I am a member of what is aptly named 'the working poor' and I am sick of the statements being made about those of us on welfare. I get so frustrated with the Facebook posts and things that are said to my face that I want to hurl. Yes I have an iPhone, and a laptop, and even an iPod, does that bother you? Yes we get foodstamps, under $100 a month, but it is helpful. So lets go through some issues I have noticed.
First off I have heard it said that you should get rid of college grants. I've heard people say they don't want their taxes going to help people go to school. What I would like to say about that is why not? Do you realize how expensive school is? One semester of UTA nursing school is just 1000 dollars less than I make in a year. I got a job to help with bills and school, but it really doesn't cover much. I'm just lucky I don't have to put the kids in daycare, because that would take literally my WHOLE paycheck, all of it. Safe to say I can't afford school on my own, and the catch is, if I don't go to school then I can never, never make a life for myself. I would have to keep living paycheck to paycheck forever, and I want more for myself and my family, surely you can respect that.
The next thing I hear is that people on welfare shouldn't have iPhones or other expenses that aren't absolutely necessary. Well first off I got my phone as a gift, the other stuff I bought when things were good. Some months things are great, some months we have extra money, we put some in savings, but sometimes we buy stuff for ourselves. I think we deserve it, me and Stephen work hard for what we have. He works a physically intensive, exhausting, hard job, he is a good father and husband, so he does this job to take care of us, he goes everyday, and he works hard. I work a job that most people wouldn't want to do. I take care of people who are awesome, and I love them, but it's emotionally taxing to a point I can't even describe, at least once a shift I consider locking myself in a bathroom and having a panic attack. I've been kicked, bitten, knocked out, spit on, called every name in the book,and worse. I think every now and then we should be able to buy something we want. I also think every now and then I should get to take my kids out, or buy them things they want. Like I said things are good right now, and they will be for awhile, but I know they will get hard again, so even though I bought stuff, I also put money in our savings, so that we can float for awhile. However, I know if a car breaks, or I need another surgery, we will be in trouble.
Calling all poor people lazy, is like calling all Christians fundamentalists, it's just not true. Sure some people work the system, but most don't. We truly need the help, and we only take what we need. We work just as hard as anyone else, and why should it mean less then other peoples work just because we make less. There is only room for so many at the top.
I have tons of other issues... How can you be against birth control and abortion, but you are also against welfare? If you are Christian why aren't you actually doing what Jesus would do? I also don't believe most voters have really researched the issues. Romney has no actual tax plan, yet people say he will fix our economy, does that seem logical? Obviously the other guy hasn't fixed things. So why do what we did before and expect better results? Stephen believes if Romney is elected things will immediately get better, because the large corporations want him to win. So they will hire a bunch of people they are holding back on hiring right now. People will say, so glad we elected him, but in reality anything he does won't actually work that fast, and the uptick in jobs will be artificial.
Some of Obamacare is really awesome, free vaccines, pre-existing conditions accepted. If they do away with his plan will these things be taken away? That won't be good at all. This really has nothing to do with faith or religion, these problems exist among the faithful and the Atheists. I'm not trying to pick on one group of people. I just with people would exercise some empathy before saying things.
We have strayed pretty far away from the original intent of this Blog, I realize that, most of that is because we are living through a pretty intense election year, and have become interested in politics. I would love to post more on Religions, but I have very little time, and the research involved just can't be done right now.
Let's not forget that education is essential for the continued greatness and growth of this country. We NEED educated people badly to fill all of these jobs that are being filled by people shipped in from over seas because they have the education and background needed. And yes, some poor people haven't always been as dirt poor as they currently are, some were far from middle class but still managed to get things that they wanted or needed before they needed assistance. Selling these things or giving them up wouldn't save anyone enough money to make any difference either. Yes I have a car, yes I have an iPhone, yes we have computers and yes we currently get food stamps and medicaid. We didn't get it until it was a necessity and we plan on not continuing it if we can manage to buy our own groceries and not starve our children or be forced to feed them ramen for every meal.
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