Rumors and Truth

[Sundae]

There are people that abuse the system. Of course there are, it's human nature.

The difference is more in attitude. It has come up before and it will come up again. Social Security is just that. The majority of people pay into it. The majority of people will only benefit when they need it.

Scroungers, loafers and good-for-nothings will dance to an elaborate tune to get what they want, but most people would prefer to work and only fall back on the system when they need to.

Now don't get me wrong, the right wing in this country resent it too. The Hate Mail has stories at least once a week about someone supposedly living off the fat of the land. To counter that, Channel 4 make documentaries about how miserable it is to be stuck on benefits.

The bottom line is the safety net is accepted in this country. And the general consensus is that we'd rather stop people falling through the cracks even if it means we have to put up with the occasional family of 13 with neither parent working (but at least they're still married!) Most people here don't believe benefits create scroungers (most people here receive at least something you don't get in America).

ETA I'm sure you know my comment about lazy Americans was in the spirit of the original post. But just to clarify.

[classicman]

Originally Posted by Sundae Girl

There are people that abuse the system. Of course there are, it's human nature.

The difference is more in attitude. It has come up before and it will come up again. Social Security is just that. The majority of people pay into it. The majority of people will only benefit when they need it.

Scroungers, loafers and good-for-nothings will dance to an elaborate tune to get what they want, but most people would prefer to work and only fall back on the system when they need to.

The bottom line is the safety net is accepted in this country. And the general consensus is that we'd rather stop people falling through the cracks ~snip~

All of the above applies to the vast majority of Americans too. Our problem is that we are so much larger than you and the amount of abuse and $$$$$$ are as well. numbers wise, I don't know about percentages. For that you need a bean counter.