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Hippiekinkster -> RE: Being Poor... ( discuss ) (6/9/2008 1:28:31 AM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Vendaval
Good subject for discussion, FB.
I think most of us will agree that being poor in the US is not the same as being poor in a less developed country. We still have social programs and other resources for assistance.
What some have brought up but has not been addressed is being one of the working poor in the US. That means that you have part or full time employment but still struggle for basic necessities. Many people reading here have been or are at this stage of economics.
You manage to barely get by financially, but necessities like health and decent housing are long term goals or only dimmly remembered. The lack of affordable, competent health care will undercut many efforts to improve a person's situation.
Have a sick family member who needs round the clock care during an illness? Well, forget about keeping that low paying job at the local mini-mart. But hey, some of their paychecks are late or returned NSF after you have paid the rent and utilities and bought groceries. So then you have the fees to your bank and everyone to cover.
So why are the paychecks late or NSF? The business is going well. Hey, the owner is never around and lets his incompent, spoiled son run the business. Yeah, he gives money from the cash register to his friends and any females that he wants and removes funds in the safe to go party all the time. He becomes threatening and tells you to look away and not say anything, or he will tell daddy to fire your ass.
Are you the one or two persons in the household working when some jackass tears through a red light and hits your car, leaving you on disability for several months? Watch your whole standard of living collapse.
Your family may well become homeless in the process, at the very least utilities are going to be a big problem.
The board of directors or CEO/CFO of your compangy/organization were corrupt coke or meth heads snorting the profits up their noses and fled the country with all the money? Hey, you get unemployment at least. But forget about COBRA or any other form of health care for your family. You can afford to pay all medical expenses out of pocket now since Unemployment Insurance will pay less than half of your rent, right?
Your old neighborhood goes from being a mellow working class place where all the folks get along well; Latino, White, Asian and Black, to one where there are helicoptors hovering overhead looking for suspects and drug dealers waving guns around in the street. You can just pack up and move right? But how can you afford to move when there are elderly/unmentionables who need medical care and your check barely covers the rent and utilities.
How are you going to save the money for first, last and deposit? You already work 50-60 hours a week and come home to take care of those dependent on your being able bodied. So getting a second job is not an option. And if you go looking for a better job, you have to take time off from work for the search and interviews.
So your current employer, who owns a fleet of cars, trucks, motorcycles, lawnmowers, etc and still whines that they cannot provide medical insurance for any of their employees, is going to think you are undependable.
What an outstanding post. But you gloss over the fact that poor people are worthless scum who have been passed over by God. If they don't have an education, it's because God made them stupid, not because they suffered malnutrition as kids because their parents couldn't get jobs because the parents were stupid because they couldn't get good nutrition because... If they don't have good medical care, it's because God wants them to die, not because they can't make enough money for decent care because they are too stupid because... And, of course, poor people are all criminals and thieves and welfare cheats and alcoholics and drug addicts because they are evil, and right-thinking white Christians lock evil people up. Claiming an extra exemption is cause for prison if one is poor, but the Ken Lays and Jeffery Skillings and Dick Cheneys of the world aren't really criminals; they're good businessmen.
God Bless America!
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