Money for floods: poverty, humanity, and the social contract.

[cadhla]

My name is Eliza; I live by the river.
My daughter Louise will be three in July.
If July ever comes; it’s beginning to feel
Like the water will never surrender the field.

Everyone knows
Rivers will swell
But they always find money
They always find money
They always find
Money for floods...

-- 'Money for Floods', Richard Shindell.I am very

Comments

[manycolored]

No one could say it better. Thank you.

I'm going to go away and cry now.

[cadhla]

Thank you, for listening. This all just makes me so angry, and it hurts so bad, and every time I hear someone say that the folks who stayed in New Orleans had a choice, I want to scream.

Here. Have some of my tissues.

[jazzhandshimmer]

Amen.

To some of this, I would only add the fear that the oil will run out, because if it does, it means knowing you'll be waking up with frostbite. Because you're quietly thankful that your sister is blind, and the government will kick in extra for that, even as you're ashamed because you know she will never see the beautiful things you do. It means walking an hour through thigh high snow, to get to the bus stop, before the sun has even risen, without snow pants, and hoping your jeans are thick enough to not freeze to your skin.

It's different being poor in New England than in California, but the struggle is still there.

Amen, Seanan. Amen.

[forestdweller]

Amen as well

[rms_butterfly]

My ex-husband was also like that, brought up in an upper-middle to upper-class family. My ex-mother-in-law never liked me, in part because (I think) I come from a poor family. Being brought up in something resembling comfort, I think, can make one not realize that poor people exist, even when you marry one.

And, thank you, Seanan, for sharing your past with the world. *hugs*

[cadhla]

You're so very welcome.

Hugs for you.

[mtgat]

There but for the grace of Whoever ... Yeah. I can say without a trace of condecension (I hope) that I am grateful we were never as poor as your family. It was close sometimes, but there was always someone from the church, or a family member with a job lead, and I'm not stupid enough to think it was because my parents were "better": they just had a little better luck at the right times. The people who say being poor is a choice have no fucking clue. They want to think their own position in life is because of what they have done, the decisions they have made. It means they deserve to be well-off and the corollary means that anyone who isn't deserves that, too

[cadhla]

I see no condecension in this, because no one should be where we were; you saw the waters coming, and you managed to get out, and yeah, you're right -- a sickening amount of that is luck luck luck. Who your parents are. Where you grow up. Whether you lose your job when there's a new one available. Luck.

I confuse Merav with my insistence on going to six grocery stores, usually on foot, to get what's on sale, what's cheap over here, what consistantly lasts longer. Why not just buy everything here, so that you're done? Because my time is worth less than having the chance to eat tomorrow, that's why.

On your addition: ouch. And yes.

[ladymondegreen]

I think that's because I grew up as the daughter of someone who was poor and someone who was rich. I have both sets of habits. I join up the little slivers of soap to the new bar, and I also stockpile canned goods. But I will overbuy vegetables and fruit (a habit I get from my father, who was poor growing up and who is probably compensating for when they didn't have money) but I will also randomly hand five dollars to a homeless person if I'm reasonably sure they can't see me doing it.

So I'm a little of each, with a bent towards thinking poor. Though I have developed the rich person's habit of trading money for convenience. I suspect that comes of not having kids yet.

[cjsmith]

They want to think their own position in life is because of what they have done, the decisions they have made.

Yes. They want to believe they deserve what they have, plus there's fear -- if they deserve what they have and are in control, then they won't somehow lose it all.

(Here via wispfox. Thank you, cadhla.)

[ohimesamamama]

Yes. Yes. Yes. And yes.

It's easy to forget that even 'save yourself' is a privilege.

[ladyteal]

*nods* Exactly.

[cadhla]

I wish it weren't, but it is.

[cadhla]

And that sometimes, saving yourself means knowing you're leaving someone else behind to drown.

[artbeco]

Yep.
*massive hugs*

[cadhla]

Love you.