What would you do with the low income of this nation?

[EweSheep]

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They might make your teeth whiter then a toilet bowl? Right? Plus the long lasting floral sent!

 

[7490jonathan]

See, I think the system in the US is pretty well thought over and it’s kind of hard to abuse it and get away with it, so I think that’s a very good thing. Obviously some will abuse, but if we refuse helping anyone, this is at the risk of helping people who really deserve it, can’t work, can’t find a job etc. I would rather risk people abusing the system …

 

[The Chicken Lady]

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A labor union membership allowed me to keep my insurance, so that my husband could have surgery and take medicine that is keeping him alive and out of pain. Without the labor union, our employer would probably not be providing us with decent insurance, and either my DH would be dead or we would be homeless, trying to afford his medication (which is $1,000 a DOSE, twice monthly). We are both 26 years old, by the way, are college educated, and both work in salary-wage jobs. People dislike unions until a union helps them or a family member out.

 

[VT Chick-lit]

eggzettera

Rufus I totally agree with you except (knew that was coming, I bet....2 things)....

1.) That it is corporate greed that did us in, not unions. Unions brought us safer working conditions, wages you could survive on. Corporations serve the shareholders only, their only mandate is profit, not human rights, not the environment.

Corporations are needed to make things cheap. Why do they have to be cheap? So we can afford them, we can't afford them to be expensive cause we don't make enough $. It is a circle, for example Mac Donald's has cheap food cause they pay the majority of their employees minimum wage.



There is no place in a de industrialized society for the uneducated and unskilled.

2.)My philosophy is EVERYone can be a contributing member in society.

Our problem is knowing the difference between needs vs. wants or quality vs. quantity.

No one needs to be a millionaire, but everyone needs food, shelter, clothing & a decent fundamental education

You both have gotten what I was ineptly driving at on page 5 of this thread. We have lost clarity on what is really needed for life verses everything else that is a "want" that make life more comfortable. We all must be able to access to the "needs" and we should not expect that others provide the "wants" when we cannot.

We are provided with a free education thru high school. We already have safety nets in place for short term interuptions in our ability to earn adequate money (unemployment, welfare, WIC, FoodStamps, ect.) There is a safety net for those who physically can no longer earn an income (SSI). It seems to me that the bases are pretty well covered with safety nets. There will always be someone that will fall thru the cracks in government programs and that is where the local, church and charitable organizations take over.

Unfortunately I hear alot about "the disenfranchised" who feel that the government and the rest of us are not doing enough. I believe, under normal circumstances, a year should be enough for for people to get back on their feet. They may not be making as much money as they had been and they may have to down size their "stuff" but within that year they should be able to provide for at least their "needs". Providing for the wants will come with time. If, due to a medical condition, you are unable to work at any job, that is a different situation. Those are the people that need to be cared for by society. Unfortunatly, SSI is used more and more by those who do not necessarily fit that criteria. I know 2 people with ADHD that are on SSI (relatives) who function just fine with some effort. They would rather make no effort and still get paid. I also know someone who has been missing her hip for over 6 years due to a MRSA infection because of hip surgery. Her hip has been in and out 3 times (counting the original hip). She has not been able to walk in all that time and has been in and out of convalessing homes. She has been on big time pain meds (oxycontin and others as well as now methadone) as her doctors have tried to rid her of the infection. She was on AFDC for her daughter and tried to get SSI for herself and was denied. Only thru her persistance did she finally get SSI LAST YEAR! She needed the SSI not the 2 young adults (28 and 29) with the ADHD.

When this nation was founded, it was to give everyone a chance at "Life, Liberty, and the Persuit of Happiness" not to guarentee it. As in life, there was no guarentee that everything was always going to be equal. Some people get dealt better hands than others and, as in poker, you can still win with a bad hand. It is all in how you play the hand you are dealt. Look at Oprah, she once was a poor molested black female child. She is now one of the richest people in the world. Donald Trump has been at the top of the world, then bankrupt and then back on top. Senator Obama was born to a poor mother and his father was missing for much of his life, yet he was able to go to an ivy league school and now has a chance to become President. Even though I do not like his policies, I have to admire his spunk and drive to have made it this far. You have to make your life better and not depend on others to do it for you. We here in America, still can make a good life for ourselves if we have a plan, work hard, and if we do not wail for others to do it for us. It is much more difficult to make it to your goal if you are carrying alot of others on your back to theirs. As someone who has worked 60 or more hours a week for much of my working life (32 years working, worked two jobs for 15 of those years) I do realise that we need to give help to those truely in need. The others need to get to their goal on their own two feet.​

 

[Cassandra]

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Speaking of name calling insults...

Did it ever occur to you that of the nearly 20,000 people who use this forum, some of them might fit one of the catagories you used above to describe people who drive you off the deep end? As one of the "grossly" overweight ones, I just want you to know* how much your opinion means to me. (*that was sarcasm)

Since we are sharing our opinions, I felt like I should say I don't think much of people who lord it over the peasants while doing absolutely nothing constructive to help anyone.

This isn't exactly a brainstorming session here. It's basically just a forum for you to pass judgment on people whose circumstances you can't possibly know. And for the fat, internet using, etc. poor people among us, I want you to know that we couldn't care less if you approve of the resources we make use of to provide for our families.

And a big old

to you.

Cassandra <Yes, I am hoping to get this thread locked. My sincere regrets to our admins for whom I have nothing but respect. But if this is going to be a forum where we sit around smugly and hate on people we don't know, ya might as well ban me.>

 

[VT Chick-lit]

Cassandra, there is no reason to name call. I am an extreemly over weigh woman (100 lbs) who obviously uses the internet. I am not offended when someone points this out. It is not always hateful to tell the truth. Unfortunatly in the United States today, political correctness masks the truth in many cases. One has to look at the intent behind truthful comments to detirmine if they are ment to be hurtful or if they are only ment to point out a truth. For the most part, I have not found the people on BYC to be a hateful group of people. The do though have a diverse set of opinions on most topics from what is the best food to feed chickens to the political topics that are sometimes discussed. We all have a right to our opinion and others have the right to disagree. The free give and take of these opinions can provide us all with insights that we might have never thought of and the oppertunity to change our opinions and expand our mind. Censorship stunts intelectal growth and sometimes so does a thin skin. Please realise that most of us do not want to offend but we each have a right to an opinion and hopefully the oportunity to occasionaly express it.

 

[seedcorn]

grossly overweight; liquor drinking; smoking; internet/cell phone using; non-working; welfare people

That was the quote, so someone explain to me why anyone (excluding major medical problems), will not work and have no money for rent, decent food, etc, but buy liquor, cigarettes, cell phones, internet, grossly overweight (remember health issues are not included in this group) from lack of work and eating hi fat/sugar items.

I for one don't want any of my tax $$ going to liquor, cigarettes, cell phones for people who won't work. These are the ones that get the headlines but I feel this is a very small segment of society.

3 people gave possible solutions in this thread. One I really liked, in fact, would vote for her as President. One disgusted me, and the other one was a rewording of what we are currently doing. Rest of the pages, never answered the question.

 

[bishopschickens]

im going to put my 2 cents in on this subject. To many people dont think about what they are getting themselves into (new car, home, children, ect) and the main reason is due to there is an easy way out! I am very sorry but im 23 years old moved out at 18 and worked since I was 15. Saved up 1,000.00 to start a business and thank the lord, and hard work ive made a wonderful life for my wife and young child. Not once have I used the system and I never will! I work from sun up to well after midnight every day to make sure I make it on my own. I know to many people on assistant programs that should not be! If people would look after themselves and live a life by what you need and not what you want this country could stop wasting alot of our money. Now yes there should be programs out for those that trully need it and there are people out there that do.

 

[DuckLady]

Thanks for your participation!