My Life as a Welfare Brat by Parker

In the essay “My Life as a Welfare Brat”, by Parker, the author introduces the piece with her experience on the Oprah show. There are two mothers on there that feel entitled to welfare as if the government owes them this money. The author talks about how she used to do the same thing and how the welfare system is a crutch and it discourages and enables people from finding jobs and supporting themselves. Parker then goes on to discuss her own experiences on welfare. She talks about how she lived a reckless life have casual sex and got pregnant three times in one year. She also talked about how she quit her job and was supported on welfare and how others as well as she sold Medi-cal stickers.

This part was the most interesting o me because I have never heard of anyone using their welfare benefits by selling them to others and actually being able to live off of this illegal activity. I didn’t even know that that was possible. And the idea that there are clinics that don’t even ask for id and that will let you use someone else Medi-cal sticker is unheard of. This is what’s wrong with the welfare system and the government. How can you allow this illegal activity to be going on, this abuse of the system, while there are all these people who need these benefits but can’t get them? Can you not clearly decipher between who needs welfare and who doesn’t? Is it that hard? And if so, can you not find people who are capable of doing this job? These are serious questions that I have. I know when my mom was a case workers she would actually do her job and research to see who was lying on their application, this is what all government employees need to be doing.