The other day on the news there was an item about a man who managed to collect over $600,000 in welfare benefits before he was caught. Of course, the comments made much of the fact that he was Muslim and an immigrant. But that is really missing the point. What I would like to know, is how did he do it?
I think it's pretty safe to say that the average person's experience with bureaucracies, whether it is financial aid, welfare, insurance, disability or what have you, tends to be very frustrating. I am firmly convinced that people who work in these institutions are not human. At the very least Ayn Rand would be proud of them. She didn't believe in altruism and neither do they.
I know a woman who has only one leg who cleans houses for a living because she can't get disability. Even though she has only one leg. That is not disabled enough. Yet there are people who just wrench their back or whatever, and they don't have to worry about working.
Now, when it comes to getting jobs, there are all kinds of places you can go for advice on how to write a good resume, how to interview, and such. It's taken for granted that there is inside information that you need to know. That's what networking is all about.
But when it comes to negotiating the above bureaucracies, you are on your own, buster. That is why I'd like to talk to Mr. Welfare Cheat. I'd like to know how he got them to listen to him, when they don't listen to folks that really need the help. There must be some inside information that the rest of us could use. In fact, I would suggest that he could probably make a pretty good living on the lecture circuit. Maybe even work it both ways--tell us what we need to know in order to make the system work for us, and tell them how to identify a potential cheater. You know, sort of like Frank W. Abignale, the reformed con man who now goes around telling businesses how to avoid being taken by someone like him. I mean the man has got a gift! $600,000 in state money isn't chump change.
The sad part is stunts like his makes it all the harder for those who legitimately need the help. And I dread the day when the Occupy movement turns its attention away from Wall Street and onto all those that are seen sponging off the public trough. There's a lot of resentment out there towards poor folks, an awful lot, and it isn't coming from the rich.
I think it's pretty safe to say that the average person's experience with bureaucracies, whether it is financial aid, welfare, insurance, disability or what have you, tends to be very frustrating. I am firmly convinced that people who work in these institutions are not human. At the very least Ayn Rand would be proud of them. She didn't believe in altruism and neither do they.
I know a woman who has only one leg who cleans houses for a living because she can't get disability. Even though she has only one leg. That is not disabled enough. Yet there are people who just wrench their back or whatever, and they don't have to worry about working.
Now, when it comes to getting jobs, there are all kinds of places you can go for advice on how to write a good resume, how to interview, and such. It's taken for granted that there is inside information that you need to know. That's what networking is all about.
But when it comes to negotiating the above bureaucracies, you are on your own, buster. That is why I'd like to talk to Mr. Welfare Cheat. I'd like to know how he got them to listen to him, when they don't listen to folks that really need the help. There must be some inside information that the rest of us could use. In fact, I would suggest that he could probably make a pretty good living on the lecture circuit. Maybe even work it both ways--tell us what we need to know in order to make the system work for us, and tell them how to identify a potential cheater. You know, sort of like Frank W. Abignale, the reformed con man who now goes around telling businesses how to avoid being taken by someone like him. I mean the man has got a gift! $600,000 in state money isn't chump change.
The sad part is stunts like his makes it all the harder for those who legitimately need the help. And I dread the day when the Occupy movement turns its attention away from Wall Street and onto all those that are seen sponging off the public trough. There's a lot of resentment out there towards poor folks, an awful lot, and it isn't coming from the rich.
