Quote:
Originally Posted by speakingtohe
People were more generous to the homeless in the depression than they are now it seems.
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They were.
Basic psychology: once government stated that helping the poor was the government's job, a lot of people took them at their word.
THE ECONOMIST has done several reports over the years tracking charitable giving and there is an inverse correlation between depth of government social services and the populace's charitable contributions. And not just in money; the biggest effect is in time commitments.
The same applies to other issues like wages and benefits; people see "minimum wage" and think it is exactly that, the minimum acceptable. A starting point for entry level jobs. And originally it was exactly that and only the young and bottom-rung workers got the minimum. But as the government kept raising the minimum companies didn't raise salaries for the upper tiers and more and more people got lumped in with the young and unskilled and perception hasn't changed. Now it is the wage for people that companies feel they can replace at a moment's notice and thus see no reason to pay any more than forced by law. Raises in those jobs are now negotiated in the political arena instead of in the job market.
Law of unintended consequences at work.
Sad and bad but not unexpected.