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Im so sick of hearing about the poor and how we are suppose to help them.
I didnt grow up with a silver spoon in my mouth, I didnt go to an Ivy League school, we didnt live in a McMansion.
My parents grew up dirt poor. My father left school in the third grade to work on farms to support the family. My mother was left fatherless when her drunk father left my grandmother with 9 kids to house and feed in the 1920s. My grandmother brewed bootleg booze during Prohibition to feed and house her kids.
All my parents siblings worked hard enough to get a middle class life. No one was rich but we had a nice home. They did it without asking the government for a dime.
Their children have all done well. Again without asking for a handout. We all got educated or learned a skill. We worked for what we have today.
So yes, Im tired of hearing about the poor.
Have they tried to help themselves? Have they taken advantage of free education in this country? Have they learned a skill?
Do they care about improving themselves or are they happy to live a life of booze or drugs? Is it easier to hang out on the corner with their amigos than go to school.? Is it easier to collect from all the government programs while they pump out kids to get even more assistance?
Am I the only one who doesnt want to pay for their cell phone? Am I the only one who doesnt want to see my tax dollars support one more " poor" person that doesnt have a bit of ambition?
I do feel sorry for those who through no fault of their own have bad financial luck. We do need to help people like that but we dont need to give them more than the minmum to live.
Time to stop feeling sorry for the poor....MOST have choosen that life because it was the easy road.
I feel badly for those who have had genuinely bad luck or a financial set back. A divorce, death, medical issues, lost job, etc can severely impact one's finances. I've known others who work darned hard but struggle to pay the bills.
I don't have sympathy for some in our society who through their own, often repeated lifestyle choices, have gotten them into their situation. I've been coworkers with several "poor" folks and can tell you that some of their decisions and choices have made them that way. Complete irresponsibility on their parts. What frustrated me was trying to give them advice (after hearing them moan and groan about being poor) yet the same behavior over and over. No...you don't need those expensive shoes or brand new decked out cell phone if you can't pay your electric bill. One coworker took an expensive vacation, maxed out all her credit cards and filled for bankruptcy. I feel that with some folks, there isn't a true desire to better their situation. They want the easy way out.
I'm like the OP. My parents were poor but they fought a hard fight and eventually started their own business. My father was doing menial labor for quite some time working on a road crew to put food on the table. He was too proud to go on welfare or accept food stamps. When I graduated from HS, joined the military. I've worked damn hard during my life starting with nothing and fortunately, we are financially set. Being poor in those early years made me appreciate saving, being responsible and independent. My grandmother was a working single woman during the depression years and some of the stories I heard were scary. Hard times. They made a big impression on me.
Again though, I am not without sympathy. We donate quite frequently to good causes and support our church in charitable causes.
Wow....you have some serious issues with 'the poor', which I think you really need to review.
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Time to stop feeling sorry for the poor....MOST have choosen that life because it was the easy road.
I would totally argue that MOST poor people have not chosen a poor lifestyle but remain in it because they see it as a vicious circle, or are depressed because of it. This limits thier view and so they do not see the options that could get them out of this situation.
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Am I the only one who doesnt want to pay for their cell phone?
How is a poor person supposed to find better employment without a phone? Cell phones are cheap these days. Or are you saying that poor people own the latest 5G phone? A poor person with a 5G phone is not 'poor'.
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Am I the only one who doesnt want to see my tax dollars support one more " poor" person that doesnt have a bit of ambition?
Ah... We get to the core of all this frustration. It's not the poor people you are upset about, it is the lazy people! I feel safe in saying that MOST poor people are NOT lazy.
I'm with you on that. Lazy, good for nothing's who collect assistance are indeed not worthy of my tax dollars.
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I do feel sorry for those who through no fault of their own have bad financial luck. We do need to help people like that
Remember next time you go on a poor people rant, that most poor people are poor due to no fault of thier own. Back in your day, a person could learn a skill without going to school by way of apprenticeship and on the job training. Now everything requires a degree or certificate and most poor people find it hard to find a way to pay for such schooling.
We have a seriously screwed up system. Higher education that gives a person a skill costs too much, the primary education IS leaving children behind, jobs suited for the uneducated have all gone overseas....what is a poor person to do?
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we dont need to give them more than the minmum to live.
We don't. We give them hardly enough. They can make rent, get about 2.5 weeks of food, utility bill usually can be paid, but sometimes they need help with that, only emergancy dental care, prescription lenses, but not the frames they go in, can't see a chiropractor.
And again, the system is screwed up. Lets say a poor person on assistance makes some extra money and that money went for food and much needed shoes for a child. That money is reported and then the following month, the assistance is cut back because of that little bit of income. Well the amount of bills don't go down, but the persons income has. Now the poor person has basically put themselves into a hole because they made a little bit of extra money that went towards much needed goods.
The system is screwed up! How is anyone supposed to feel good and get ahead when it works like that?
Remember, it's not the poor people you are tired of, it's the lazy and unmotivated people who suck off the system.
Even though you're little rant was clearly target at people in you country (america?), I still find the thread title deplorable. In fact, the title reminds me of everything wrong with people's mentality when it comes to caring about our fellow man. There are hundreds of millions of people poorer than the poorest Wellfare person in America. The world is bigger than your country. Poverty is sad state of existence. Trying being born without a house, clean water, or education up to high school mostly free. Once you have I'll start respecting your call to ignore the poor. Yikes
So how did the poor find employment before cell phones? Guess they didnt so is that the problem? We needed to give them cell phones to find work?
If you find it necessary to help the so called poor go right ahead. Just dont spend my tax dollars doing so. You can contibute as much miney as you want to charities that help them.
I have friends who are poor, I have actually hired people who were on welfare.
The friends who are poor, not dirt poor but unable to live from meager paycheck to paycheck, made that decision. It was easier for them to hang out in a bar making just enough to buy their booze while I went to college and spent time studying. They prefeered to party. 20 years later they complain about how everyone is so rich.
Years ago I hired a young lady with two kids from fathers that were no longer in the picture. She came from the real ghetto, was on welfare and food stamps and any other assistance she could get. She clearly had a brain, was articulate, and presented herself very well. She did great for three months until we found out she was stealing. What did she spend the money on? Diapers for her kids, food for her kids, a better apartment? No, Gucci handbags. As she said to me, I spent the money because we all need bling. Last I heard she was back on assistance with another kid on the way.
She had a great opportunity and blew it. Are we suppose to feel sorry for her? Are we suppose to give the government our hard earned money to support her lifestyle? Does she need for us to pay for a cell phone so she can talk to her friends? She certainly isnt using it to find a job. And should I now pay for her childcare should she find a job?
I have no problem helping those that need it. i do have a problem helping those that are lazy, never planned for their future and continually want to not work. Those are most of the poor.
Even though you're little rant was clearly target at people in you country (america?), I still find the thread title deplorable. In fact, the title reminds me of everything wrong with people's mentality when it comes to caring about our fellow man. There are hundreds of millions of people poorer than the poorest Wellfare person in America. The world is bigger than your country. Poverty is sad state of existence. Trying being born without a house, clean water, or education up to high school mostly free. Once you have I'll start respecting your call to ignore the poor. Yikes
I dont know what countey you come from but clearly you are correct that in many parts of the world the so called poor in America would be considered rich.
Am I also suppose to feel sorry for those people in countries that cant improve themselves. Africa cant get themselves out of their misery. Why? I dont know...perhaps its the two bit dictators.
, perhaps its the persistent tribal conflict. But am I suppose to feel bad that a continent with such riches wants to live like they did for centuries.
When I was young all you heard about was the poverty of Bangladesh...remember lennons song? Well I ahve no problem wearing clothes or a baseball cap made in Bangladesh. They pulled themselves out of the gutter. You rarely hear about the poverty in Bangaldesh anymore. They probably arent "rich" but they arent looking for the world to bail them out every year. Better than most of the poor in America with a lot better opportunities
IMO there's a difference between the truly needy and the able bodied who use their background as a crutch for being layabouts. The sad thing is with this ever increasing dependency of the poor on government assistance is the truly needy get squeezed out.
Someone who was born or has become handicapped is chasing the same dollars as people who make poor decisions. Many of the disabled and handicapped need more than they are getting but because the social services are so overburdened these people are getting squeezed.
In 2000, 15 million Americans were on food stamps, this year it's 46 million, more than three times the amount it was just 14 year ago. This is an incredible strain on the system for the people who truly need it.
So how did the poor find employment before cell phones? Guess they didnt so is that the problem? We needed to give them cell phones to find work?
Try getting a job when you have no phone number to give. There has been low income assistance for phone service for years. When cell phones came around, why wouldn't they become part of the program. Cell phones are often cheaper overall. As for your not wanting to support that program. Cancel your phone service. Part of your monthly bill goes to find the program.
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I have no problem helping those that need it. i do have a problem helping those that are lazy, never planned for their future and continually want to not work. Those are most of the poor.
I'm willing to help the truely poor, but I refuse to support the Moderator cut: language poor. I totally agree with you.
But I still disagree with you as to those types making up the majority of poor people.
The guy who lives paycheck to paycheck because he partied instead of going to college is poor, but he is likely not getting any government assistance on a regular basis either. He just gets by with what he gets.
Again, it is not the poor you are angry at. Do not use the label poor for those who are lazy. Yes, lazy tend to be poor as would stand to reason, but not all poor are lazy.
I understand your resentments. Seeing people abuse the system, a screwed up system that it is, and those who can't see past thier addiction to realize that it is their own damn fault.
I get that.
But to be tired of hearing about solutions/assistance for helping others? Never. Until everyone on this planet has the basic needs, how ever they aquire it, I won't get tired of it. What I am tired of, aside from those who abuse the system, is that there is a need for a call to action to help others.
You're right that a lot of people don't take advantage of what's available. For instance, in theory, a person could educate himself out a free library. But realistically, a lot of people don't have the options that were available to your family. It's not just a matter of financial luck. Many people don't have access to decent schools. Someone dropping out in third grade like your father wouldn't have options for making any decent wages. Surely you're reading enough to know that things have changed, and it's gotten harder for people to make an ordinary middle-class living.
And, hey, I'll bet you have some interesting family stories about your grandmother concocting bootless booze during Prohibition - but have you stopped to consider that this would be essentially the same thing as someone being a cocaine dealer today? I suspect you never thought about that parallel, but, yep, it's someone trafficking in illegal substances because that's the best, easiest option.
I think too many of these government programs are not well designed enough to help people become more independent, but rather foster more dependency. Free school lunches are fine, I want kids well fed, but what is being done to get these parents become more self sufficient to feed their own kids? Now we have free breakfast as well. More dependency. There was some welfare reform in the 90s that addressed this but it has been altered in recent years to go back to more dependency.
I think the OP is suffering a bit from what people call compassion fatigue. I think many people get that at times.
Last edited by Oldhag1; 07-06-2014 at 04:26 PM..
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