Is Helping the Poor Worth the Cost

    Should the poor be helped? Write a short (five paragraph) essay taking asking whether or not the federal government has the responsibility to establish social and economic programs to improve the quality of life for its citizens who need help. Use one the following arguments as the thesis of your essay and support it with evidence from some of the primary sources we have reference this week.

Argument 1: Helping the poor is worth the cost.

The federal should support the people who need help. It is the government’s duty to provide assistance to the underprivileged and those with fewer resources. It is the federal government’s responsibility to establish social and economic programs to improve the quality of life for its citizens. Government involvement in caring for the needy should be expected. The US government was created “for the people, by the people,” and its leaders are supposed to reflect the “will of the people.” FDR knew this and when elected to office in 1932, amidst the worst economic crisis American had seen, he promised he would be active in battling the Depression head on and aggressively. It was clear that “laissez faire” government wasn’t meeting people’s need and that relief was necessary. There have been countless examples in history, when the President has had to expand his powers to protect the people- mostly in war. For FDR, the Depression was its own kind of war and he was justified in changing the role and direction of government in order to win.

Argument 2: Helping the poor is not worth the cost.

The federal should not support the people who need help. America is the land of opportunity, and individuals should “work hard” to improve the economic situation for their family. It is not the federal government’s responsibility to establish social and economic programs to improve the quality of life for its citizens. Government involvement in caring for the needy should be not expected. Our government was intentionally created with specific “checks and balances,” to limit the power of each branch and to keep any one man or one group from gaining dictatorial power. The executive branch under FDR, flew in the face of this balance, and clearly meant to enlarge the power of the Presidency. The government during the New Deal, randomly spent money, created programs and made decisions with limited or no input from the Congress or the Supreme Court. Today people complain that government has become “too big” and too involved in our lives. We need only to look at the New Deal as the beginning of this process of enlarging the bureaucracy and giving the executive too much power.