Do people really think that people are poor, live in poverty, or are homeless because they are too lazy to do anything about it? I ask, because I know that there are a few readers and commenters that have either hinted that they believe this, or have stated it repeatedly. While I do always welcome comments and opinions here on this blog, I also ask this question, because it upsets me that people over simplify serious issues in this manner, in order to justify their beliefs and make themselves feel better about the problem. I ask this, because I couldn’t just let it go without saying what I truly think and feel about this subject. And so, this blog post is born.
To begin, I will illusrate just a few of the real reasons why we have poverty and homelessness in this country:
- mental illness
- lack of affordable health care
- lack of jobs that pay living wages
- addiction
- veterans that lack the support they require upon returning home wounded
- domestic violence
- bad luck (living paycheck to paycheck, and then something bad happens you can’t control)
- accidents (which coincides with the lack of affordable health care, as well as bad luck)
- lack of ability to compete for living wages (education, or more importantly, the lack thereof)
- disability
- decrease in public assistance for those that need it
The sad fact is, that these are just a few of the reasons people are living in poverty, or are homeless. Are these all of the reasons? No. But, you have to realize and understand that not all people start out with the same opportunities in life. The American dream is not real for most people, and most will never truly see a rags to riches story written about their lives. Many people that live in this country live paycheck to paycheck, with little or no savings in the bank; barely making ends meet to feed their family, and themselves. If something happens, something unexpected, something that you cannot afford, you have to choose; what goes? Power? Food? Clothes? Home? Car? These are the real facts that many people face everyday. Working more isn’t going to solve this problem. If you are sick, you can’t work, and if you can’t work, you can’t get the medical attention you need to get better. It is a vicious cycle. The fact is, that these people aren’t lazy. They aren’t looking for a free hand out or a free ride. They are looking to survive.
Without decent wages, affordable housing, and a chance, they won’t. They can’t. The system, that is, our capitalistic system, is built to exploit and forget about them. But it doesn’t have to be that way. First we use them for jobs that we won’t do, and then we turn a blind eye to their troubles, all the while those at the top of those very exploitative corporations cash multi-million dollar annual paychecks. Again, many of these people aren’t lazy at all; working two jobs just to make ends meet and still, they can’t get a leg up. They work and try, but yet, they can’t seem to get out of debt, and are at a constant risk of losing their homes. If they get sick, it could result in a loss of everything.
Sure, there are people that are lazy out there that are looking for a hand out. In fact, there are many lazy people that lucked out, and got all the money and power that they could ever want or need from their families. They did absolutely no work for it, they just happened to be born to the right people at the right time. And there are those that are too lazy to do anything that live in poverty, too; but I refuse to allow people to classify all people suffering from the effects of poverty and homelessness as lazy. Lazy is not a cause of poverty, lazy is a choice, lazy can change. Blaming homelessness and poverty on laziness is sheltered and ignorant. Survival isn’t as easy as “don’t be lazy”.
I write this because I was upset at some comments that transpired on previous posts about homeless people and people that live in poverty in this country. Mainly, it really pisses me off that people don’t realize that there are any number of contextual factors that contribute to a person’s daily life, and they continue to deny these things to justify their own selfish beliefs. If you truly believe that all poverty-stricken people, and all homeless people are the cause of their own problems, and are all just looking for a hand out, you are not only out of touch with reality, you are obviously not cognizant of the fact that each and every one of us, given a shitty set of circumstances, could end up right where these people are.
I know that I don’t have tons of money in the bank, and if a myriad of problems were to suddenly occur, I could be facing many of these problems. In fact, we all could (at least, those of us not lucky enough to be born with a silver spoon in our mouths). But the reality that I could face poverty or homelessness isn’t because I am lazy, it is because this is the way the world works, and sometimes, it isn’t enough to just want to survive.
Sometimes, as a part of calling ourselves a society, we have to help those that cannot help themselves. We have to empower those that do not have the voice to empower themselves. If we don’t, we will never truly respect that delicate balance in which we too are a part of; you never know when you are going to be the one in need. You never know when you are going to need that hand to help you up, and hopefully, it won’t happen to you, but realizing that it does happen doesn’t have to go unnoticed and unaddressed. We can help, and we should. If for no other reason than because we can. Sure, there are those that will exploit the system, but they are not the majority. Turning your back on everyone because of them is cruel and merciless. I just can’t let it go that the richest nation in the world can turn a blind eye to these problems; the problems of its own people.
Boy, you just love to bait the right wing nutjobs that lurk around your blog, don’t cha! Bring ‘em on.
Basically, what they are saying is that being homeless or impoverished is a choice (like many other things, right, EXCEPT abortion…not a choice…repeat after me, choice is bad…oops, not really the topic of this post…).
Want to know about homelessness? Go ask a homeless person. Their stories are tragic and indeed, often involve many of the reasons you list. Rarely do they consider it an awesome experience.
This is of course directed (in part) to me. You talk to me as if I said ALL poor people are lazy. I did not. I said there are people out there that truly need help and I feel those people are deserving of help. Did ya just skim right past that part? Do you ignore things people say simply because you disagree with other things they’ve said?
Are you fucking kidding me? Sure as hell it is! Just like other things are. It’s “a” cause of poverty, not “the” cause of poverty.
Let’s examine your points:
* mental illness (fair call)
* lack of affordable health care (I’m curious how many people without healthcare wear Tommy Hilfiger and have cell phones…)
* lack of jobs that pay living wages (this is going to happen … how do you propose to fix it? raise the minimum wage? how about we set it at $20/hour … that should do it! I expect an answer on why you don’t support that!)
* addiction (a choice the person made)
* veterans that lack the support they require upon returning home wounded (fair … to an extent)
* domestic violence (fair … to an extent)
* bad luck (living paycheck to paycheck, and then something bad happens you can’t control) (again I wonder about money management skills here… I can afford concert tickets but I can’t put a couple bucks into a savings account)
* accidents (which coincides with the lack of affordable health care, as well as bad luck) (why you restating the same thing over and over again?)
* lack of ability to compete for living wages (education, or more importantly, the lack thereof) (everybody gets the same public education, living wages can be paid to those with nothing more than a high school diploma)
* disability (fair)
* decrease in public assistance for those that need it (agreed … we should kick the people off of public assistance that don’t need it)
As I’ve said before and you simply ignore, I do recognize there are people out there that need help to survive. I support helping them. There are also a MULTITUDE of people out there that choose to not work and not support themselves. These people are not deserving of help.
You say people are born to different circumstances that makes it easier or more difficult to support themselves. Duh. Do you believe we should all be given equal footing? How do you propose that? Take from the successful and give to the unsuccessful? How far do we go with this? What repercussions would there be? I don’t have to worry about working … nah … the government will provide for me. I’ll never go hungry!
Why do we have prisons? To scare people into following the laws. Don’t wanna be locked up? Don’t commit a crime.
If you start providing food/shelter/whatevs to people then what reason do they have to work in the first place? In the real world if you don’t work, you don’t eat. In your fantasy land if you don’t work, you’ll never go hungry again! It doesn’t take a genius (or anthropologist) to see how detrimental this could be to a society.
Some will thrive. Some will succeed. Some will die. It’s the real world. Is it tough and hard? You fucking bet ya!
I’m not opposed to helping but I am opposed at helping with a gun to my head … that’s what these public services do.
And oh yeah… borderline racist? How the fuck do you get that out of what I wrote??? Race NEVER came into my argument. You’ve wondered what could possibly offend me? You found it.
dave, first of all, you make it a point to lump and split as you see fit, and yes, while you did say that all homeless and poverty stricken people aren’t lazy, you negate your focus with your emphatic hate of all those that are in this situation.
As for this:
You couldn’t be more wrong. Seriously. I can’t believe you think that this is true.
That sounds a lot like that extremist “all or nothing” mentality that you defend over and over. Being a part of a society means that you have actually contribute (this is where I agree that people don’t deserve handouts without consequence or regulation). If you think that contributing to public assistance for those that need it is having a gun to your head, then move to a different country, and participate in a different society!
Dave, you totally argued this for me. For the twinge of racism, take a look at your own comment above. You said that people are “wearing Tommy Hilfiger and have cell phones”, rather than paying for health care. Do you mean to tell me you aren’t talking about black people? I am sorry if it offended you, but you strongly hinted that the people you are talking about are the poor black people we see in Atlanta. I am sorry if it offended you again, but when you say things like,
It does come across as racially tainted, and it did. You don’t have to say “I hate black people” when you say that you hate poor people and then describe them with stereotypical attributes of poor black people.
I am also sorry if you don’t think that I am listening to you, but in each of your arguments, you put more emphasis on stating that laziness is the main concern of yours with regards to public assistance, which vastly overshadows every other cause of homelessness and poverty; each of which are extremely valid and must be observed. If you want your argument to be “help those that need it, expect those that don’t to take care of themselves”, perhaps you should speak louder about those circumstances that I mentioned above. Because if you don’t, it just sounds like you aren’t considering those things at all (some of which, you aren’t, by your comment). Additionally, you are being all or nothing in your definition and use of public assistance; not all will abuse the system. I can’t believe that you are so jaded, that you don’t have faith in anyone at all, to say things like this. Yes, dave, I agree that people shouldn’t be punished because they are wealthy, but again, if you chose to live in a society, you have to actually be a part of it; this includes those that receive public assistance.
That notion of social security has been a fundamental principle of humanity, at least, up until we started buying and selling things; then, it was more of a “more for me, and fuck you if you don’t have any”. Thoughts like yours make it difficult for me to believe that we will ever exist with a structure of a true society that flourishes wholly, ever again. Greed in society will cause that society to fall; that is not something I want to happen to America, especially since it doesn’t have to.
Again you miss the points you wish to miss. I do support helping those that truly cannot help themselves. When I talk about the gun to my head I’m referring to being forced to help those that don’t truly need it. I think an excellent way to ensure that is to put that responsibilty in the hands of private charity.
I know you’ve probably already stopped and reading and are writing a comment that will disregard my reason for this but I’ll type it anyways… When funds are being donated a charity must be very strict on who they provide services for. Because of that, they’ll pay very close attention to every case (just like you said needs to happen) and they’ll make sure only those that truly need it, get it. When you put it in the hands of government, they pay someone next to nothing to process person after person … if they run out of money, they go to the government for more. It’s far easier to manipulate a government service than it is a private organization. That’s my opinion.
I would rather give $10 to a charity that would help people that need it than give $1 to government that will blow it on a crackhead.
As for me being a racist (allegedly)… The Tommy Hilfiger and cell phone comments came after you called me borderline racist so you really can’t use that as your excuse. Regardless, you are confusing what racism is. Racism is the feeling that one race is genetically superior to another race. I don’t feel that way. I don’t feel any race is better than any race. I believe individual people can be better than other individuals but race has no bearing in that rating.
Racism is not only that, dave, but it is also discrimination or prejudice based on race. Your statements were prejudiced because of their stereotypical descriptions, used in a negative way to describe poor and impoverished people. Those statements made vague, yet distinguishable comparisons that could certainly be seen as racist. This includes the initial statement that you made, which I quoted as well.
And I am totally 100% in agreement with you about the government handling of funds and charity. I never stated otherwise; but it is foolish to suggest that we rely solely on charity. What I want, is a reform of public assistance, one that is more restrictive, but still helpful of any and all that will need it. I think we don’t see eye to eye, but it is good to know that we may at least see eye to chin, or something like that. I just don’t understand why the bad seeds have to ruin the system for everyone, because the manner in which you argue, suggests that you would rather do away with the system, hand it over to charity, and disavow, rather than reform it, and work with it to help those in need. That is my biggest concern with your position on the whole thing. Again, this is suggestive of an all or nothing mentality, but I have said that already.
As far as this:
I did address your points, and pointed out that your arguments and the tone of them distract away from your “true desire” to help those in need. I actually said that in my comment, although, perhaps not as succinctly as you would have preferred. I am personally glad that you, by your own admission, seem to not have the “fuck ‘em all” mentality that you have repeatedly expressed, and that you, regardless of your willingness and endorsement of letting people rot in the streets, that you actually want these people to be aided.
You speak the truth. What’s really sad is to lose or have stolen your only ID. Now way to get a job or much help.
I never saw him mention race in his “hilfiger” comments. That you assumed he was referring to blacks speaks volumes about you, not him.
And as for your comment on a lack of good jobs, jebus friggin crist do you know how many indians, chinese, africans, europeans, asians, canadians, and middle easterners come here and get good jobs, technology and otherwise? Are you really that ignorant? There is a ton of good jobs for motivated workers. There is even more jobs paying lower that people risk their lives coming here for. Except for the mentally or physically disabled, it’s laziness.
“You speak the truth. What’s really sad is to lose or have stolen your only ID. Now way to get a job or much help.”
Yeah, and when you lose your crack pipe and have to use a broken beer bottle instead, oh man that sucks.
Do you have any change? I need to ride Marta to go pick up my paycheck.
“Want to know about homelessness? Go ask a homeless person.”
Oh, sure, excellent source of information! Someone who is ill, addicted, or lazy will surely tell you the truth about their condition and who is to blame. Your critical thinking skills appear quite low.
I have worked hard my whole life! When my husband was alive sometimes only part time. But I was a good wife and mom. Widowed at 35. I went to work full time. Without an education, I had to work hard in manufacturing. I was a single mom. Soon after kids were gone my Father got cancer. I spent the next few years, and all my savings caring for him. He pasted away. I try to go back to work, no jobs left in this area. All out sourced. I can’t afford to move, I can’t sell the house. The bank will be giving me an eviction notice after forclousure any day now. I will let you know what it is like to be homeless. I will be living in an old motor home on a piece of land that belongs to a friend for the summer. In this state, if you don’t have kids living at home there is no assistance. Call me anything you want but DON’T CALL ME LAZY!
I have to agree with Dave, that laziness is a cause of poverty. Sometimes that laziness leads to poverty/homelessness. For some people, it leads to thinking that a crime will be the shortcut to having money. For others, maybe those who are smart and lazy, it leads to “working the system”–those people who drive brand new vehicles and live in nice houses, but have their children on PeachCare. Or maybe realize that they get more welfare money by having more kids rather than going to work.
Neither of my parents came from well-off families. They didn’t live privileged lives. My mom is the daughter of an immigrant who didn’t speak the language when she moved to the states. My dad separated ties from his parents while still in high school and lived 2000 miles away from them. They worked hellish jobs (sometimes more than one) and suffered hardships and difficult financial situations. There were times when my parents couldn’t afford to pay rent and buy groceries in the same week. They didn’t know how they were going to buy me a winter coat. I remember when our heat was turned off one winter, so they had me stay with my grandparents for a couple of weeks until they could afford to pay the bill. I slept on a mattress/box springs that was on the floor for 2 years because they couldn’t afford a bed frame. We had living room furniture my dad built out of scrap wood off one of his jobsites.
They could’ve given up. There were days, that my mom admits now, she wanted to. It was hard. It was a lot of work.
But laziness (and therefore, failure), was not an option.
My parents sacrificed a lot in life to make sure I had better opportunities. They forgot what it was like to spend time out to dinner – they had to save money to move into a better school district for me. Neither of them drove a new vehicle from 1978 until 1996 (and trust me, those beasts were expensive in repairs alone). We had to move away from the increasingly-expensive city of Vegas to small-town rural Georgia (where we virtually knew no one), so my parents could start over business-wise and build a better life for our family.
Today, you’d never know that my parents came from such paltry beginnings. They have a beautiful house and a successful business, both of which came from the labor of their own two hands.
There are just far too many people out there who abuse the system, or who think that its everyone else’s fault for their problems, or the world owes them something – people who fall into a stereotype – for me to have real sympathy for everyone as a whole, because I’ve seen how far determination can take someone.
(Yes, that was quite a novel, but I see things from a different perspective.)
I agree with Dave on this one was well. I have put over $4000 dollars in Prosper.com to those poor, helpless people who just need a second chance. I currently have 44 loans those these “needy” individuals. Of the 44, 10 are currently over 3 months delinquent. Let’s take a look some of these, shall we?
$6,800.00, “PLEASE HELP ME TO REBUILD AFTER BEING HIT BY A DRUNK DRIVER!”. “Before the accident I was using all of our extra money to aggressively pay off the past delinquencies you see on my credit. Those delinquencies were from back in 2000-01 and have since been paid off. The current delinquencies are reporting as 30 days late. If funded for this Prosper loan I will be paying those accounts off. This loan, no matter the interest rate, will leave more monthly income than before. This will let me provide a better life for my family, save for unexpected expenses, pay extra loan payments, and eliminate the need for me to charge on credit cards. In fact, I will be closing out my Capital One account.” CURRENTLY SENT TO COLLECTIONS.
$4,500.00, “I am looking for a loan to restart my business. I drive a 24′ straight truck and make good money at it. Unfortunately I had to sell my truck before I left for a tour in Iraq with the National Guard so that my family would be able to make ends meet on an Army paycheck. I still have a contract with the same company as I did before I left, but I am driving my personal truck and making less. The loan would be for insurance, gas, expenses, and a down payment on a 24′ straight truck.” CURRENTLY SENT TO COLLECTIONS, SUPPORT OUR TROOPS MY ASS!
$7,000.00, “Great family in a tough spot”, “Where does one begin to explain how difficult things have been in a such a short space? During the last 6 years, my family and I have endured many life changing events. Our first such experience came when our son was born in March of 2000. The day he was born, our doctor told us that our son had a gap between his Esophagus and his stomach and that he would have to have medications administered at each and every feeding so that the acid in his system would not get to a level that could become harmful to him. At that time my wife held a very good job that paid well too.” CURRENTLY SENT TO COLLECTIONS, LIKES TO HAVE KIDS THAT THEY CAN’T AFFORD. PERSON VOLUNTARILY QUIT THEIR JOB BECAUSE THEY THOUGHT THEY HAD ENOUGH IN THEIR 401K TO SURVIVE FOR 6 MONTHS.
$3,500.00, “Tired of being punished 4 past; working hard; need a hand”, I am no longer the naive, overly-trusting, short-sighted, desperate single mom I used to be: I have learned my lessons the HARD WAY. I now research credit information, I have a 5-year plan (which includes college for kids retirement planning), and I am not desperate, just tired of the molasses drip progress I’m making on my necessary debt. Thank you for your time and consideration. Please feel free to ask any questions I did not answer. CURRENTLY SENT TO COLLECTIONS FOR 3 MONTHS NONPAYMENT.
Duane, I used to think like yourself. But once you put your money where you mouth is, I guarantee that you will change your tune. So tell me, Duane, how much have you given?
You, madam, are NOT lazy. You are the kind of person who the system’s safety net is for. You are deserving of help and assistance from friends, family, and society in general. If I knew you, I would proudly and personally help you in whatever way I could. Please do not confuse my rantings about the lions share of the great unwashed with your personal circumstances.
I truly hope things work out for you, and somehow I know they will.
Bugboy, as for the racist thing, because I point out that generalized stereotypes that are often used to describe black people in a negative light, in dave’s comments, does not make me racist; it makes me observant. You should check your own comments for similar racial stereotypes.
Darcey, yes, laziness can cause poverty and homelessness. I did not want my post to suggest that it didn’t play a part in SOME cases; I said that being lazy is not THE cause of someone being poverty-stricken or homeless. I also agree that while laziness may be a part of it for some, I said that lazy is a choice, and it can change. Many other factors must be considered though, when you speak of the whole body of those that are poverty-stricken or homeless. I applaud your parents for working as hard as they did, and I honestly wish that everyone was as steadfast and as hardworking as they are; but to deny that your parents did have some luck in getting where they were is denying that luck and circumstance certainly play a part in where we fit in the economic echelons of life. I am happy your parents were able to pull themselves up; but circumstance was on their side for whatever reason, and it didn’t happen solely based on their desire to have it. That does not in any way diminish their hard work, seriously, I am not trying to diminish anything they did, it is merely trying to illustrate that there are many different contextual factors that affect each and every aspect of our lives. Sometimes, those contextual circumstances work for us, and sometimes, they don’t. My parents were always scraping by when I was younger, but now, they own their own home and drive a Lexus; because the right set of circumstances allowed them to make good decisions and benefit from them. Some people don’t have those same circumstances, and all I am saying, is that is something that should be considered, rather than just saying they are too lazy to work, and that is why they are poor. Too many people rest on that, which makes all those that are suffering look like freeloaders, when really, they just don’t have the right set of circumstances to benefit from.
Titus, I applaud your donations to homeless people, and the poor, and it shows that through your experience you too have been jaded by those that take advantage of situations. YES, there are people that want a hand out. But, to focus solely on those people when you discuss homelessness and poverty, is merciless and wrong. Turning your back on all of them because of the few assholes that want to freeload is what my point is trying to avoid. My whole point, is that it must be considered that there are several underlying circumstances that contribute to, and cause poverty, and focusing more on laziness as a main factor is unfair to those that truly want help and want to do better, but can’t. I personally have given, and do give to charity when I can. I can’t say I am a big proponent of handouts to people on the street, but that is mostly because I don’t like people holding up traffic; but that is a selfish thing that I recognize in myself. I will look into this organization that you are a part of; and I will also continue to give when I can. I can guarantee you, though, that if I had more, I would definitely give more.
And Jen, you are exactly why I wrote this post; you are not lazy, and shouldn’t be lumped in with the few that are. You represent exactly what I was illustrating in my post; people that need our help to change unfortunate circumstances. Jen, I am sorry you are going through this, and I certainly hope that things get better for you.
Duane, the difficulty is that I, who considers myself to be an educated person, can’t pick out out the people who truly deserve money from those that just want handouts. From my loans, you can see that I funded families in desperate times, people with medical issues who could not pay their health care, and soldiers coming home from war — a very diverse group of people. Obviously, I did not do a good job in picking out who to lend to. But I don’t see how the government could do any better.
To be fair, having 10 delinquencies means that I have made 34 loans to people who actually are paying it back, who have successfully turned their life around as a result of the second chance given to them. One family was able to send their son to college. Another was able to eliminate a credit card debt that had been plaguing them for years. The problem is that it only takes a minority of crooks to ruin it for everyone.
I understand that people often don’t pay back banks and corporations. They are just nameless, faceless entities to these people who are in desperate situations. But when these same individuals take advantage of real, hardworking people who took a financial risk on them, like myself, it does indeed make me a bit jaded. I do want to help these people who really need it — I just have no way anymore of knowing who is telling the truth from someone who is just trying to scam me.
“You should check your own comments for similar racial stereotypes.”
I have no racial agenda at all and my comments have been in no way racial. The only comments that have been racial are yours. It appears you obviously think of blacks in terms of the stereotypes you listed or else you wouldn’t have listed them. It would not occur to me because I don’t think in those terms. You obviously are the one with the racial agenda. I on the other hand would never associate those characteristics with blacks as you did.
You should think about your own comments.
“My parents were always scraping by when I was younger, but now, they own their own home and drive a Lexus; because the right set of circumstances allowed them to make good decisions and benefit from them. Some people don’t have those same circumstances”
I’d say living in the richest country in the world is a pretty damned good starter for “good circumstances”. Add that to “good decisions” and what more do you need.
Of course there are some people who would rather work the system than work hard, but I tend to think those people are the exceptions, not the rule. I work downtown and come into contact with the homeless every day. While I would rather give my money to organizations that provide for them (and do), if I have cash on me, I give it. $5 isn’t going to change their life, and it’s not going to break me, but maybe it will give them some comfort, however brief. And maybe it will give them even a SECOND of dignity, to have someone look them in the eye, smile and give. Since I rarely have cash, I have begun to offer food instead. Every time I’ve done this, the homeless person is so taken aback they often can’t even tell me what they want to eat. So I pick a sandwich and chips I would like, and when I come back out and give them lunch, I usually hear a story that is essentially, “Fell on hard times. Can’t believe I have to do this in order to eat. Thank you so much. You don’t know how much I appreciate it etc.” I have never once – not ONCE – been told they don’t want food. (So much for the theory of using our cash for drugs and liquor.)
Every human being deserves dignity.
Duane, I agree with a lot of what you wrote, specifically this:
“…people don’t realize that there are any number of contextual factors that contribute to a person’s daily life, and they continue to deny these things to justify their own selfish beliefs.”
It’s a lot easier to assume people who aren’t like you are lazy or stupid or ignorant or dirty than it is to assume we’re all equal and all deserving of (a real) life, (true) liberty and the pursuit of happiness (and comfort and safety).
If you really want to help folks like me in simaliar situations, I have a couple of suggestions.
Stop buying stuff made over seas. Jeans, shoes, clothing, golf clubs, etc. American manufacturers are dropping off left and right. They just can not compete. Those of you that are able and willing to shop alittle harder and pay alittle more, will be feeding the would be homeless in this country, by helping to secure our jobs.
Call Walmart, tell them to quit buying from China! The old man that started Walmart started the whole concept by only selling American made. After he pasted away “The Boys” got greedy, and it all changed.
I’m guilty too. I used to say “I can’t afford -not- to shop at Walmart”. Now, I have to say “I can’t even afford to shop at Walmart”.
I also know that, no matter how bad I have it right now, someone out there has it worse.
It’s not the governments responsablity to take care of each and every individuial. Each has a diffrent story, with different circumstances. We, as individuals should be watching out for each other.
I was once working with a young women. In casual conversation, she stated that as a single Mom, Christmas was going to be really hard. She was feeling bad that she wasn’t going to be able to do much for her kids that year. During my lunch break, the following day. I went out and left an envelope on her car seat with a hundred dollar bill in it. It was one of the most fun and rewarding things I have ever done! Hopefully she will someday do the same for the next person in need.
Look at your nieghbor. Talk to them, invite them over for dinner. Get to know them. If you get to know the people close to you, You will see if a down hill slide is starting, suggest couseling, job change, further education, or what ever. One on One, Preventitive Medicine!
Mr. Dave… have you considered seeking professional therapy to get to the root of your anger issues? It appears pretty out of control in the numerous comments you’ve posted here. I’m repeatedly fascinated by your contempt for people who don’t mirror your ideals and share the same vision of the world order as you do. Your comments are frequently littered with negative outrage and blame. We all carry emotional baggage with us, usually from childhood – if you know it or not, throughout our lives that make us who we are in relating to other people – I’m just genuinely curious as to what your’s is that spawned such disdain for the humanity of others.
Jen: so free trade and lower prices cause poverty and homelessness? Like I said before, we have ample jobs, so many that 20 million illegal immigrants came here for the opportunities. Couple that with free education, and in by far most cases it’s individual choices that direct people to lifelong poverty.
BrilliantTrashNYC: “anger issues”…”out of control”…”contempt”…”Outrage”…”blame”…”emotional baggage”…”disdain for humanity”
…..WOW… you are a real piece. All Dave did was reduce the issue to facts and reason (as opposed to flying off in a fit of emotion and pity). You are free to agree or not and offer proof to support your “case” but your vicious attack on Dave proved nothing but your willingness to attack those who disagree with your own emotional baggage. I wonder what happened in your childhood that gives you such an agenda.
Yes free trade and lower price help to contribute. Ample jobs? You take a minimum wage job. Lets see how long you make it! Free education my ASS! What planet are you from?
Yea, I made choices. I chose to take care of my family!
I chose to take care of my Dad at home. At my own exspene. I could have put him in a nursing home at a cost of $6,500 per month for over 2 almost three years, at the tax payers exspence. And your response is what I get? Yes, I could have made that choice! It may be in a motor home, but at least I can sleep at night! I’ll accept the poverty!
Titus, you challenge Duane on how much he’s given implying you do the same. You’re making interest on those loans. You loan money (not “give” money), you take a RISK to MAKE money and call it charity and then to add insult to injury you have the audacity to add snippy comments to debts sent to collections assuming you knew the circumstances on why they went into default??? By the way, those comments are another illustration of conservative thinking on the point below. It’s called a LOAN which implies risk and you use the obvious and expected (at least by most people) percentage of loan defaults as an argument on this topic. It’s really kinda funny.
That’s nice. If that was a joke it sucked ass and if it wasn’t you’re a pretty despicable person. Which was it? It’s great when you don’t have to go very far to find examples of conservative thinking to illustrate a point. Some people just dress it up better than you do.
Pot, met kettle.
The problem is that the arguments put forth by conservatives are used as an excuse to cut and not implement any more kinds of good programs. They will usally say, “We have ENOUGH already, just clean up and weed out those who don’t really need it.” That is fine and a good idea, but what conservatives do in reality is the opposite of what they are saying. They consistently and overwhelmingly cut existing programs’ funding. And that’s ALL they really do. If their motives were TRULY to clean up the existing systems to make sure assistance got to people that TRULY need it and not the freeloaders, you would see over and over again bills and reform programs from Republicans and conservatives to do just that. But there aren’t any. Of course they claim there are but every “reform program” put forth by them in reality do only one thing and one thing only and it has nothing to do with cleaning up programs (even though it may pay lip service to that) and that is to cut funding and existing programs. It’s generally to pay for tax breaks but they don’t really want to admit that to themselves so they justify it with the logic and ignorant thinking displayed in the quotes above and blame legitimate circumstances on “poor decisions”.
And charities can only cover a VERY SMALL percentage of those truly in need (not even counting the freeloaders) and they know it. It sounds great, “I’d rather give to a charity….” but again, is an excuse to cut funding. Bush’s plan on giving money to church’s was another money cutting/transfer scheme and the “charities will be enough” arguments are another excuse for that.
“Free education my ASS! What planet are you from?”
Public high school graduate, Earth (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Halliburton).
“And your response is what I get?”
I don’t see how you are a lifelong welfare recipient so I don’t think you fit into my argument.
Bugboy, if you can’t see the racist tone in this:
then you are beyond reaching my friend. I totally own that I noticed this things as racist because we all have prejudices and know who these stereotypes refer to; but what I DIDN’T do, was use them to put a face on the lazy homeless people. Acknowledging racism vs. vaguely using it to prove your point… hmmm, it appears that I am not being racist at all; I am pointing out where you have made statements that show racist thoughts.
And according to your logic:
This should all be a moot point, since there shouldn’t be any poverty or homeless people, right? Way to bury your head deeper into the sand. Living here doesn’t guarantee you will have the opportunities needed to succeed. As for the education thing, you and dave both have me baffled on that one, I don’t even want to touch that. Seriously, you really think that every child in this country goes to the same school and gets the same education? Have you ever even met a teacher? Seriously!
Jay,
Last I heard Bush had not cut funding on a SINGLE gov’t program, raising the ire of diehard Repubs. He may have in the past year or so but for the longest time he did not, so I think your blame is misguided.
“And charities can only cover a VERY SMALL percentage of those truly in need (not even counting the freeloaders) and they know it”
The USA has the largest economy in the world, with GDP being, what over 13 TRILLION dollars, and with good, decent, intelligent liberals like you being about 40% of the population, that might work out to a “liberal GDP” of $4 trillion or $5 trillion (arguably).
Whatever the number, it would make “liberal America” the second richest nation in the history of humans (2nd only to us, conservative America, the ones who create and run the show).
So are you telling me that all of you liberal clowns can’t form your own fucking charity for all of your misguided causes and donate not only your yearly Bush tax cut to it that you didn’t like but even more? Why the hell not? If even half of you clowns believed what you said you could raise $500 billion a year EASILY. That’s PER YEAR.
I can only wonder what excuses you have to cut funding to this charity from your own wallet.
Liberals are just a bunch of incapable, whining clowns.
bugboy,
You are narrow minded and just looking for an arguement about something you know nothing about! I have more important things to do.
Bugboy, dude, seriously?
I work for the government. He cut funding on everything, EVERYTHING, but defense. Seriously.
What years are you referring to? That was the issue.
Uh, every year we have been at war with Iraq so far. Right now, we are still operating under continuing resolution (so far as I know), so it is undetermined for 2007; but it is highly likely, given the previous year’s trends.
Do you have any kind of a cite for this? It’s possible what you are seeing is money being shifted around.
I personally haven’t liked W’s budgets (well, I’m calling them his, but all spending bills originate in the House, but you know how it is) as he hasn’t tried at all to balance them and has not done enough to cut gov’t spending.
I know recently there have been some cuts, but in the first term I thought he had huge deficits with nothing being cut.
If I can find a cite for this I will show it to you.
“bugboy,
You are narrow minded and just looking for an arguement about something you know nothing about! I have more important things to do.”
I don’t know which comment you are referring to, but it looks like you are trying to dodge the issue of a liberal charity.
Jay, yes they are loans, not hand-outs. I do make interest on them, but only at a rate that the person borrowing is willing to accept. I don’t feel that there is anything wrong with this.
Yes, they are risky, and even more so because banks and other establishments have already refused to help these people. Furthermore, these loans are unsecured. So the worst that could possibly happen is a ding on their credit rating, which I doubt these people care about.
I feel that people are more responsible with the money given to them if they know they have to pay to it back. If you know you have to pay $10,000 back at some point, you will be far more careful with the use of that money than if it was free for your use. You will also make certain that you really need the money because borrowing it.
I also feel that if you are truly wanting a second a chance, and are truly interested in working hard to get back on your feet, you will have no qualms about paying the money back. Be aware that the people on Prosper are not looking for a second chance. This is third, fourth, fifth, or sixth opportunity to get their life in order. People who have bad luck once or twice is understandable. People who repeatedly have bad luck live outside their means.
On a single program? No. Multiple programs? Yes. Basically, if it didn’t involve homeland security or defense, you can rest assured that it has been cut in some way with every budget proposal since 2001. And you needn’t believe me, as this trend was one of The President’s big happy bullet-points during the 2006 State of the Union …
And for that matter, just because a program’s funding wasn’t severely cut, recipients of said program will still suffer because of restraints that prevent further spending. Basically, we’re spending about 16 times as much on defense as we are on domestic discretionary. According to a 2006 study conducted by the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities …
What does this mean? Programs with frozen budgets are being left behind by the inevitable progress and swell of inflation.
This is a political win-win. Budgets can be proposed that appear to spare our most troubled programs from an outright cut. This looks like compassion. Win. But these programs, if left at their current budgetary state, will grow ever weaker and will appear less effective. This looks like mismanagement on the part of the program director. Win. The appearance mismanagement is often all that is needed to kill an otherwise decent program.
(Sorry, I’m late, Duane … fix your RSS feed, man.)
No worries, Thomas… what’s wrong with it? Is it from when I switched to WP?
I haven’t been following the budgets closely. I’ve seen the total amounts and got so pissed I didn’t need to see any more. What I recalled was he wasn’t cutting until recently, but what they call cuts are sometimes simply rejections of increases, meaning they aren’t really cuts. I know there have been recent cuts as you guys have correctly said.
Bush did cut taxes (good little monkey) but his fiscal policies have been otherwise atrocious (bad little monkey).
I’m ready for some new life in the Oval Office and am really looking forward to next year’s election. Both sides are expected to put up some outspoken candidates, and that also will be a big change over bush.
Rudy has his appeal but at the same time I get the feeling there’s something really weird about him, you know, like when an old man gropes you in a bar. Hillary needs to quit pandering to the extremists and move toward the center.
Ding! That’s the problem, Duane. When you shifted over to WP, the URL for your feed changed. Problem solved.
I didn’t get a chance to rebuttle over the weekend and now there’s so much I just don’t feel like reading it all. Thanks to BugBoy and Titus for getting my back though.
duane, you obviously don’t know what racism really means. Prejudice is prejudice and stereotypes are stereotypes. Racism is something completely different (and proof of true ignorance).
Brilliant Trash dude, maybe I do need therapy but only my therapist would know. I don’t really understand why you think I need therapy so badly though. Where have I lashed out with rage and blame? duane sure has but I don’t recall doing so myself. In fact, I merely feel that every person is responsible for their own actions and I don’t feel I’m *required* to help anyone out. That’s all.