a response to millionz

[plural]

firstly let me say
I appreciate the thought
and effort you put
into this comment.

for others if you wish to read the original post and millionz comment
click Here

while almost to a point
you completely misunderstood
everything I wrote,
your response was a cohesive
and well thought out address
to those misconceptions.

Now I will address your comments.

Yes
welfare is a sham,
in that it purports to help people
when in reality it only serves
to keep them down.

Welfare, Medicare, SS.D
are all ways to keep the poor
as consumers in our society
without helping them
to elevate their positions.

I know people who have medical conditions,
they had good jobs,
but the employer provided medical insurance
was inadequate, they cant afford the medical bills,
but because they make a barely liveable wage,
they do not qualify for medicare,
so they have to quit their jobs and
live on a subsistence level
just to ensure that they can get
adequate medical treatment.

I am not opposed to the idea
of help when people are in need,
I am opposed to our self-righteous babble,
and claiming that is what welfare does.

Welfare is help after you have lost everything.

Have a decent job
but an accident or general misfortune
makes it hard for you to make your house or rent payments?

we wont help you save what you have worked for,
but when you lose your home cause you can't pay,
and when you lose your job cause you don't have a home,
then you can apply for government assistance.

as for your assumptions
when I was a child we got food stamps,
didn't get welfare checks I don't think,
but I remember food stamps.

my mother was a single mom,
with 3 children and
working two part time jobs
and going to college.

and
When I was 15,
I lived in a tent,
in the woods
and had to for a short time,
get food stamps myself,
to help me until I got my first paycheck
from the dairy queen which gave me a job
working just 10 hours a week.
you see it was against the law
for me to work more than 10 hours
since I wasn't 16.
I had to find other jobs
to gather enough money to move
from a tent to a place to live.
Ever tried renting an apartment
when you are 15?

so yes 10 years later
I make a good salary
but it hasn't exactly
been a walk in the park to
get here

As for your spoonfed comment,
it just illustrates that
you were completely unable
to comprehend what I was saying
and instead read the highlights
and filled in the blank with
whatever liberal rhetoric that people like me
are supposed to say.

there are people
who I believe abuse welfare,
but for the most part,
I believe
people are just not
being helped by welfare.

And you are wrong,
welfare was not designed
to make sure the poorest
do not starve and
as a stepladder to help them up.

People never seem to realize
that the liberals and the conservatives,
democrats and republicans are all
rich guys
they have the
same interests.

let me tell you something
the rich don't want the poor
to starve not out of compassion
but out of self interest

it has been proven throughout history that the primary
reasons that serfs revolt is
hunger and unfair laws/taxation.
keep the surfs fed and placated
and you can rob the world blind

I agree with you
on the pathetic state of corporate welfare,
but again you have to realize,
it is in the interest of the rich
to give those corporations tax breaks and incentives,
after all it increases the profits of the corporations
which surprise surprise
the rich are shareholders of...

I have no aversion
to a more social economy
other than it is a pipe dream.

I think it is a shame
that anyone can work forty hours a week
and not be able to support their family.
but I also think that many people are fucking lazy.

neither the government
nor the rich
have any obligation to inspire
and help you improve your situation.

one can argue
whether or not
they even have the obligation
to provide welfare type assistance.

I would say that the individuals,
especially wealthy individuals
have far more an obligation
to help those in need than the government does.

but when it comes to inspiring you
to making you
move your ass and improve your life.
only you can do that.

I have worked minimum wage jobs,
I have supported myself on minimum wage jobs,
yes it sucks
I couldn't afford my crack
or my cell phone bill
and ate egg drop ramen
just about every night
sometimes I would alternate with some rice and beans.

but I worked
80 to a 100 hours a week
for two years.

I didn't own a bed,
I slept on seven pillows
arranged under my body
on the floor of my apartment.

but
I wasn't satisfied
I kept trying
to learn more
and how to do things
which made more money.
when I wasn't working
I was reading and studying.
I didn't go to college,
I couldn't afford it.
see
I ran into the other dilemma
by the time
I stopped worrying
about my day to day existence
enough that I could consider
going to college
I was earning too much money,
to qualify for financial aid.
of course I couldn't work
80 hours a week and go to school,
I was hoping to reduce
my hours to about 30 and add school,
but they wouldn't consider what my income would be,
they had to consider what I made
at the time and as such
I didn't qualify.

I am not lacking in
compassion my friend
but I am lacking in
sympathy

if you want me
to feel bad for someone
because they are underprivileged
fuck off

as I have learned
this country
was founded on the belief
that each and every person
with hard work and effort
can make a living, and indeed
beyond that become wealthy.

but you cant just accept whatever comes along
and if your burger king job doesn't meet your needs
then find a way to develop skills that will
get you a better paying job.

of course
you will say
it is not that simple

sorry but it is that simple

I have done it.

oh but you are
a white male.
you say
you aren't disadvantage
what a crock

I can show you a dozen
friends of mine
people I have worked with
who have clawed up from harder places
than I had to,
to places higher
than I am at now.

and it wasn't advantages
that got them their
it was
determination

all you need is drive
the rest you can get on the way
but most people are too fucking lazy

so go back to your TV dinners
and Ikea couches and feel sorry
for all those nibbling government cheese
cause it makes you feel better.

spew your liberal spoon fed crap
those who write your words
care even less than you do
about the poor and underprivileged

and the hypocrisy of the middle class
is no better. but I wont get started
there today, perhaps tomorrow.

and yes
so you can hear me again
clearly

All that holds
anyone back from success
is themselves.

If you have the ambition
you can succeed,
maybe you wont be
a millionaire
but you can make a damn nice life for yourself.

if you have ambition
but are lacking education
you can go to the library,
and learn ...
it worked wonders
for the high school dropout I used to be.

if you have ambition,
you can make things work
simply by force of will.

yes there is racism,
yes there is sexism,
discrimination exists.
but it is not universal
I would even wager
that in our country today
it is the exception
and not the rule.

as for safety?
we aren't safe anywhere
but we grasp
clutch to an illusion of safety
propagated by the media to soothe
our desperate souls.

whenever anything bad happens
it is to other people
wrong place
wrong time
but those other people
are us in other clothing
with other faces

we aren't smarter
better
or more secure

we stare
rubbernecking at accidents
on the freeway
glad that it isn't us
something secret inside us
hoping to see something ugly
blood gore
smashed crushed metal
and shattered glass
thinking
oh that had gotta hurt
and secretly feeling better
feeling superior cause we
survived
we lie to each other
"how horrible that was"
but we go home and just
want the instant replays
on TV or the reality shows
that have nothing but
people suffering violent
and gruesome accidents

as for solutions
what good are solutions
when we cant agree on the problems
or deny that we have the problems

I have many ideas
perhaps I will post about them
but for now
I am going to
brave traffic
and go home
to the woman I love
and see about
spending some
quality time
before the sun
races around to come
up behind me again.

Comments

Re: quite so

[strike-anywhere.livejournal.com]

I didn't say it was MY parents... just friends of mine.

I have no doubt you would do what it took to do the right thing, but you are of stronger stuff than most.