Replacing SNAP with something better
Let's use this moment for something big and good
If you ask me to name the most destructive government programs, at the top of my list would be the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly Food Stamps. While SNAP provides aid (we are told about $188 per person per month) to help put food on the table for 42 million Americans, it (perhaps inadvertently) also erodes our humanity by shifting responsibility for the needy away from individuals, churches, community, and businesses, and puts this in the hands of impersonal government systems, bureaucrats, and politicians.
In other words, we’ve outsourced our compassion, the thing that makes us the most human. This often deprives us of personal fulfillment that we otherwise would get from helping others, and it takes from the needy the human connection they need as much they need money for food.
Word from the federal Department of Agriculture suggests that the ongoing government shutdown will halt November SNAP benefits for the 1 in 8 Americans that depend on the program. This is a challenging but pivotal moment. It’s an opportunity to prove that we, as individuals, organizations, and communities can step up without waiting for Washington. We can show the world that our compassion endures, and there is no need for a bureaucracy to do this work for us.
Throughout human history, this is how functioning, healthy societies operated. Before the rise of government-run welfare programs, charities and communities relied on voluntary engagement to support the hungry. Though not always sufficient (such as during the Great Depression) and sometimes messy, I would argue that we’ve traded a superior system, built on kindness and interconnection, for one that makes poverty and human suffering largely invisible, depriving the poor of the attention and compassion they deserve.
I know the idea of a world without government benefits sounds scary to some senior citizens, single moms and dad, and others who depend on SNAP. This is not a moment for inaction, blame, or waiting for politicians to act. So I ask you to please make the most of this and do something long lasting.
Tell any government official willing to listen that this is a good moment to reflect on who we are as humans and the measures we take individually(not via government) to help those in need.
If you can, identify one person or family in need (perhaps through local networks like Facebook or Nextdoor) and offer to help. Work together with other individuals, groups, or families, if necessary. Consider offering 20% more (or whatever number you feel is appropriate) per person as a substitute for SNAP. Put in place appropriate conditions, if you like, such as seeking employment or preparing nutritious meals, to encourage self-reliance.
Donate to a trusted church, food bank, or charity that already has the infrastructure in place to feed people in need. Ask for reports on families served, their locations, and progress toward independence. Focus on those most committed to escaping poverty, and verify that aid is reaching the most vulnerable.
This is not a time to abandon those in need. Over the span of almost a century, we’ve allowed charity to become the work of government, and as a result, people have become dependent on and most familiar with this system. But remember that in order to fund this program, it adds to the need for the national currency to be devalued, increasing prices and reducing the value of the dollar, thus hurting the very people the program is supposed to help. Though a small portion of the nation’s spending problem, it adds pressure to the system that, in total, harms the country and its people.
Let’s try another way.
Rather, it is an important opportunity to rebuild society in a manner that has compassion is at its core, where care and concern for others is personal and not bureaucratic. By acting now, we can restore our basic human decency, and show how this works better than any purported government “safety net.” Let’s turn this disruption into something amazing, lasting progress, for the greatest good of all.