Perhaps some people have a family and then end up making $1200 a month!
Mr. Zambezi, you pampered slob, you were allowed to sleep the night when they killed you? We had to PAY 5 cents a year to work in the coal mines, and when they killed us, they made us keep working until we came back to life and then charged us another 5 cents! Drinking each other’s urine? HA! We couldn’t afford to urinate or sweat so we held it all in!
And most of the young people in the service with families making around 1200 a month did not start their families on that salary, but joined the service to earn that much as it’s more than they were earning on the outside, if they even had a job.
I have no problem with people on welfare if they need it. But I know and have known too many people on it that could get a job but refuse to do so because they have in their mind what they are worth and will not accept a salary lower than X. One guy of a family I met actually told me that he would not accept a job that paid less than $15.00 an hour… (he had never had a job in his life nor schooling or training, just high school and straight to welfare, marriage and two kids). Those are the people that piss me off when I look at my payroll deductions. I’ve been poor, and even desperate a few times, but through a LOT of hard work and some hard found pride which occasionally had to be swallowed back down with great bitterness, reached the point where I am now, without welfare. It’s a far cry from what I really want, (which is six figures) but that day too will come. I’ve seen people on subsidized housing and I can tell you that it pisses me the hell off that with a lot of them, their home is a lot nicer than mine, which I pay a hell of a lot for each month, more so when they aren’t taking care of it since it’s not really “theirs”. I have a lot of respect for people on welfare who are ashamed of it, and are killing themselves trying to get off of it. I have none for people who just “give up because it’s hopeless, so I’ll make due with what little I get”. It’s never hopeless if you actually try hard enough. As to why it’s the people who are just one or two rungs above the level holding the most disdain, it’s because it’s the “one-rungers” that cannot afford more schooling, and are just above the magic income mark that eliminates them from grants, yet they watch their tax dollars go to subsidized education programs they are not qualified to apply for. Student loans? It’s the one rung people that usually fall behind on a bill or two every so often and can’t get financing for a candy bar, much less a student loan, usually because of a hospital bill if they aren’t fortunate enough to have a health benefit program at their work, and again, pay taxes for medical benefits that other people qualify for, but not themselves (just two examples). The higher income brackets are much more removed from seeing this. In short, I think welfare is a must, and a godsend to many people, but something to be monitored, much like probation. If they are making an effort, I very happily give them full rights to my tax dollars, not the freeloaders.
If 23 cents a day feeds, medically treats and schools a child in an underdeveloped country, why not here? It absolutely escapes me how somone can give money to CARE and the like, and not their local homeless shelter or the local toys for tots programs, etc… Call me shallow, insensitive, whatever you want, but IMHO, it’s time to start looking after our own countries problems. I’ve been poor, and would have liked it if Sally Struthers had told someone to buy Turbo Dog a bowl of soup cuz he hadn’t eaten in a couple days either. I donate to local food drives because being hungry sucks. The people over there are starving? So what. When the entire family and village is starving, and you keep making babies, well… sorry to be cold hearted, but I’d rather buy the family in my town who are living in a car a few happy meals when I have some extra cash. It’s not the kid’s fault in our country either. I’ll put Americans first. Hypocritical given what I said above? I don’t see it that way. In buying a couple little kids some burgers, at least I know my money went to make them full and happy, if only briefly, rather than to pay for some slob’s basketweaving degree, which will happen anyway, but a smile is worth a couple of dollars.
Show me a country that has come close to eliminating poverty and I’ll show you a country (Sweden, Finland, Denmark, etc.) that has a robust social safety net.
I noticed an interesting correlation in your list of state combined benefit levels. These data are apparently not COLAed by state, so I have to be careful. But what I noticed is that those states with the highest levels tend to be the most economically dynamic states – California, New York, Washington, etc. They also tend to be Democratic. At the bottom we have the likes of West Virginia, Mississippi, Missouri. With the exception of Texas, if the bottom ten were to drop out of our economy completely I’m not sure anyone would notice.
My point is, there appears to be a positive correlation between ecomomic vitality and “throwing money at poverty.” Now there’s a “paradox.”
I am willing to accept that fact that sometimes shit happens. But somehow I doubt that most people making 1,200 a month and starting a family fall into that category.
Marc
Perhaps the poor should start stealing more from the rich, after all, they can afford it !
The more desperate you make people the more desperate become there actions.
You can either have higher taxes or more poor, thats it.
i think this is part of the social-psychology of classism. a lot of people LOVE having an excuse to look down their noses at somebody else. when i was in highschool one of my classmates accused me of carrying my keys like a JANITOR. his tone clearly showed he intended this as an insult. i wear my keys on a strap around my belt and they hang into my right rear pocket. i have NEVER lost my keys and they are always in the same place. a was actually amused at the janitor business. the lower classes are SUPPOSED to feel inferior, most of the upper classes know this. LOL!
how long is it going to take dummies with money to figure out that the laws of physics don’t change style from year to year? why redesign $50,000 cars? oh, that’s right. you need to spend money to show off that you have money.
Dal Timgar