The double-standard of making the poor prove they’re worthy of government benefits is a great Washington Post article with an accompanying video (embedded below) that I learned about through Ben Spielberg on Twitter.

It discusses recent efforts to hypocritically add more and more “strings” to aid received by low-income people without recognizing the greater amount of government aid that the non-poor receive in this country.

It seems to me that sharing this article and video, along with another Washington Post piece that provides a little of the “other side,” Missouri Republicans are trying to ban food stamp recipients from buying steak and seafood, could be very useful on a number of levels to our students, not least of which could be feeling better – in the face of these kinds of attacks – about the aid their families might be receiving.

After students read the two articles, I’m thinking of providing a writing prompt like this:

What are Missouri Republicans proposing about government aid and why are they proposing it? What do critics of the proposal say? To what extent do you agree (or disagree) with them? To support your opinion, be sure to include specific examples drawn from your own experience, your observations of others, or any of your readings, including from these articles.

Feedback is welcome!

I’m adding this post to The Best Posts On Writing Instruction, where you can find many other writing prompts.