Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Milking the System from Two Points of View

I always hear people complaining about people who "live off of the welfare system" or who "milk the handouts that the government gives," so we should stop with these programs altogether.

Indeed, there are people who do these things. And indeed it bothers me when somebody is cheating the system unnecessarily. But at the same time, if the programs are helping a vast amount of people while a few take advantage of them, then I can live with that. Any incentive out there that's worth getting, somebody will find a way to beat the system.

But interestingly I also find that the same people who are complaining about the people who are out there "milking the system" are the ones who openly brag about how they know the tricks to bending their taxes, or who try to haggle down every penny from a business, or who are forever squeezing every dime from tips at a restaurant.

In my eyes, these are two opposite ends of the same character trait... being a system milker.

I guess the old saying applies here... "Takes one to know one."

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