Whatever we may think of welfare, basic decency should tell us not to purposely embarrass or belittle those who get such benefits — especially in a time when many Americans who want to work cannot find jobs.
At the same time, society should not encourage the use of welfare in such a way that recipients see government aid as a “normal” way of life. The goal should be to offer temporary aid while recipients seek to become self-sufficient.
So it is troubling that the federal government wants stores to stop posting signs saying they “accept” food stamps. Rather, the government says, signs should say the stores “welcome” food stamps.
Actually even that is not entirely accurate. The government no longer calls food stamps by that name. The name has changed over a period of years, and the federal government recently began using the term “SNAP benefits.” SNAP stands for “Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.”
The goal of the new name and the new signs is to “decrease the stigma of using government food assistance,” The Associated Press reported.
We do not favor stigmatizing users of food stamps. But when you consider how many families have become mired in generations of dependence on government aid, we ought not to be “normalizing” that dependence still further.
That goes for government housing, too. It should be decent, properly maintained, and adequately heated and cooled — providing “the basics,” in other words, but not much more. Taxpayers have no moral obligation, for instance, to provide computers and Internet access in public housing, nor cable television or other undue amenities.
We should not shame those who use government aid, but neither should we encourage long-term dependency.