Experiments with a basic living stipend, and other similar ideas, have almost always found that the vast majority of people prefer to support themselves if they are given the opportunity. It has also been repeatedly shown that providing people with reliable housing and food makes them far more likely to get to a point where they no longer require it. The numbers indicate the helping the poor more than pays for itself in the long run.

The real problem is the people would rather let some die of exposure and starvation than support some who don’t really need it. Everyone resents being taken advantage of, but that’s only one side of the issue. Why is eliminating cheaters more important than saving lives? Particularly since all indications are that there aren’t nearly enough cheaters to be a significant drag on the system.

There is also a myth that undeserving poor people keep the rest of us from getting as much as we should. Businesses get vastly more aid from the government than poor people. People who are wealthy enough to make their income from investments pay far less in taxes than those of us who work for a living. And the really wealthy are able to game the system so they pay little or nothing in taxes. If we started collecting a fair portion from them, we could easily afford food, housing, and medical care for everyone. Anyone who want to stop the undeserving from getting things they don’t deserve needs to start there.