This is a bit of a rant...just to be up front.
A poster in the forums got my ire up yesterday, who the poster was and the content of his post is not important, however his attitude towards those receiving public benefits is. If you believe everyone receiving public benefits is a free-loading, Cadillac driving welfare Mama this post is not for you. I frequently encounter this perception from individuals who have no contact whatsoever with truly poor people.
I worked as an legal services attorney for 2 years. I saw 16-20 people a day, 5 days a week, and in that entire time I saw one person who may have been cheating the system. Does it happen, sure, should people who do that be prosecuted, definitely...but here is what I really saw
*Elderly couples surviving on $550 in social security benefits a month, waiting on the 99 cent hamburger day so they could buy one and stretch it for lunch for 2-3 days
*Mothers who live in section 8 homes that are so roach infested that they have to cover their children in netting over night so they won't get bitten by the roaches
*American families of Mexican descent who live in substandard housing and when they complain the landlord reports them to INS (of course they are citizens so INS figures that out after like 3 days, by which time they've already lost their jobs)
*16 year olds working double shifts at Burger King to try and hold their family together because mom is a crack addict and someone has to pay their portion of section 8 and buy food for the younger children
*Blind, disabled grandmas on Social Security, who Social Security randomly cuts benefits for and then restores them after 7 months of fighting with them
The point is when people are so blinded by self-pity that they get angry at the poor, it really ticks me off. The poor are us, we are all interconnected. There was a great strip years ago (I think by Horsey) that said us vs. them and then it had a large letter U and a large letter S and inside it said them in very small letters over and over again.
This is just my two cents and I hope I did not offend anyone, but that post from yesterday stayed with me all night and I just got more and more fed up, the longer I thought about it, so there it is!
US vs. THEM
January 24th, 2007 at 06:22 pm
January 24th, 2007 at 06:27 pm 1169663234
The only way to change perspective is education and you have done a fantastic job of educating with this post.
Hopefully many will read your post and think again next time they start to judge.
January 24th, 2007 at 07:09 pm 1169665772
January 24th, 2007 at 07:25 pm 1169666718
January 24th, 2007 at 07:26 pm 1169666806
For anyone to ass/u/me that everyone on any form of public assistance is a society leeching, Cadillac driving, mama is an insult to many people. I know there are those that cheat, but they do get caught, and very sadly they are the ones that give everyone else a bad name. Half the people in my hometown are on either Social Security benefits or some form of public assistance and they do NOT drive expensive cars, etc. I see many of them every month when I go to cash the $100 check that one of my children draws off their dad's Social Security Disability check. He is also on food stamps.
I agree with you. It fries my potatoes when I see or read of people looking down their noses and worse yet trashing anyone on public assistance across the board.
I came to this forum over a year ago to start trying to find some answers to our out of control spending and I have. I have learned what a budget is, how to set it up, and how to make it work for our circumstances. I am still working on the saving aspect(being able to build a savings of money,) but I have become very good at budgeting and managing money.
The person who wrote such an inflammatory post needs badly to get his/her nose out of the air and take a real long, hard look at the average person/s on public assistance.
'Nuff said.
January 24th, 2007 at 07:27 pm 1169666822
January 24th, 2007 at 07:36 pm 1169667380
January 24th, 2007 at 09:06 pm 1169672802
Most of the people I know who made so little they qualified for assistance, there was not much to be jealous of their situation. I don't get the sentiment at all but I have never seen the system abused personally (Oh I Am sure it is but I know far more people who NEEDED the help).
On the flip side I have often wondered why the heck so many people qualify for WIC. It just bugs me to an extent people leading such a middle class lifestyle taking free handouts. I know too many people who live quite well who qualify. I Think it is ridiculous. That's a system problem though really. Plus I figure if they truly make that little it will have to catch up with them eventually - how can they live such a fancy lifestyle if they make less than $30k/year - doesn't make sense.
I don't have any jealousy or ill will to those on public assistance. I rather a few people get a little more and have a few abuse the system than not to help out anyone. Anyone who thinks they are too good and well off that they would never need help is naive and blind. IT could happen to anyone - just takes a big medical bill or a death in the family, a prolonged bad economy, etc. and many of us could be out on the street.
January 25th, 2007 at 02:55 am 1169693738
January 25th, 2007 at 09:25 am 1169717157
January 26th, 2007 at 07:32 pm 1169839962
January 26th, 2007 at 07:52 pm 1169841142
With all that being said, I remember a thread here a while back where some woman mentioned she was on WIC or visiting food pantries or something like that and in the next sentence mentioned her $90 cable bill. That frosts my buns too! If you're poor enough to take assistance, you have no business paying for luxuries like that. I didn't say anything in the thread, mostly because I didn't want to deal with any resultant drama, but that stuck with me, and it helped me understand why some people are so wary of our aid programs.
February 1st, 2007 at 06:03 pm 1170352987