If only it weren't too late...

  I swear, this almost brings tears to my ol' eyes..
The gov't here , in British Columbia, after 10 years of skyrocketing violent crime, mostly in robberies and crack dealing,  has finally decided to reverse the law that's directly responsible for the increase..
Previously, the rules introduced around 10 years ago, were, if you were able to work, and unable to get unemployment insurance, you could apply for welfare to cover your rent and food, for only 3 years out of every 5.. which, in essence meant, that if you hadn't found a job in 3 years here, you were kicked out onto the street without access to shelter, food, even access to meal tickets, (which aren't used much here in Canada). or medical coverage, if you got sick, which , surprisingly, happens a lot to people with no income of any kind..
  After this law was passed ten years ago, we went from the lowest crime rate province to the highest, with the highest levels of murders, violent crime, crack , heroin, and meth sales, property crimes, plus the highest homelessness levels, also in the last 10 years, prostitution skyrocketed, and basically this went from a safe, very nice place to be, to a dangerous part of Canada,

  Well, our old premier  Campbell, who IMHO should have been booted out of office after being responsible for a drinking driving accident while premier, ( he 'apologized" instead, and his office cut funding to MADD the next year, forcing them to leave their then-current location.. I remember the incident well, but will try to find a source for y'all) he did finally leave the position as Premier ten years later.. and was replaced by a quite pleasant *seeming* woman (Christy Clark) .. you know, the kind of person at the next table, in a coffee shop, you'd feel comfortable talking to .. The government policies, however, did not change, so the "pleasantness" factor sure wore thin soon ;-)

  Well, seems she's realized the horrific damage that this policy did, in the first place, and it's just been reversed.. the "2 years out of 5" ineligibility thing , is history.. finally!
  What a shame that the damage is done though.. it's too late..
We will NEVER get back the province we used to have..
Let's hope it now, doesn't get worse.

  The point here, is that it's too late for us.. but if you live somewhere that's considering cutting welfare like that, with 2 years of no access toi food, shelter, and health care.. Be mindful of the catastrophic damage it will do toy your area..
  A lot of people do not understand why welfare programs were originally introduced by the wealthiest sectors of the then society.. They were not acting out of compassion, in large part, but rather because they realized it was a  prudent course to take to keep society safe, and keep crime at a minimum level..
Remember, most of those that implemented our current social safety net, were alive at the turn of the 20th century, and got to see firsthand the damage inflicted on society, as well as the  ever present threats to personal safety, when the bottom segment were destitute and desperate....

   If where you live, draconian measures like we've just repealed, are being considered, feel free to use any part of what I've just written to help your case..

  When someone says "why should we help those lazy bums out anyways?"
Just tell them.. to keep taxes low, to keep crime from infiltrating your neighborhood, and your children, to keep property values up, to allow you to safely walk the streets downtown.. etc etc
 Ain't that enough reason!?

It's too late for us, but it may not be, for you, if you act in time!~

Doc