Check out my comments on the Depo/Welfare Check follow up post a few below this one. Dear God, I'm certainly not saying all poor people are lazy ... there are far too many people who make WAY too much money for doing what they do, then there are the people who don't make what they should (like my husband).
I know many hard workers who are broke. I just think taking a handout should be a LAST resort; you should act like it's not even there until you are in dire need. Unfortunately, our society today treats handouts like a RIGHT, when they are not. The Entitlement Mentality is what drives me nuts.
Otherwise, I love helping people out and volunteering and giving money away even though I don't have a lot extra to give. So check out my 2 comments, specifically directed at Breeze, who I really pissed off. Hope you come back, Breeze. By the way, my SIL was the single mother of 4 for many years ... all biracial kids and all smart as a whip who I pray will all go on to do great things.
Also ... better to get abortions when you keep getting pregnant or better to get the 3 months of birth control nasty evil chemicals? I've been to hell and back, people, and all I can say is THANK GOD I finally discovered WHAT CAUSES THAT by learning Natural Family Planning (free, no chemicals, accurate).
Breeze really isn't pissed off at all. I really just don't consider other people's situations and who has more and who has less and who is deserving and who isn't when I consider people and their lives. It just doesn't ever register. I see the God in every human no matter whether their situation is incidental or accidental.
ReplyDeleteOn the question of morality, of values, I make all decisions and opinions without considering the dollar. Birth control is an individual choice. Such is giving birth. And where to give birth.
There are those who would deny health care to smokers. But then, should we cover the health care of the obese? The anorexics? The suicidal? No. Each life is as valid as the next regardless of how they got where they are.
Not pissed off at all. Simply very steadfast in my belief that the divine transcends the dollar bill for all humans.
Breeze
First off, Breeze, I commend you for being such an awesome non-judgmental Christian. That is something I have to seriously work on. I'm fed up with our government and people who CHOOSE to turn a blind eye while my family does without.
ReplyDeleteHow in the world did you get that Kerrie implied ALL poor people were lazy? Why does it have to be about black and white? It has to do with the way government is throwing money at problems without fixing them. Why did you bring bi-racial into the issue? Did I miss something?
My husband and I both came from middle class backgrounds with parents that struggled for every dime. My mom was a single mother and raised two kids without ANY help from family or government. I was a single mother and worked two jobs. My day job was working for attorney's that lived in million dollar homes while I had to clean toilets as a second job. I wanted more for my son. More for our life than welfare and government housing. So I worked for it. I didn't want to. I wanted to be home with my child. I wanted to stay home when I had a raging fever and had to stop several times to puke. If I didn't work my child didn't eat. I made adjustments, just like my mom did. On more than one occasion before payday, we ate macaroni and cheese with a can of tuna mixed in. But my child never went hungry.
I remarried and within 3 months, my husband was misdiagnosed with cancer and had expensive tests and surgery to remove a mass. Guess what? It was scar tissue. $30,000 scar tissue. We combed through the medical bills and found where they charged us $30 for ONE pain pill when a 30 pill prescription cost us $12. We were young and couldn't afford health insurance. And no, we didn't sue the idiot doctor for malpractice even though he retired within the year after he misdiagnosed my husband.
We've had some serious financial issues. But we fought everyday to survive and did the best we could for our family. WITHOUT government assistance.
One time during a bad financial month, I was behind a WHITE woman in line at the grocery store. I admit I was a little envious. She obviously had money because she was dressed in expensive clothing. She wore a gorgeous rock for a wedding ring and a diamond bracelet. Her kids were dressed in clothes we still can't afford for our kids even now when my hubby is making more money. My son would have killed for the $100 shoes her kids wore. I would've killed for the ribeye steaks and junk food piled up. Her bill came to over $400. Then she whipped out a food stamp credit card. She joked that she'd still have $100 left for next week. Want me to go on? I personally know of two women that have found a way to work the system for food and housing. Can you imagine that if everyone knew someone...how many people are actually working the system? It happens everyday and way too often. Maybe if people didn't expect the government to be there, they might actually want to work for what they've got instead of expecting their neighbors to pay a little extra. Why should my husband have to be away from home for weeks at a time so we can scrape out a decent living while bling girl and the Gucci kids can have more?
Sorry. I'm a little judgmental. Why does color even have to be mentioned? I definitely don't mean to offend anyone, but I have a strong opinion because I've been there. Several times.
My point? There needs to be some serious reform within our government spending and programs. I just wish people would quit making it a moral or racial issue. If you want to give more...GREAT. We support the homeless here in our hometown. We're active with the local Rescue Mission. We teach our children to respect people regardless of their color or bank account. If someone can work, they should. If you have to live on government aid, you shouldn't be having more kids you can't feed. Stop the abuse. Stop spending other people's money. I'm sorry, but money puts a roof over my kids and keeps them warm. Why should my kids have to do without so someone else won't have to?
Just a little perspective change here...I'm in Canada and just listened to a rant from a fellow Canadian who was blaming his lot in life on the "insert racial group here" and probably brought a lot of that to this. I probably brought that forward previously and it probably is irrelevant to this post. My apologies.
ReplyDeleteI didn't get that Kerrie said "ALL" poor people are lazy...but that if they are they are undeserving.
I just think that even if they are , they still should not be judged, it's irrelevant, how they got to be poor or sick or sad or entitled is irrelevant. To me.
Again...I go forward with compassion, not judgement.
Breeze
Ooh, now I have another point to consider. Denying health care to smokers when others with addictions get it. Yeah, not fair. AND don't get me started on how home births and doulas are not covered by most insurance. Not fair, either.
ReplyDeletedang, chelle ... thanks for sharing that story. you are the kind of person i'm talking about who is the opposite of what i've seen around me.
ReplyDeletei know i'm ridiculous to wish everyone could be hard-working and give a crap about everyone else.
i'd love to try to work the system and all the charities in town just to expose how easy it is ... michael moore-style. a friend of mine works at a small, local charity that helps in little ways, and you should hear her stories!
i just get annoyed when people get assistance for so long when they are really "okay" and then my friend's husband goes wacko on her, ending up in the hospital but she can't get his last paycheck and he won't see her and his daughter so she goes to Catholic Charities and our own church and is given a loaf of freakin' bread. SRS takes weeks ... not everyone has family nearby to help out ... i think Obama needs us here on this blog to have a meeting and come up with some great ways to help people out.
dontcha feel a book coming on?
Kerrie...just to be sure, I want to make it clear...I understand your frustration, I hear your frustration of the injustices in society and I admire your determination to fix them. I too have my causes and my frustrations on how things work.
ReplyDeleteJustin Trudeau said "Life's not fair, but it ought to be" and I agree 100%
BUT I don't carry that frustration over into the judgement of the individuals. "There but for the grace of God go I" as they say.
Chelle...I am not Christian..at least in the "church" sense of the word but I'm down with JC and all that Prince of Peace stuff...good Samaritan, helping the lepers(whether they are lazy lepers or hardworking lepers, entitled lepers or humble lepers) and all of the good things.
I don't generally talk my talk, I usually just walk my walk. This has been fun. Thanks for the opportunity.
Kerrie..thanks for a starting this discussion. It is valid, it is important and it is how many people think. And there are a lot of problems to be solved.
I don't blame others for my lot in life, or their own really. Because blame is erroneous and weakening and irrelevant. I raise my family, write my words, help my neighbours, live my life. Peacefully.
It takes so much time and energy to blame and judge and I just conserve my energy for the positive.
Society sucks. Individuals are divine. That's all.
Breeze
And I have to say Breeze, you are an amazing woman. A shame more people aren't as enlightened and open minded like you are.
ReplyDeleteBless you girl.