avoid Great Lakes Crossing Mall in Michigan

[pstokely]

and any other place that uses welfare to work labor

[Supply Side Jesus]

1. Care to elaborate?

More info as to why would be interesting.

[T Roosevelt]

2. I believe this is the mall featured in Bowling for Columbine

It essentially buses people from Detroit to work for minimum wage.

[pstokely]

3. Flint

an hour long bus ride from there

[Wcross]

4. What is your solution?

Continued dependence of social welfare programs as a way of life? There has to be a solution in the form of education and business development in the areas these people live.
Boycotting will hurt the people working at the mall. They will have their hours cut, and probably have to take other work at the mall to compensate. This will force them to spend even more time away from their families.
Oppose the economic enviornment that forces people into situations such as this, not the people trying to make a living!

[Deja Q]

5. Both

In this society, everyone's going to get exploited. Therefore, when fighting the problem, somebody who doesn't deserve it is going to get hurt.

It's like saying to the bomb squad "Don't go in there to deactivate that nuclear bomb, it's leaking radiation."

Let's put an end to poverty as well as putting an end to welfare. It's sad that many people need TWO jobs to even survive these days, let alone having to raise children. Our country is simply appalling, 30 years ago even low-level workers got paid enough to be able to buy a reasonable house and raise a small family.

Now even mommy and daddy both working jobs can't make ends meet.

Corporate america should be ashamed. But they don't care, they've got well over 110 times more money now than they did 20 years ago.

[Lefty48197]

6. Specifically it was Dick Clark's business

that employed the woman who's child was left to be babysat by another family member. The six year old boy found a gun at his uncle's house and took it to school where he shot a six year old girl. The mother of the child was spending about 12 hours a day away from home, working a couple of different jobs in the mall. With the bus rides to and fro, she was barely able to see her child. Moore's point is that if a welfare to work program separates a child from their single parent for 12 hours a day, then it's a pretty f'd up system. I agree with Moore.

[Nailzberg]

7. I'll surely stay away.

Seeing as I live in Chicago.

[noonwitch]

8. I don't have a problem with welfare to work programs, if they are

reasonable about training for better jobs in the future, and try to find work closer to home. The problem with the case in the movie is that Flint is a dead town, with few suburbs nearby. GLC mall is about a 40 minute drive from Flint, but if you don't have a car, it's a long bus ride.
I think working for money is better than sitting at home and collecting a check, both for people's self esteem and for society at large. The program in Michigan, as much as I object to some aspects of it, does pay for daycare and afterschool programs for kids. The mom of the 6 year old shooter chose to leave her kid in a crack house, with criminals supervising him while she worked, rather than a day care center. She has responsiblity for this decision.

All those who argue about moms being home with their kids instead of working-most women I know work and have their little kids in day care, and it's not free for them.

My main objection to Michigan's program is that it requires parents to work almost 40 hours a week. If the parent wants to take classes for job skills' training, he or she has to do that on top of the work hours. This leaves very little time to spend with the kids. On top of that, it's putting a whole bunch of adults into the fast-food industry, which is taking the traditional teenagers' jobs from them. Everyone has to start somewhere, but long-term relief from poverty will not be found working at Taco Bell.