Opus 2018-041: Don’t Let Them Eat Cake

I saw a reference to this somewhere else and skipped over it.  When I saw it on 90 Miles from Tyranny I read it with great approval.  The basic idea is that instead of giving people cash cards that can be spent on just about anything, people will be given a box of food.  I think it implied that part of the cash card (EBT) would still be in place for perishables like milk.  As long as the list is short I can go with that.  Modern technology makes this very doable.

All of us have stood in line behind people buying steak and other items we can’t afford and pay with an EBT card.  What that means is that I was paying for their luxury items while I waited behind them. 

This is a much more generous program than I have advocated.  My plan was a little bit simpler.  Stock warehouses with basic food items:  Peanut butter, crackers, powdered milk, dried fruit, etc.  The items would not be fun to eat and would be incredibly boring but they would be adequate to keep you alive.  We are a wealthy nation and we can afford to provide food for everyone but we destroy their pride and initiative by giving them cash cards.  We can feed them but we don’t need to encourage them to stay on the dole.
 
It would be free for the taking.  If you wanted to back up a truck and haul it away by the ton, be my guest.  Since it is free you will have a hard time selling it.  I think that after a steady diet of beans and rice a lot of people might to decide to get a job.  It would cost very little because you would be cutting out all the well paid social workers and accountants that administer the current program.  All you would need would be someone to direct traffic in the parking lot and pile goods in the right bins.

Since my plan would never be approved, I think I can go with what this one would do.

homo unius libri