Entitled: Lottery winner's declaration shows attitude toward entitlements

Just when you thought it was safe to believe the rhetoric that there are thousands of good-hearted souls out there who are being victimized by the system, along comes someone like Michigan lottery winner Amanda Clayton.

Even though she won a million dollars in the lottery -- and owns two homes -- she feels that she should still be entitled to food stamps.

She is 24 years old.

While this is mostly a case about laziness and stupidity, and the fact that it took the state months to figure out she was still receiving aid, it is also an example of an attitude that is becoming more and more prevalent among some of those who receive assistance.

They feel it is owed. So that means that if they can find a way to qualify, and an excuse not to work to find a job, any job, to stay off assistance, they are going to take it. No matter what.

It is the same old story. If you give a man a fish, he will continue to go hungry because he will wait for the next fish. But if you teach him to be responsible for himself, and offer him the skills he needs to catch his own fish, he will be able to maintain a productive life.

And that, in a nutshell, is what is wrong with the current welfare system.

It does not reward those who strive to work, who want to work or who just need a little help to get by.

Welfare assistance goes to people in some cases who simply have figured out how to work the system. They have no intention of looking for work -- and in some cases, they do not intend to feed their families either, choosing instead to trade food stamps for cigarettes and alcohol or other prohibited items.

Entitlements are handicaps. And it is time that as a society we make a change in how we look at them.

Amanda Clayton is certainly proof of that.

Published in Editorials on March 8, 2012 10:32 AM