So, the assumption is that only people on welfare use that shit? That's okay, I also judge people. For instance, I believe that people who say things like welfare people are doing all the drugs are either idiots or post broad generalizations to garner attention because it's the only way anyone will ever acknowledge them.

While there might very well be more people outside of the Last Place on Earth on the first of the month,  there are also more people at the grocery stores. What bothers me about the post is that it seems implied that the solution is to take away social relief. There will always be people who misuse what you give them, but the truth of the matter is that these programs are necessary for some people to exist. Whether or not you like it, there will always be poor and it is up to us not as citizens but human beings to shoulder that burden when we can afford it because somewhere down the road, be it when we are elderly or when a spouse dies or your job gets outsourced so someone with too much wealth can avoid taxes and paying a reasonable wage. Another implication is that people on welfare are living the easy life. Every day on Facebook I see someone post a picture they stole from someone else that states that they believe that recipients of welfare do not deserve access to tattoos, liquor, or any other luxury item. In a world where middle-class people take out loans for jet skis, four wheelers and vacations to Las Vegas, all things that they cannot afford, to imply that someone shouldn't buy a case of beer they can't necessarily afford is asinine and incredibly hypocritical. To be forced to live in misery with no respite whatsoever is not an answer. The truth be told, some of those minimum-wage workers or workers who can't find a job because they have one for 15 hours a week but it is not flexible enough for them to find a second job or people working two to three jobs and still receiving welfare because the cost of rent is so fucking high that they can't afford to eat well or even go see the new Batman deserve a beer more than the rest of us. A tattoo costs less than a trip to Hawaii. And lastly, it's the implication that these people are being viewed as a disease instead of the symptom. A great deal of these people are sick and in need of help, not judgement. Some are sick mentally. Some physically. And some spiritually. The reaction that they should be swept under the rug so we, the middle class, do not have to look at them absolutely makes me want to vomit. Whatever the feeling on synthetics or Jim Carlson (who is simply practicing capitalism at the expense of others, much in the vein of McDonald's or Wal-Mart or your local liquor store) Duluth should not be so quick to sweep this problem away. While you may say it is "bad for our community," I think it is good for our community to see these problems, know they exist and take actions to better them.  I saw that Canada had a previous post about how the people in front of LPOE are so brazen. About their lack of respect for the community they are disrupting. Have you ever stopped to think that maybe the reason these people gathered outside the LPOE are so vocal and upfront about what they're doing is because it's the first time anyone has paid attention to them? The first time their existence was acknowledged in the community? A stifled voice is a voice straining to be heard. I just think it is ignorant and callous to shrink the significance of this down to such an infantile statement.

I'm not clouding the issue. I'm stating a point that's completely relevant. My opinion was not about Jim Carlson or LPOE. There's enough about that bullshit on PDD. I don't think he's right. I don't think he's a good man. I believe him to be a bottom feeder. What I'm saying is there are more intelligent ways to address what the real problem is than blaming a group who is already being exploited. It's all agenda and the goal is a cosmetically superior city. In the meantime, nobody bothers to deal with the real problems. Getting rid of LPOE won't stop drugs, welfare abuse, child neglect, or antisocial behavior. It's just that it will make us feel safer if we push them back to their ghettos.