It's possible you misunderstood the question posed to tapeworm. He wrote about welfare being given unconditionally. The foodstamp requirements aren't what I meant. People get around that by popping out more kids and other means.
I meant it in the most literal ("Here's an area of the city you're going to be sweeping and picking up garbage daily to get welfare") sense.
I wouldn't give anything - food stamps, welfare money, a pair of secondhand fucking socks - without requiring something. If they have kids to look after, I'd provide daycare (boom - a job for someone). Just getting people into the habit of organizing their life around work is step 1.
Ideally, I'd mix picking up trash type jobs with training for jobs that are more interesting and pay a whole lot more than welfare. If a program paved that road for people and gave them a hard kick in the ass to start down it, I reckon most people would make a genuine effort because they'd see a way to build a good life. At the moment, no one sees that possibility. Having a halfway decent job and getting treated with some respect is so far out of reach for welfare people that it might as well be fantasy, so everyone says fuck it. Show them a way to it - have a nice car, a nice place, women are suddenly friendlier - and you'll see some very motivated individuals. Not everyone but most.
So to be clear, I wouldn't give anyone jack shit for free. At the same time, I wouldn't be making people pick up trash, clean public toilets, and scrub graffiti for the rest of their lives with no way out (although they will damn well do it if they're told to or they can go home and eat a plate of grass). Very strong emphasis on career counseling and training.
