Should Government Relief Recipients Be Kept From Owning ‘Luxuries?’

In October, the Civil Affairs Administration of Jinan, capital of east China’s Shandong Province, issued certain measures related to the subsistence allowance for urban poor, with a provision saying that the finan- cial help would be halted once recipients were found to be purchasing items like cell- phones, computers and digital cameras. This announcement stirred heated debates, with opponents arguing that the purchase of computers and cellphones is a personal right, especially when these …