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Do Americans hate their poor? Or, perhaps more accurately, do wealthy and middle-class Americans have disdain for poor Americans? Also, do poor people in America feel ashamed at their situation? Do they hate themselves for being poor? Do they feel they have less intrinsic value than their wealthier countrymen, that being poor is a moral failing that they are entirely responsible for?
I'm NOT rich but one of the struggling middle class. And I don't hate the poor.
However, I am distressed that they always seem to have more children than they can afford to raise. They have children too early in life, before they have the work skills to make better money. Or they have children out of wedlock like it's no big deal, even if the father of their children is long gone from their lives.
And I am bothered that they think it no big deal to tailor their income in order to maximize getting government handouts. They feel no shame for collecting welfare, food stamps and their greatest wish is to get a Section 8 voucher. I think that they consider this part of some slavery reparations package.
I do think that the chronically poor are entirely responsible for their situation. I've known others who came into this country as immigrants and worked hard at two jobs to become a success with owning a house and earning a decent income. They have a strong work ethic and worked to speak English well. And even with working two jobs, they've also raised their kids well and despite their children going to inner city public schools, they all made it into colleges.
How about a "thank you" to the tax payers who foot the bill for them instead of a ", pay more!" that we usually get?
It's really amazing that people can call others "greedy" for wanting to keep what they earn, while others, who NEVER get off their lazy to contribute even in the slightest are not.
The "poor" suck up by far the most services, do most of the crime and are generally the worst at parenting.
What B.S...I worked hard, have my degree, and I still work hard. BTW my kid is bound for college for the spring semester and my other is in the final year of high school. She wants to be a mortician. So, obviously, I did something right.
Last edited by Oldhag1; 08-13-2014 at 05:06 PM..
Reason: Edited post
I think a lot of disdain for the poor comes from the middle class. The upper class loves the poor, because they can exploit their cheap labor and pad their profits. The middle class is frustrated because we are working so hard to provide for our families what the people on welfare/assistance get for free.
For example: I have a child with autism. When she was small she needed therapies that I could not afford and that our insurance could not cover. As a result, my child went years without necessary therapies. At one point my inlaws agreed to pay the $1200 a month required so my daughter could have her therapies. I was sitting in the waiting room next to a mom of twins, and she was getting all of her therapies for free because she was "poor". So my kid suffers because her parents work and make "too much money", while the people who don't work, their kids get better treatment on the taxes that I'm paying?
I think a lot of our current system works this way. People don't want to get off assistance because frankly, it can be a lot more profitable and secure to live that way. Housing, food, medical care for your kids, all guaranteed and provided for by the US government. Since a lot of these people come from institutional poverty, they really have no desire to move on to bigger and better things. As long as their basic needs are provided for, that's all they care about. They don't have dreams of travel or big houses or a fancy career.
All of the poor people I've known in my life have been there partly due to bad choices. Most of it is institutional poverty, where education is not valued. Grandma was poor, mom was poor, daughter was poor, granddaughter is poor, and that is all they will ever know.
I think the liberals like to glorify poor people as being these poor helpless, temporarily downtrodden people who just need a hand up in life. In my experience, those people are few and far between. Some do want a hand up, most do not. They want a better life, sure, but they don't have the real desire to actually step out of their comfort zone and aspire to something better. As long as their basics are provided for they are content, and they don't have to work which is an added bonus.
I don't hate the poor, but I do generally try to avoid what comes along with them. I made sure to buy a house as far from them as possible in my city because unfortunately crime is directly correlated with poverty. I also grew up in a poor white area and whenever I go back home to see my parents I cant stand being around the people. Theyre loud, obnoxious, blunt, uncouth...Im sorry but I don't want to be around them. It certainly doesn't help that its in the South so theyre even more so loud and obnoxious. Do I believe that they need assistance? Sure, but well thought out/structured assistance.
I don't think we hate our poor, but I do think many are looking over their shoulder fearing they could be next, so they go out of their way to distance themselves. The disparity of the classes has escalated this because we have more that are 1 paycheck away from poverty. Fear is a mighty motivator for human behavior.
First, while I don't have statistics, I'd venture to say a large percentage of people who need some type of assistance are actually people who work full-time jobs.
There can be many reasons why "just get a better-paying job" isn't always an option.
So while it's wrong to mistreat anyone in general, it's even more out-of-line to take approaches like "make 'em live on rice and beans!" and "make 'em take drug tests!"- in short, insulting, accusing, and humiliating people who work hard every day just because of low incomes.
Second, while I've seen/heard big differences from state to state, I personally have never lived anywhere where the "stereotype" is valid. Instead, applying for any kind of assistance = the person must either obtain/keep a job, put their time into looking for one, or being in some kind of program for job-readiness.
And with that in mind, I 100% disagree with one approach I've seen: even to qualify for a few dollars of food stamps, it's not considered enough for a "breadwinner" or "head-of-household" to work full time- so must their spouse (if they have one) and so must kids over age 16 if they're not still in school.
So I think individuals who take the "war on the poor" to these extremes should get their facts straight.
Edited to add: increasing the dopiness is the lack of knowledge that the so-called working poor pays incomes taxes- yet, they aren't supposed to benefit from it?!?
Last edited by Ibginnie; 07-10-2015 at 07:34 PM..
Reason: deleted quoted post
How about a "thank you" to the tax payers who foot the bill for them instead of a "Moderator cut: -, pay more!" that we usually get?
It's really amazing that people can call others "greedy" for wanting to keep what they earn, while others, who NEVER get off their lazy Moderator cut: - to contribute even in the slightest are not.
The "poor" suck up by far the most services, do most of the crime and are generally the worst at parenting.
The whole reason the tax payers foot the bill is because the entitled business owners do not want to pay a living wage. Why is greedy when workers want to keep money they earn especially when they contribute to a company that is making more and more profit but it is okay when business owners and CEO'S want to keep their money. Stop being a hypocrite. Show evidence that the poor suck up most of the services.
What Americans should really hate is the system that, over time, has created created so many poor. Unrestricted capitalism is a dismal failure as is our stagnated form of democracy.......the combination of which will ultimately lead to the downfall of this country.
How ridiculous to say that Americans hate "their poor." As far as being underinformed about life on welfare, it's often the taxpayers who don't know the extent of the scamming and certain others who apparently don't want to know, even when it's exposed.
Public assitance was meant to be just that--assistance, and temporary (thank you President Obama for putting an end to work requirements and time limits on benefits in CA, for example, with one stroke of the pen). No one begrudges helping those in need, but look at the explosion of people on food stamps recently. And, to avoid the "stigma," they don't even have to take the first step by going to the Social Services Dept. There's a force of enablers...er, facilitators....who approach people and encourage them to apply. And long gone is the "stigma" (and accountability) that came with stamps which have been replaced by the EBT card, with which people can buy all kinds of crap and expensive prepared food with the swipe of a card that, to most people, looks like any other debit card.
Are they getting rich? No, and no one said they were. The poor in America, however, live better than the richest in third-world countries. And many, especially here in NY with housing grants, heating/AC assistance, daycare subsidies, cash grants, food stamp cards (on which they can curiously accrue and carry over funds from month to month), Medicaid, medical transportation, farm produce coupons, WIC (which long ago ceased being just for cheese and milk)...are attaining a middle-class lifestyle with ease. All thanks to the largesse of the taxpayer. The taxpayer that gets bad-mouthed and kicked in the rear at every opportunity.
??? ??? ???
Just look at the virulent reactions which arise whenever someone proposes siting housing for the poor.
In Ann Arbor, the Salvation Army proposed opening a rooming house on the edge of downtown for men working low-wage jobs downtown.
NIMBY neighbors came out of the woodwork in opposition and killed off that idea.
Middle Class (but not wealthy) Americans are incredibly generous, donating 7.6% of their discretionary income (https://philanthropy.com/article/Ame...-Divide/156175). This is on top of the average 20% of total income that goes to federal income taxes, and another 10% for state taxes. If we hated the poor, we would donate very little voluntarily.
THE BOTTOM LINE: What most working Americans HATE is the fact that so many undeserving, lazy and irresponsible people use our incredibly generous welfare system to "retire" after working a few years, or NEVER WORKING AT ALL. In fact, in every single case I personally know of where people are receiving government subsidy, it is sheer laziness and total lack of ethics that prevent these people from getting some kind of job, or offering some sort of service or craft product. They say "Why should I spend my days at some unpleasant job, when I get just as much money while staying at home and enjoying my leisure?" The Average American Pays This Much in Income Taxes -- How Do You Compare? -- The Motley Fool
I know, Liberal will instantly think: "But MOST of those getting welfare are legitimately needy!" Well, SOME are, but there is no shortage of obvious abuses. And another problem: there would be FAR FEWER legitimately needy if we didn't MAXIMIZE the number of needy, by giving cash incentives for doing things that make you poor--single motherhood, couples having children you can't afford, losing a job and not getting another one, pretending a minor injury prevents you from working entirely. In 1969 over 27 million Americans were "poor" (below the poverty level), or 13.7% of the population (List of Census Historical Poverty Tables - U.S Census Bureau). By 2013, more than 45 million Americans were poor, or 14.5% of the population (45 Million Americans Still Stuck Below Poverty Line: Census). The poverty level hasn't significantly budged since 1969, and we have added 18 million Americans to the number that were poor in 1969, even though taxpayers have now spent over $22 trillion on anti-poverty programs (The War on Poverty Has Cost $22 Trillion).
Working Americans SHOULD hate our welfare system, and support any politician/Presidential candidate who will replace it with something that actually helps the situation. Of course the smartest solution would be to leave the money in the pockets of the working class who earned it, so they can use their proven generosity to support charities that produce RESULTS--plus, we'd have twice the money to donate (or stimulate the economy with) if we didn't have to feed Big Government as it administrates programs that PROMOTE poverty.
It's no secret that a very large percentage of welfare spending goes to those who could (1) support themselves if they needed to, (2) choose to not behave irresponsibly by having children or abusing liquor/substances, and (3) refrain from knowingly "playing the system" as an alternative to work. But statistics can never show us how many people are truly, legitimately needy through no fault of their own: you would have to have unbiased observers who actually know the personal lives of each welfare recipient.
This is why most of us personally know one or more families who take advantage of welfare and boast about it, as if they've won a lottery. I know 5 people and 3 families that don't deserve a penny of help, while somehow there is NO assistance for the truly needy but NOT irresponsible--like my father, who worked until glaucoma made him 90% blind at age 62. Forget any programs helping my elderly/disabled and desperately poor father; he had make the his modest house's garage an apartment and rent it out to avoid losing it for the $5,000 annual tax bill (inflated by the summer tourism of the town). Oh, I forgot: he got $25 off for being over 65, and $25 off for being 90% blind, leaving "only" a bill of $4,950 annually.
Welfare recipients should be incredibly grateful to the working people that lose 20% to 50% of every dollar they earn, as gov't pretends to "take care of the needy." Those on The Dole SHOULD be embarrassed that they cannot support themselves (or worse, that they bred children they cannot afford). My grandmother would have been mortified to ever take a penny in gov't assistance, even though she lost her 30-year old husband to sickness and was left with 2 young children under age 5. She worked every moment she could and raised two wonderful adults that lived into their 80s without ever needing welfare or committing a crime--without benefit of more than a high school education, or earning men's wages.
The fact is that EVERY SINGLE WELFARE CASE I KNOW OF--about 20 different families--purposely do not work because they think they've won a lottery with taxpayer subsidies, and purposely have HUGE families when even hard work would only support 2 kids. I absolutely resent them, because I know they chose to not support themselves and this cost my spouse and myself YEARS of hard, stressful, miserable work.On the other hand, I can't blame them for taking advantage of a free ride, when everyone else does, and there is no social censure for doing so.
What I REALLY RESENT is the totalitarian Big Government that uses the FEW deserving poor to justify confiscating a huge percentage of the income of the working class (particularly professionals in their peak income years), while allowing the TRULY WEALTHY (Big Businesses, CEOs, Financials Sector game-players, etc.) to pay almost nothing--and then spending over 90% of the trillions they confiscate on things other than helping the poor!
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who apparently don't want to know, even when it's exposed.
). No one begrudges helping those in need, but look at the explosion of people on food stamps recently. And, to avoid the "stigma," they don't even have to take the first step by going to the Social Services Dept. There's a force of enablers...er, facilitators....who approach people and encourage them to apply. And long gone is the "stigma" (and accountability) that came with stamps which have been replaced by the EBT card, with which people can buy all kinds of crap and expensive prepared food with the swipe of a card that, to most people, looks like any other debit card.
), Medicaid, medical transportation, farm produce coupons, WIC (which long ago ceased being just for cheese and milk)...are attaining a middle-class lifestyle with ease. All thanks to the largesse of the taxpayer. The taxpayer that gets bad-mouthed and kicked in the rear at every opportunity.