BrainTorque

As gas prices keep rising, the number of people complaining increases, unfortunately some of those people drive gas guzzlers. Now why should they complain if they drive big cars, hummers or trucks without an actual need for it? It would be like me complaining about the cost of steak, while feeding my whole family steak 3 times a day, including a large pack of dogs that I would own. Seems wasteful, and unnecessary, doesn’t it?

Trucks

There are far too many people that buy trucks, only to lower them and race them. They are completely butchering what a truck is meant for, which is hauling something large, something heavy or both, possibly over rough terrain, like on a construction site. These ’souped up’ trucks can only be driven on normal roads, and if you weigh it down with anything in the bed, it will scrape the whole underside on the road in most cases. Even though these trucks can not be used for its intended heavy duty purposes, they still use up quite a far amount of fuel compared to other vehicles. In these cases, owning a truck is very inefficient, wasteful and dumb.

Large SUVs

There are different types of SUVs, and some seem like a compromise to a minivan, with a larger interior compared to a full sized car, without the need to seat 6-8. These SUVs are good for family, perhaps ones that go camping or on lots of road trips, but occasionally you will see a monster of a SUV that is used only for day to day driving, not really using it for it’s intended purpose. These cars are also very inefficient, guzzle gas and aren’t even that fast.

Hummers

These are probably the worst vehicles on the road today. Unless you live 10 miles from the nearest road, or are in the middle of a war, you should not be driving one. Hummers must of been pushed out to the public by the oil companies. Why else would anyone release them, they cost their owners a lot of money in gas, and are large and clumsy. The fact that there are people willing to buy them astound me. I always picture people that drive hummers as very self absorbed, and selfish people. I would like to bet that if they were able to buy and drive a tank to their local store for groceries, they would.

Conclusion

Now if any government decided to give tax breaks due to the increase gas prices, they should skip these people. If they own a gas guzzler, they should not get any sympathy unless they can state a practical reason for their choice, and defend it. If anything, everyone should start taking an example from many European countries, where the engines in their cars are smaller and seem more efficient. But instead it seems that the American dream includes owning the largest car known to man, and then complaining when they can’t afford to drive it.

When you are young, and live under your parents roof, they typically have control on what you are allowed to have. Typically, until you are able to make the money yourself, and even live on your own, you do not have full control. This idea should apply whenever anyone is giving you ‘free money’ as it is their money/investment in you, and therefore the government should be allowed to place controls/limit some freedoms on those people that are on welfare.

Method of enforcement

Most of the purchases that would be controlled could be done by a machine that looks up a drivers license and identifies the person as a welfare recipient or not. This would cause some inconvenience for most people, but would reduce the amount of people abusing the welfare system.

Another method would be to provide the welfare money into a special bank account, with limits on how much money can be withdrawn a month, and any purchases made on the card would be tracked and limited based on the store, category the goods fall under, and previous spending habits.

Alcohol and Tobacco

When purchasing either substance, they should force everyone to provide their licenses, not only for age verification but to verify that you are not on welfare. This system can be used to limit the amount of money allowed to be spent on either substance.

In terms of tobacco, the amount allowed to spent should gradually decrease forcing the recipient to either get a job, or quit smoking within a year, as this will only cost the tax payers more money in medical costs. Otherwise it would be a bad investment for the government to fuel something that will kill you one day.

As for alcohol, the amount should be low, not enough to abuse the substance, but enough to be able to relax and have the occasional drink.

Vehicles/Cars

Everyone should be entitled to some mode of transportation, but in some cases people on welfare manage to buy brand new vehicles that are more of a want than a need. In most cases they should be fine with a decent used car, which can be reliable and very cost effective.

Other Luxuries

Many people working every day can not afford many luxuries, and it is quite unfair if a person on welfare has a big screen TV, while the hard worker has to settle for less. So in terms of electronics, they should be limited to bare necessities, such as small screen TVs.

Conclusion

Now I understand that some people are on welfare not by choice, and may want to provide some luxuries for their families, but they should work for it in some fashion. They can either find a job, or perhaps the government can hire them to do some misc duties such as cleaning up the city they live in. Perhaps any work they do for the government will increase the limits on some goods they are allowed to buy, not necessarily make them more money.

The government should also attempt to educate those on welfare and try to get them back into the workforce, perhaps hassle them monthly when it comes time to receive their check. Also, those capable to work, should be pressured more to work than those less capable.

What it comes down to is that a large amount of people work hard to have what they have, and it seems unfair that one can enjoy the same luxuries while living off the taxes those people pay.