Lisser 27.08.2008 15:05 |
Here is another interesting article I found...sorry for all the reading I'm doing. I'm off work for my bday today! :) link Interesting to see that America's poor would be considered rich in 97% of the world's countries. I see this first hand when I do home visits on the children that attend my school. I can't tell you how many have no food yet they have Mac computers, big screen TVs, and X Box 360s. It is mind boggling. |
The Mir@cle 27.08.2008 15:12 |
Is this your hidden B-day topic?? :P Congratulations to the sexiest mom on this board!!! xD |
***Marial-B*** 27.08.2008 15:13 |
Happy Birthday to you Happy Birthday to you Happy Birthday dear Melissa Happy Birthday to you ^^ |
***Marial-B*** 27.08.2008 15:13 |
The Mir@cle wrote: Is this your hidden B-day topic?? :P Congratulations to the sexiest mom on this board!!! xDI'll get the throne when I'll give you kids Tijn :P |
Holly2003 27.08.2008 15:30 |
The Mir@cle wrote: Congratulations to the sexiest mom on this board!!! xDHmmm.. interesting (giggety giggety) |
Erin 27.08.2008 16:08 |
Lisser wrote: I see this first hand when I do home visits on the children that attend my school. I can't tell you how many have no food yet they have Mac computers, big screen TVs, and X Box 360s. It is mind boggling.I'd get fired, cause I'd have to say something about it to the parents. When I see women at the grocery store using food stamps and WIC but talking on a $200 cell phone, it drives me crazy. |
Sergei. 27.08.2008 17:58 |
Erin wrote:Ugh! I see this all the time at my school! Kids who are on "Meal benefits plan" but wear shit like Abercrombie & Fitch and big expensive basketball shoes. They carry $500 cell phones like "The Voyager" in their back pockets.Lisser wrote: I see this first hand when I do home visits on the children that attend my school. I can't tell you how many have no food yet they have Mac computers, big screen TVs, and X Box 360s. It is mind boggling.I'd get fired, cause I'd have to say something about it to the parents. When I see women at the grocery store using food stamps and WIC but talking on a $200 cell phone, it drives me crazy. But then again, you can find all that Hollister on the off-season discount rack at Marshall's, the shoes could be knockoffs and the phone could have been stolen and re-sold at a ghetto mall kiosk. There's always a way for people nowadays. XD |
Mr.Jingles 27.08.2008 18:46 |
***Marial-B*** wrote:You better be wearing rubbers, Tijn.The Mir@cle wrote: Is this your hidden B-day topic?? :P Congratulations to the sexiest mom on this board!!! xDI'll get the throne when I'll give you kids Tijn :P I don't want to see Mari on a talk show begging for Tijn to take a paternity test. :-D |
wstüssyb 27.08.2008 19:41 |
Whats shitty is I have never been able to take advantage of that situation , I hate to use it as an example but every time I drive through the Heights I see really crappy houses with 50 grand cars and notice they use like $500 bucks in food stamps at the wal-mart at the end of the town, 3 shopping carts filled with great looking food, and of course after paying in food stamps they spend something like $200 on other shit, well fuck me, I'd love to be able to do that, I know they can work, but are too lazy, we should get rid of our welfare system. |
Music Man 27.08.2008 21:16 |
Bread and circuses...an underhanded political tactic to retain the vote of the underprivileged while simultaneously repressing them. I think it's especially troublesome because the victims actually believe they are being helped...and (at least I'd like to believe, but I can't be so certain) that the politicians actually believe they are helping them. |
Lisser 27.08.2008 23:27 |
Music Man wrote: Bread and circuses...an underhanded political tactic to retain the vote of the underprivileged while simultaneously repressing them. I think it's especially troublesome because the victims actually believe they are being helped...and (at least I'd like to believe, but I can't be so certain) that the politicians actually believe they are helping them.Exactly, they are NOT helping them, they are enabling them to depend on others for what they get. It is a cycle, children that grow up on welfare may not even realize it is possible for them to go to school, get an education, get a good job and support themselves. Instead they've grown up seeing mommy or daddy waiting by the mailbox for the postman/woman to deliver a check they didn't work for or nowadays, waiting for the first of the month for your government debit card to be filled up again. The system is flawed, flawed, flawed beyond belief. Half of what I do in my work is try to teach parents budgeting skills and believe it or not, I'm teaching parents how to grocery shop with their food stamps so that the food they get will last them a month. I'm shocked at the crap, expensive food the parents buy. It costs twice as much and is four times as bad for the kids to eat. I guess I'll teach them to cook next. |
Erin 28.08.2008 00:09 |
Lisser wrote: Half of what I do in my work is try to teach parents budgeting skills and believe it or not, I'm teaching parents how to grocery shop with their food stamps so that the food they get will last them a month. I'm shocked at the crap, expensive food the parents buy. It costs twice as much and is four times as bad for the kids to eat. I guess I'll teach them to cook next.Wow..I can't believe that is part of your job description. :-S Talk about a lack of common sense with those parents... Hats off to you for dealing with these families. I'm sure the kids need all the help they can get. |
Holly2003 28.08.2008 04:04 |
After you get rid of welfare, maybe the next step could be voluntary euthanasia for old people who can't look after themselves. After all, they're just a burden on the state too. |
thomasquinn 32989 28.08.2008 07:33 |
Lisser wrote: Here is another interesting article I found...sorry for all the reading I'm doing. I'm off work for my bday today! :) link Interesting to see that America's poor would be considered rich in 97% of the world's countries. I see this first hand when I do home visits on the children that attend my school. I can't tell you how many have no food yet they have Mac computers, big screen TVs, and X Box 360s. It is mind boggling.The whole of the Western world (because this is not just an American issue) has a completely perverted vision on necessities of life, it seems. What worries me most, though, is that I see people my age (so about 20) accumulate debts at a startling pace to buy luxury items, and don't consider that odd. In fact, people tend to find it weird that I *don't* have debts. How on earth are those people going to teach their children to act responsibly with money? |
pma 28.08.2008 08:48 |
big-screen tv's, mac's and expensive cell-phones? I'd love to be poor like that, how do I get started? But seriously, I'm a student of low-income but I have some luxuries (none of the above mentioned though). I mean if someone sees someone using food-stamps and talking to a 200buck phone, you might consider the option that instead of your tax-money paying for the phone, the phone was a gift from someone? Or stolen :P, anyway. It's not all black and white, is it. I've heard wild-rumours about people round here taking advantage of the wellfare benefits etc. but I doubt most of these stories are true. However stories of people being totally unable to manage their personal funds/budget are probably totally true. But I have no experience of U.S poverty, only local poverty and our poor aren't really poor on a global level either. |
Mr.Jingles 28.08.2008 09:11 |
Everyone raises the poverty bar at different levels, as well as the standard of what your living should be like. There are some exceptionally ridiculous cases of people who WHINE about "struggling to make ends meet", and what better example than Sean 'P Diddy' Combs complaining about high gas prices which have forced him to fly by commercial airlines instead of a luxurious private plane. link I seriously want to fuckin' punch him in the face. |
Erin 28.08.2008 11:24 |
pma wrote: I mean if someone sees someone using food-stamps and talking to a 200buck phone, you might consider the option that instead of your tax-money paying for the phone, the phone was a gift from someone? Or stolen :PMaybe it was a gift, but who's paying the monthly bill? If you can't afford that gallon of milk you are getting for free, I doubt you can afford a cell phone bill. Call me cynical, I guess. Mr.Jingles wrote: Sean 'P Diddy' Combs complaining about high gas prices which have forced him to fly by commercial airlines instead of a luxurious private plane.Alink thing..:-S |
Music Man 28.08.2008 12:50 |
Maybe after we're out of this credit crisis, people will start getting their shit together. I know, it's a long shot, but still... |
Lisser 28.08.2008 13:14 |
Holly2003 wrote: After you get rid of welfare, maybe the next step could be voluntary euthanasia for old people who can't look after themselves. After all, they're just a burden on the state too.No, not at all. The elderly have paid in to Social Security or receive a pension from where they worked during their life and don't "burden" the system. True some use Medicaid to pay for nursing care but that is actually what the system is designed for, not to sit at home and do nothing but still make large ticket purchases and leave your family with no food. Prioritize is what I want my families to do, make sure there is food, water, electricity, clothing, and safe housing for your children and you before you pay that cable bill, internet bill, cell phone bill, or buy a big screen TV. In all fairness the current welfare system does penalize people for working and for being married. You lose government benefits if you are married or you work, even for $9/hour you will lose all government aid. Try support children on $9/hour. It won't happen. The system is flawed and a large portion of the people that I see on a daily basis would fall through the cracks if they got a job and made $9/hour. They could not live off of that. There needs to be a weening program for people that do need welfare due to a life altering situation (birth of a child, job loss, house fire, etc.) but there needs to be a schedule so they can work themselves out of the system, don't just yank it from them once they get a job, let them get back on their feet. Give them a goal to work towards with boundaries and a time line. There are things on a smaller scale that I want to help my families with. I want to show them how they can save money on their food stamps by not buying processed, already prepared meals, plan a menu. They are expensive and loaded with all kinds of chemicals. I want to teach them how to budget and save for future emergencies. These are things I learned from my mother and my father. I learned how to cook from my mother and how to budget and handle my finances from my father. I realize not every child has the same opportunities I had or have. These are the ideas I have but I have little to no voice about it so I'll stick with the people I can influence and see how it goes. |
Music Man 28.08.2008 13:43 |
Actually, voluntary euthanasia should be legal and available to all citizens with a sound mind. |
Erin 28.08.2008 13:44 |
Music Man wrote: Actually, voluntary euthanasia should be legal and available to all citizens with a sound mind.I completely agree. We don't let animals suffer long, miserable deaths from chronic illnesses. Why should humans have to? |