Since the COVID pandemic hit America in 2020, tens of millions of additional people have had to get on food stamps, now known as the SNAP benefit. It's really hard to square this circle with the government's talking points that more people are employed than ever, the economy is booming, and inflation is transitory. When you look at the number of SNAP recipients out there, you realize just how close America is to falling off the edge of the cliff. In 2018, there were just over 30 million people on SNAP. In 2022, that number is in excess of 50 million, when you count people who are just drawing a part-limit supplement. Americans who get the full SNAP benefit total 42 million. That's an insane number. According to experts, it's also a number that's unsustainable, as they claim that this many people on food stamps will just keep food prices high.

Unfortunately, these experts are correct on this issue, at least in terms of basic economics and mathematics. You see, SNAP benefits that are loaded onto EBT cards aren't actually based on anything even remotely resembling currency. Just like the Federal Reserve can print money any time they're prompted, the FDA can just digitally create numbers to go on those EBT cards at any time. So, to be clear, it's not money going onto those cards. It's just a digital value that reads as money when those cards are swiped at a grocery store. In other words, the federal government is adding billions upon billions of dollars in artificial currency to the market, thus making inflation worse.

Another unfortunate fact here is that there's really nothing anyone can do about it. Who would ever take people's SNAP benefits away from them and have them starve? Even if it would help to lower inflation, there's no way that 50 million Americans would just stand by and allow that to happen. The riots that would take place would make 2020's "Summer of Love" and January 6 look like friendly church picnics. There's obviously some fraud involved with food stamps, but most SNAP recipients need these benefits to feed their families. It would be pure chaos if they were cut off, or even scaled back on a broad scale.

Even still, experts are ringing the bell and claiming that all of these food subsidies are not good for the economy. Though, to be clear, no one is attacking food stamp recipients. These pieces that are coming out in mainstream media are just making a mathematical argument about inflation, not any sort of for-or-against argument about SNAP benefits. Still, news trickling out like this causes a lot of panic in people who rely on SNAP. And, at some point, you have to understand that the government will need to scale back. They won't do the same with foreign spending, but they always scale back on Americans at some point.

The real issue here is the amalgam of other things causing inflation to spike so high. By even throwing food stamps into the mix, it does make it sound like some want to blame poor people for their own poverty. The fact is that the government has the Fed print money like it's a game show, and debt is just running out of control. War spending hasn't been this high since the Obama era. Around $2 trillion supposedly spent on infrastructure just vanished off the face of the Earth. The point being here that there are plenty of other areas the government could tidy up in order to get inflation under control, and then not as many people would need SNAP benefits. Isn't it funny how things that actually work aren't even considered by the government?
 

There Is No Other Choice for Most People

The reality in America, at least for around 50 million people, is that there is no other choice but to remain on food stamps. Most of these people can't just become farmers; and even if they could, government regulations would likely strangle them out of that position very quickly. Food banks are overwhelmed, inflation is still through the roof, and no new jobs are opening up in America and haven't been for a long time.

The people who are on SNAP benefits actually need these benefits. If that's helping to contribute a bit to inflation, then it's the government's job to solve inflation and to get people off food stamps, not to get people off food stamps to solve inflation.