Friday, January 30, 2009
Public policy corrupting personal character
The idea of having a "strong work ethic" has long been held to be a virtue. Diligence, industriousness, reliability, self-reliance have been esteemed for millennia as marks of both good character and good citizenship. As the Bible says, "He who does not work should not eat." Over the years, I have known a significant number of people who have lost a job and gone on unemployment. Every last one of them stayed on unemployment until about two weeks before it ran out. They then went out and got a job. Perhaps there are some who genuinely cannot find work for a protracted period of time. And perhaps we could have a discussion about the morality of the government helping these people out with cash payments. But this business of subsidizing indolence needs to stop. It is corrupting of good character and perpetuates dependency on the Mommy State.
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In my estimation, unemployment compensation is welfare. Welfare, to me, is something to be avoided. There are a lot of things I would resort to before telling my son that we were on welfare. But you're absolutely right, Dave. I know lawyers who will go on unemployment and consider it a vacation that they have "paid for." But I believe they are deluding themselves: the employee portion of unemployment tax is very small. It's negligible. I suppose you could say that you've paid for it in that your employer would pay you more if he didn't have to pay an unemployment tax; but that's a slippery slope indeed.
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