(David Mansdoerfer) – Soft despotism, the belief that government is slowly encroaching on the lives of its citizens, was originally used to depict Europe in the early 1800s. Now, with thousands of new regulations that govern the lives of citizens each year, the notion of soft despotism is beginning to depict the modern day United States.
Today, we are going to look at how unemployment benefits incentivize people to become dependent on the government and live unproductive lives.
Last year, congress extended unemployment insurance to 99 week. 99 weeks, if you are wondering, is almost exactly two years.
Weekly unemployment benefits typically range anywhere from $100-$600 on average.
So, hypothetically, a person earning the maximum in unemployment benefits could make up to roughly $60,000 over the course of two years on unemployment. Don’t forget, along with unemployment benefits, there are also food stamps and other programs targeted at the poor that people on unemployment usually qualify for.
$60,000, of course, is no paltry figure. Why would someone who makes an average of $30,000 a year on unemployment benefits take a job that would pay them something similar or less? They wouldn’t.
Time after time we hear politicians throw around the idea of fairness – especially when it comes to the idea of redistributing wealth. How then, do we not talk about how fair it is that people can now live off of the unemployment system for nearly two years, making upwards to $60,000 during the course of that time, while hundreds of thousands of Americans are working two jobs just to make ends-meat?
How can one earned dollar be worth more than another?
This is an extremely difficult question. By no way am I implying that there should be no unemployment insurance. Businesses contract and life happens. There should be a system that helps Americans not hit the bottom in the case of an unforeseen job loss.
I do want to point out, however, that there is an extremely slippery slope from providing a safety net and building a dependence of the government.
99 weeks of unemployment insurance has crossed that line. 99 weeks of relying on unemployment insurance is long enough to make anyone dependent on the government.
Soft despotism comes in many shapes and sizes. Unemployment insurance is just one of them.
(Mr. Mansdoerfer is the Director of Federal Affairs for Citizen Outreach.)
(Image by scottchan: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=1701 )