We know a check won't work.
78% of retired NFL players go broke. 60% of NBA players go broke. Big checks don't work. The statistics of people that go broke after receiving a "big" check is actually quite depressing/
But it points to the reality, that "a check" won't fix anything for most people, what people need is a career.
I do agree with you that many government programs are corrupt. Right now, Californians are asking what happened to the $25 billion (with a "B") we spent on homelessness. It seems to have gotten lost.
I do believe in what I call a "Second Chance" program. To many young poor children including poor black children grow up with zero understanding of what it takes to succeed. And so, they get moved along in the system and suddenly find themselves ill-prepared to make a living. They look for jobs, no one wants them, and their futures are over before they started.
As an example, two of my black football buddies in high school illustrate the difference. Both had access to one of the best school systems in the state (the same one, I went to).
One was a classic son of a single black mother. She never pushed him to succeed. After high school, he got arrested stealing cars and went to prison.
The other came from the same neighborhood, about four houses down. But a totally different family situation. He went on to college and ultimately was enjoying a good career last we talked. He was doomed to succeed, no way his father and mother would tolerate anything less.
Circling back to my first friend, after getting out of prison, he met this amazing woman, that turned him around. In prison, he finished his auto mechanic apprentice program. After prison, his girlfriend kept in on the straight and narrow. She was not going to stick around, if he wasn't going to shape up. He got a job as an auto mechanic making a good income.
More than "a check", it took a good woman to turn my friend around and "2nd chance to finish his auto mechanic certification". I support free community college/GED/vocational training for any child that graduates high school and realizes they blew it and need a second chance.
The interesting thing about the 2nd Chance program is that it would be a win-win. My friend, the auto mechanic pays taxes today. He used to cost taxpayers money.
We know most people can't handle a big check. Instead, helping them learn a profession teaches them how to earn a good living, but there is something about needing to work for money, that makes people less prone to blow it. I became pretty successful over my lifetime, but I started out life renting a one bedroom furnished apartment in a flop house for $45/week. I cut my milk and soup with water and bought whatever was on sale. It was great motivation to get an important skill and work hard to climb the economic ladder. Money was so hard to come by at the beginning, that once it started rolling in, I started saving for a rainy day, and later for a house, and then for an early retirement. I actually did earn a "big check" in 2002 at age 47. I saved it all. And added to my other savings, I retired four years later, when a heart condition said it was time.
The reality is more than a check, people need a 2nd chance to learn a skill. Sadly, our federal government is drowning in debt and my state, California is facing a fiscal disaster. I don't see "big checks" in the future, but I do see a need to repurpose our community college programs, what better way than to offer young adults a 2nd Chance to get it right.
