I'm not advocating welfare at all. Just saying I can certainly understand why some folks choose to go on it when working for a living often pays considerably less and provides a much less extravagant lifestyle. Look, things have changed a bunch here since I got out of school. My very first job {factory} after graduating HS in 1979 paid me 134.00 per wk. take home. My rent at the time was 125.00 per month. I had no problem paying rent, utilities, food, etc.. on that and keeping a dependable vehicle on the road. Fast forward 36 years and you won't find an entry level job anywhere around here that pays anywhere near enough to live off. Rent for a 2 bedroom apartment now runs 6-700.00 per month and entry level factory jobs {if you can find one and that's a big IF} are paying 4-500.00 per week GROSS. No way in hell anybody's gonna LIVE on that without gov't help or just going without a bunch of things they need. Like lunch, new tires, a good vehicle, heating oil, health care etc etc.. Things have gone down the shytter economically and it needs to change or more and more people are going to just give up and go on welfare..
You do realize that capitalism is supposed to work exactly that way. That is, NYS has priced itself out of its own market and can no longer compete as a legitimate entity, so it is suffering the pains of bankruptcy. It is a slow slide into irrelevancy. Your theoretical young-guy-trying-to-get-started could simply move to a productive, booming state and make $100k in his first year with no higher education, so long as he has a driver's license, can pass random drug tests, and shows up on time everyday.
Leave NYS and live a little!
