This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Nothing should be free without any contribution — welfare, unemployment, food stamps, any other government assistance. Sometimes people need help, and that's fine (I've needed it), but many take advantage of these programs.
Why can't we require people who receive benefits to do something for them? Anything. If you can't leave your house, stuff envelops for a company the state's involved with, or for a nonprofit company.
Maybe do landscape work — any kind of public service. There's always some unfunded state and county projects.
If the federal government and the states make people work for what they get, even if it's just a small amount of work, this would put this country and its people on a path to being more responsible.
William Germain
West Jordan