An example of how Government hurts more than helps

I just read an article which just reminded me of why government in its current state has a tendency to not help people, and at times hurt them. Many of these government programs are intended to "help" to "poor and needy" among us. The problem that occurs is that these programs tend to keep people "content" where they are at in life and doesn't try to help them break the chains of their circumstances or try to rehabilitate people.

An example of this is Atlantic City's Needle Exchange Program. As explained in an article by Jesse Kurtz in the Casino Connection, there is a place in Atlantic City, New Jersey called the Oasis Drop Center. The purpose of this government funded program is to allow IV drug addicts and other needle users to exchange their dirty needles in order to get clean needles so they are less likely to transmit to others or they contract any diseases or STD's themselves. Government officials say this program is meant to bring down the number of people who may contract HIV and AIDS.

Jesse Kurtz explains in the article:

In addition to needles, Oasis hands out drug paraphernalia, including free cookers and cleaning materials. Everything short of the heroine rock is available, free, at Oasis. The needle exchange clientele is not limited to Atlantic City residents. IV drug users come from near and far to avail themselves of the free goodies. Atlantic City is in this way the IV drug destination of New Jersey.
(http://casinoconnectionac.com/articles/A_Chicken_in_Every_Pot__and_Free_Drug_Needles_for_)

Now, this government created and funded program does not try to help rehabilitate these addicts or help them break the cycle in their lives, the government instead is supporting an individual's addiction. Taxpayer dollars are going towards helping Heroine addicts conduct the daily rituals of their addictive lifestyle.

While one may say, "But the government is trying to prevent the spread of AIDS, their intentions are good....". But we must remember a saying from Samuel Johnson, "Hell is paved with good intentions".

This needle exchange program follows in the tradition of many other infamous social programs such as Welfare and Unemployment. While the programs' "intentions" are good, they do little to help people rise above their current state in life and enable people to be set in the poverty cycle they are currently in. Programs like Social Security and Welfare have their origins from President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal reforms.

Roosevelt's reforms were intended to help bring American out of the Great Depression. But there was a major key to Roosevelt's programs: to be a bridge until people got on their feet with new or better jobs. It was never Roosevelt's intention for people to live off of these programs, but that the government would act as a friend giving a "loan". Roosevelt reasoned that the programs would eventually pay for themselves when the people the programs helped would get jobs and begin to pay taxes. Roosevelt believed in benevolence, not a pro facto "Nanny State" where the government takes care of everyone until God Knows when.

Instead of having government programs that facilitate people staying in the rut their lives currently consist of, why not spend these millions of tax dollars on programs that uplift and change people's lives? I know people whose families have been on Welfare, whose parents had to apply for unemployment just to get buy. Neither of these programs helped these families find jobs, build resumes, none of these programs help people go to trade schools to improve their skills so they can get better jobs. I have been in these places, they seem like treasury buildings that process people's papers then the staff dish out food stamps and unemployment checks.

Government Programs such as Welfare, Unemployment, and Social Security have good purposes and operations, yes. But handing a single mom with 4 kids 200 dollars worth in food stamps every other week and unemployment check every other week is doing nothing but making sure that mom and her children do not starve! Where is the government program that helps that mom build a resume and get a new job? Where is the government program to help her send her kids to safer, and better schools that are not dangerous and gang infested? Where are the government programs to help educate her if she needs it to get a better job? No, these programs exist on paper, not in reality!

Instead, government officials are worry about how much their salaries’ are, doing favors for their cronies, making sure drugies have clean needles, and ensuring our children are taught the proper sexual positions in our High Schools. And seriously, if you are going to have a needle exchange program, why not have one for Diabetics who need these needles more so than some Heroine junky? The Diabetic will die without their insulin shot. The Heroine addict will go into withdraw and have to think about their life more. God forbid the government instead put the heroine addict in rehab and help them get a job and give those clean needles to the Diabetic!