In idyllic La Jolla, California, Jason Greenslate spends his days surfing the waves, playing guitar, chasing women, and using food stamps to buy sushi and lobster for his buddies. A 2013 Fox News documentary, “The Great Food Stamp Binge” holds up Jason as the poster child of the lazy undeserving poor, and of why the SNAP program needs work requirements.
One hundred twenty miles to the north of La Jolla lies the liberal enclave of Santa Monica, where a business association strategically placed four dolphin-shaped statues in highly trafficked areas of the city. Each statue has a slit in the dolphin’s back where passersby can drop contributions. They were built to funnel donations away from the city’s substantial homeless population and to community agencies that provide social services to this population. The CEO of the business association, Kathleen Rawson comments, "The Dolphin program is a responsible alternative to direct giving." The underlying assumption is that the homeless would not put spare change to good use, but instead waste it on booze, street drugs and cigarettes.
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