children. i might be liberal but i work hard and i like to see my taxes helping people who really need it and not people who use their children as a way to get out of working.
We have training programs. Its called K through 12. 13 years of paid training for children. Its not you could avoid being educated. Its actually manditory. I don't believe in the people that fall out of the system. They are not stupid, they were trained. They are just assholes.
Exactly KT and great point. The ones who are physically and mentally able to work and simply just need some form of assistance or training in finding a marketable skill are well worth helping as well as those who need temp help due to job loss etc. You are correct, those who can but refuse to are the problem and need to ante up or go find a good cardboard box.
If you look at many states- they have job training programs to get you off of the government dime and they have time limits. i know people who have made something of themselves after being on welfare. the ones that abuse it would be kicked off if they dont get a job or take a training program. it really seems simple to me- but then again we are dealing eith the government....
That is the point though erock. We are simply giving them fish and saying "Yay, we helped. We feel good" when we actually aren't helping much. We are just allowing them to survive in the hole. They system needs to be re-worked so the money is spent on teaching them how to fish instead of just buying fish for them.
Public schools don't teach fishing skills. Nor do they teach you how to balance a check book.
I fully agree Smashey just giving somone that is fully capable of working fish and letting them eat the fish while others go out and work is wrong.
You heartless bastard .... I agree. lol
And before I get attacked and accused of being a heartless bastard by those who will read this and somehow twist it to make me anti-welfare let me simply state this: We need to help those who are physically or mentally unable to help themselves. We need to assist those who have fallen on hard times until they can get back on their feet. We need to TEACH those who do not know how to help themselves so that they may do so. And those who can but refuse to do so? They can eat fish heads.
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