Political Ramblings

[MamaRoo]

For starters people should be required to come and get the free stuff not have it mailed to them.

Again, using my unemployment experience, the office is 30 miles away - 60 miles round trip. Since gas has been about $4/gallon over the summer, it would cost me $12/week to get that free money. Or I could take the bus...well...3 buses and spend $8 and most of the day. It also wouldn't have been any more incentive to find a job.

 

[hemet dennis]

Well here's an idea for unemployment.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...den-pays-jobless-youth-to-move-to-Norway.html

 

[rufus]

The poor will be with us always. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speenhamland_system This system didn't work out very well, but it sure bears an uncanny appearance to where we are now days.

 

[mom'sfolly]

I volunteer at a food pantry 3 days a week. I sort and sell a whole lot of really nice clothes. I sell clothes from Talbots, Chicos, Land's End, Nordstroms, Bill Blass, Izod, Tommy Hilfiger, hand-made Italian suits, Lucky, White and Black, etc for $3 for shirts and pants and $5 for dresses and suits. I spent a good portion of my morning today pricing our "boutique items"; new and like new name brand clothes, some with labels still on. The most expensive item I priced was $7. We give away more clothes than we sell, about $250,000 worth of clothes at those prices. You can dress very well for very little if you know where to shop. I have a few regular customers who also have a great eye for clothes.

 

[RHRanch]

I volunteer at a food pantry 3 days a week. I sort and sell a whole lot of really nice clothes. I sell clothes from Talbots, Chicos, Land's End, Nordstroms, Bill Blass, Izod, Tommy Hilfiger, hand-made Italian suits, Lucky, White and Black, etc for $3 for shirts and pants and $5 for dresses and suits. I spent a good portion of my morning today pricing our "boutique items"; new and like new name brand clothes, some with labels still on. The most expensive item I priced was $7. We give away more clothes than we sell, about $250,000 worth of clothes at those prices. You can dress very well for very little if you know where to shop. I have a few regular customers who also have a great eye for clothes.

I have been so poor that $7 would be a major purchase.... Sometimes poor is really really poor. I do shop at thrift stores, but a lot of the times they ask for close to retail prices and a lot of stuff really worn out, too. I can get jeans on clearance brand new for $7 if I watch the clearance racks at some retail stores, so even thrift stores are not always the smartest places to get clothes. I sometimes think that what one person thinks is :very little" money has a lot to do with their own financial perspective. When I was doing better financially I would have said $7 is very cheap, but the years where I lived on an income less than 10,000 per year, I would have called that expensive. - Especially if you have to buy a new wardrobe, it adds up.

 

[mom'sfolly]

My point was actually that many people have said stuff like people on foodstamps drive a nicer car than I do, have nicer clothes than I do, etc...

You can't tell a person's circumstances by their clothing or car or by what they buy at the grocery store. I don't smoke, but I buy a lot of cigarettes. I drive a poor old lady shopping, so she is getting out of a nice car. I give away very nice clothing, so the people look well dressed. Appearances are deceptive. And that is what all these stories are; they are about who, and what the poor appear to be. This is often filtered through the lens of our own prejudices and opinions.

In terms of dealing with poverty, most people would rather ignore the facts and look through own tinted glasses.

 

[MamaRoo]

In terms of dealing with poverty, most people would rather ignore the facts and look through own tinted glasses.

yep.

 

[RHRanch]

My point was actually that many people have said stuff like people on foodstamps drive a nicer car than I do, have nicer clothes than I do, etc...

You can't tell a person's circumstances by their clothing or car or by what they buy at the grocery store. I don't smoke, but I buy a lot of cigarettes. I drive a poor old lady shopping, so she is getting out of a nice car. I give away very nice clothing, so the people look well dressed. Appearances are deceptive. And that is what all these stories are; they are about who, and what the poor appear to be. This is often filtered through the lens of our own prejudices and opinions.

In terms of dealing with poverty, most people would rather ignore the facts and look through own tinted glasses.

You are totally right... I live in a really nice house, but it's held in trust for my siblings (not me, not actually related). I get to live here now, with low rent. People think I have money when they see my house. To be honest, I probably would have been homeless at some point in the last couple of years if not for this safety net provided by my Stepdad's family trust. Also, I save up and carefully buy things on sale, some of it is nice stuff, I wait until I have enough money for what I really want rather than buying cheap or temporary items... I buy on sale, damaged discounts, open box, or at thrift stores. Also, I still have belongings from when I was not poor, about 6 -8 yrs ago. I kept some stuff and I try to take care of my things. I might look like I have more money than I have to people who make assumptions and judgements.

 

[thaiturkey]

Come on guys, no-one has described real poverty yet. You're talking about poverty in relation to what you regard as the norm in your own society.

Around here are families living, up to four generations, in structures clad with corrugated metal. They have the barest of electrical equipment with no fridge or microwave. Many have no running water, catching what they can from their roofs in the rainy season. Each member of the family who can work either takes a low paid factory job or casual labour out in the heat of the day. Many cannot even get that work. They grub for food in the hedgerows for vegetables and catch bugs frogs, field rats and land crabs. Even second hand clothes are a luxury. They may have one or two motorbikes or, perhaps, only an ancient push bike. Government hospital care is free but inadequate for serious illness. They never have vacations, go to a good restaurant or visit a hairdresser.

The poverty suffered by these people isn't just for the time being. It's a life-long experience.

Don't plead poverty until you've seen what it's really like.

 

[punk-a-doodle]

Just because someone is missing two legs, doesn't mean I'm going to ignore the person with one leg...