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Location: Jonquil City (aka Smyrna) Georgia- by Atlanta
16,259 posts, read 24,909,199 times
Reputation: 3587
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Quote:
Originally Posted by malamute
But also the so-called poor have not seen any cuts in food stamps, Medicaid, housing subsidies, WIC coupons and so on. It's the middle class being hit hard. Many things aren't better at all, they don't last more than a few years or months. The global economy is destroying the middle class but the welfare system keeps the living standard of the welfare class very high.
I have yet to see a "middle class" person ever say "you know the poor are living so good, I am quitting my gig today and going on welfare so I too can live like that". Not once. Not a single co worker where I work. No, they never quit to go on welfare. In fact, on the rare occasion one is sorry enough to get fired, they fight like all hell to get their jobs back.
Location: Jonquil City (aka Smyrna) Georgia- by Atlanta
16,259 posts, read 24,909,199 times
Reputation: 3587
Quote:
Originally Posted by goodgal
I am not poor. I worked hard, went to school for an education and both my husband and I have good incomes and sound jobs. I am not a democrat or republican but tend to be a liberal conservative:-) I spread the wealth in ways that help the poor better themselves. I tutor for free, I sponsor kids for camps they can't afford and until recently I sponsored several families at Christmas. I decided last year to stop. I requested POOR families, ones who needed help , lived hand to mouth , needed to make sure their kids were provided for over the holidays with food & "Santa" goodies. The last few families turned me off. Maybe I stereotyped what I was seeing but some people know exactly how to abuse the system and do it well. Some who need to ask for help seem to have too much pride and these are the ones I really want to reach out to, but how do you find them? The final straw was when I delivered my Santa goodies and food to this "single mom" and her son. I had filled all the requests on his Santa list and had even bought the mom stuff and bags of groceries, a turkey, ham etc. I drive up to the modest home in not such a good area and the mom comes out with a very expensive weave with extensions. She has long artificial nails with appropriate "bling" I told her she looked nice and made small talk and that is when she said she just got her extensions and they were a "deal for less than $300"..Ok spoken out of ignorance for sure because I was there to help the less fortunate. She invites me inside and I see bags and bags from Belk's, Torrid, shoe boxes from various athletic stores and she apologizes for "the mess". I follow her into the kitchen and she introduces me to "the baby daddy"....There he sat with enough bling to sink a ship and well groomed with the finest clothing. They were both thankful and appreciative telling me I had made a difference in their holiday. I told her I'd like to meet her 12 yo son. She woke him up (it was 2 PM in the afternoon ) I went to his room and when she opened his door I could have fainted. He was in what I would refer to as a throne bed. Very elaborate and he had high end electronics galore and stacks of games everywhere................Moving on............After almost 10 years,this was the second year of "helping the less fortunate" where I realized that they would rather starve then be without the latest big ticket items. I called the Salvation Army and told them I wanted to do what I could to help but give me "poor" people. They said they screen as best they can but alot just know how to dupe the system. I don't think I am the only person this has happened to. I know the numbers of people helping have dropped with these programs. I now just call churches in my area and ask for families in need. This has worked the best. So maybe the "poor" get richer because they work the system and just have no idea how to use the money they have or to save up.
Ok off my soap box. I really miss doing for families through the S.A but the true poor are the ones I want to help.
I agree with you in that there are many poor people that are just plain lazy. If they put the effort into work and education that they put into trying to game the system, they'd be better off as would we.
But there are also lots of poor people who are just unlucky. They may have tried their best and just could not climb past the first rung of the ladder that is American neo capitalism. I have seen more and more "working poor" people that followed the rules- they stayed away from drugs, finished high school and didn't have babies when they were 16. But bad luck just put them where they are. In many cases the father ran off an abandoned his family.
Here in Smyrna where we live there are families like this. My daughter had a friend back in grade school and, if we did not get them Christmas stuff, they would have got none because the dad ran off and left them with nothing. The mother is a waitress but with 2 kids and a dog, she doesn't have much left over. In days gone by, with a high school diploma, she could have got a job in a factory that paid better but the options are far and few for such folks now. Yes, they got food stamps and Peachcare but nothing more. All the other bills have to be paid. The conservatives have no feelings for people like this and they always want to blame the victim but it is not always the victim's fault.
I agree with you in that there are many poor people that are just plain lazy. If they put the effort into work and education that they put into trying to game the system, they'd be better off as would we.
But there are also lots of poor people who are just unlucky. They may have tried their best and just could not climb past the first rung of the ladder that is American neo capitalism. I have seen more and more "working poor" people that followed the rules- they stayed away from drugs, finished high school and didn't have babies when they were 16. But bad luck just put them where they are. In many cases the father ran off an abandoned his family. Here in Smyrna where we live there are families like this. My daughter had a friend back in grade school and, if we did not get them Christmas stuff, they would have got none because the dad ran off and left them with nothing. The mother is a waitress but with 2 kids and a dog, she doesn't have much left over. In days gone by, with a high school diploma, she could have got a job in a factory that paid better but the options are far and few for such folks now. Yes, they got food stamps and Peachcare but nothing more. All the other bills have to be paid. The conservatives have no feelings for people like this and they always want to blame the victim but it is not always the victim's fault.
Exactly the type family I'd love to help. I am a "liberal" conservative. I am straight down the middle on the issues. I agree that the victim is not to blame but theere are just a few who make a point to BE a victim that ruin it for the ones who really need assistance and deserve it!
Exactly the type family I'd love to help. I am a "liberal" conservative. I am straight down the middle on the issues. I agree that the victim is not to blame but theere are just a few who make a point to BE a victim that ruin it for the ones who really need assistance and deserve it!
There are abusers in every area of the income spectrum. Madoff comes to mind. There always has been and there always will be. I agree with you that there are a few that make it harder for those that really need the help. I think, as a society, we have to accept the abuses and concentrate on what we are trying to accomplish. We have a "social consciousness" which is a large part of what makes this country great, and that is taking a hit right now. There is a natural tendency for some people to want to "protect what's mine". Sometimes they grow out of it, sometimes not. But, in economic time like we facing now, that tendency returns in some, and in others, it grows disproportionately. There are media companies feeding, and gettingt "fat", off of those most irrational. This complicates the issue somewhat, but there is money in it, so they will continue to feed the fears. If it were my business, I might do the same, I hope I wouldn't, but money is an attraction. In the coming years, we will grow out of it, we always do.
We sure do treat our poor very well in this country. I don't think you could find a poor kid without a playstation or nintendo player with all the latest games. Plus they have unlimited food to eat. There's really no motivation to work for a living when you already have it all. It's the middle class that's being squeezed, not the poor and not the rich.
I agree. I always felt that way. Though depending on which stats you refer to, we are upper poor or lower middle. I saw it in undeniable black and white when our dd applied for financial aid. Our jobs don't net that much, but enough for us to be too rich for any financial aid. However, If one of us would quit working(our gross is about even with each other), she could get an education, housing, meal plan and books on the backs of the American taxpayers.
Our poor are a joke...poor is living in a ditch like the people outside our house when I lived in Indonesia. No clothes, no roof...nothing. 99% with fridges and tvs implies they all have electricity, too. Geezus.
I have yet to see a "middle class" person ever say "you know the poor are living so good, I am quitting my gig today and going on welfare so I too can live like that". Not once. Not a single co worker where I work. No, they never quit to go on welfare. In fact, on the rare occasion one is sorry enough to get fired, they fight like all hell to get their jobs back.
Maybe because they have too much pride. Think of that?
If your so called middle class then you should not need any assistance from the Gov! If your a two income home and educated, meaning making at least 50,000 a year or better then you have to live within your means, cut back, I'm sure your better off than a single mother of three making less than 11.50 an hour on less than 30 hrs a wk! what do you say about that? If a person is working then anything you recieve from the Gov is calculated into any income your making! so it's not all peaches and cream unless your at home sitting on your behind "while living with someone perhaps...long story short is it's not what you do ,but how you do it sometimes.
I agree. I always felt that way. Though depending on which stats you refer to, we are upper poor or lower middle. I saw it in undeniable black and white when our dd applied for financial aid. Our jobs don't net that much, but enough for us to be too rich for any financial aid. However, If one of us would quit working(our gross is about even with each other), she could get an education, housing, meal plan and books on the backs of the American taxpayers.
Alot of programs assisting the poor reward laziness unfortunately or not working is a better way of saying it. I too have heard people that make just a tad too much income that need assistance but because they both work they cannot get it yet they are living on the poverty line. Now if one gave up their job and sat home..then the benefits roll in. It boils down to work ethic and mindset in some situations just like why do some expect welfare and others are embarrassed to recieve it and would basically almost starve before applying for it..all mindset/work ethic.
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