General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: My Experience in SW Missouri [View all]Hortensis
(58,785 posts)a darker view of human nature than liberals. That doesn't mean they don't like people just as much, but that they believe society needs to encourage good behavior and when it doesn't people will misbehave more. Such as refusing to work while rescue checks still come in -- because of the free handout alone. This belief in "a natural order" of those who are more deserving and undeserving is as old as humans and embedded in most religions.
RWers overall used to be far more sensible and balanced in this outlook, and conservative progressive support was common for national welfare programs with strong oversight against cheating. But manipulation by anti-tax powers has developed the worry that government programs feeding fecklessness might destroy our national character into a fervent belief that that is happening. Their traits have been used to make them irrational on the subject.
It's from that nurtured, irrational belief that we're throwing money at millions of people who use it to lie around and abuse themselves and their children that this woman's knee-jerk statement comes. It doesn't mean she wouldn't give the coat off her back to a neighbor she KNOWS.