Entitlements

As a child, I grew up on welfare.  I am ashamed of that fact.  All of my parents were able to work when I was subjected to the humiliation of poverty.  I can remember programs that were aimed at the poor that just kept us in poverty.  There were things designed to relieve the stress, but not solve the problem.  Monetary stipends ran out and left you waiting days until the next check came.  Food stamps were always just under enough and the doctors that took the medical card were rookies and amateurs truly "practicing" medicine.  When I went to college, I got financial aid.  It was a different type of entitlement.  It was one that paid back.  When I graduated, I got a job and have not used public assistance since.  Growing up was wonderful.  I know that rough times can come again, but entitlements made it a lifestyle.  As I grew up, that sense that someone should give me something because I am poor enough to qualify got on my nerves.  People would ask me for a ride in my new car with the thought that I could not say "no".  They asked for money, they did not pay back and expected me to write it off.  The completely lost their dignity because they were poor.  Did affirmative action make us better, or did it make us bitter?  Did it change our lives or did it change our mentality?  If entitlements were meant to change people, then why are there generations of people living in the same housing project that they grew up in?  Why are 2/3 of black men still unemployed or incarcerated?  Did social security really secure my future or did it jeopardize it?  Will I be working at WalMart when I am 65?  It is enough to keep you guessing for a really long time.