Mac-Comments on Canadian "Entitlements" and Social Failures

Posted in Comments from here by Mac
Wanted to bring this on top of my blog - Mac makes some great points.
One of your points no-one else touched upon is your thoughts regarding how Canadians do a horrible job in helping fellow Canadians, specifically the situation of Canadian aboriginals.
These are fundamental problems and therefore the solutions must be just as fundamental. Perspective is everything.
Canadians live in one of the richest countries in the world yet we have cases of what appears to be extreme poverty which defy resolution. If throwing money at the problem was going to fix it, it would have been fixed decades ago since that's the usual Liberal solution.
Justice Gomery's words describing the "culture of entitlement" was aimed at the Liberal Party but that same expression resonates through Canadian society. We're all entitled to... what? A chicken in every pot? A big-screen tv in every livingroom? Everything?
The average Canadian lives in pure luxury compared to the rest of the world. Our "poor" aren't truly poor because they have access to food, shelter, clothes and all the necessities to sustain life. We are lucky.
Yes, even the poorest need not starve in Canada but the poverty pimps aren't satisfied with that... and they will never be satisfied. They have no reason to be satisfied since it is their goal to bring about complete wealth redistribution and socialism and that hasn't happened yet.
The fundamental solution is to change how we look at welfare from being an entitlement to being a temporary solution. Which is more heartless: to allow someone to slowly destroy their self worth by supplying their every need without any impetus for self improvement or to support someone with the goal in mind of enabling them to be self-supporting? Lack of effort at self improvement results in reduction of entitlement; effort is rewarded.
Personally, I would love to see governments get out of the welfare game because they're lousy at service delivery for a variety of reasons. We would be much better off if welfare services were provided by private charities without the burden of unions and bureaucracies.
Native poverty is the most vexing problem because it's roots run deep, back to before Canada was an independent nation. Numerous solutions have been tried and all are found wanting. The main reason for this failure, in my humble opinion, is the paternalistic and condescending attitude of the government(s) in their dealings with natives. As soon as we stop trying to run their lives, they will start trying.
The native land reservation is the classic example. Natives do not have the right to self determination unless they leave the reservations. Why? The land "reserved for them is not their own. It is held in trust by the government. Native cannot sell their land. They cannot use their land to leverage a loan or even mortgage a home.
The government needs to do away with the reservation system or at least place the title of the land back into the hands of the native bands. There is no dignity in living on someone else's land or dime. Instead of renegotiating land claims, we should be putting an end to this oppressive system.
One of the main reasons for staying on the reservations is the monetary advantages. Like welfare, all needs are met. Look at the results and cringe.