Quote:
Originally Posted by jamesqf
Well, that's one way of looking at it. OTOH, my non-Indian ancestors probably didn't have land to begin with. While I'm not at all into genealogy, I suspect (from evidence of names &c) that some of them were Irish starved out of their homeland in the 1800s, others might have been Germans escaping landless poverty, if not military enslavement, still others English or French escaping religious persecution. Other folks' ancestors might include Eastern European Jews escaping pogroms, and later Hitler. There weren't really a lot of wealthy, secure European people interested in emigrating to the American wilderness.
|
Wealth is relative. Perhaps most Europeans moving to North America were poor compared to other Europeans, but they were rich compared to the natives. They at least had Guns, Germs, and Steel.
Welfare programs might be necessary in the short term, but there must be a plan to wean off of them in the long term. In the long term, welfare is harmful to both the giver and the receiver.