(no subject)
so i just finished reading "nickel and dimed: on (not) getting by in america" for my english class. let me just say that i have come away from this book with a more reformed perspective of the working poor. i mean, come on now, it doesn't take much common sense or much of an education to know that minimum wage does not ensure the absolute bare minimum means of living. you cannot afford an apartment, a weekly motel room, or even a car to live in (and by that i mean paying for the insurance as well as all of the other expenses that come along with having a car...gas, repairs, etc.).
i mean, what kind of america are we living in? we are engaging in these public fights against poverty in third world nations when we are ignoring the poverty-stricken citizens that are living HERE in AMERICA. i'm going to go so far as to say fuck africa, let the bitches fend for themselves so we can start fixing this state of emergency here at home.
yes, poverty is a state of emergency. and because most of us don't interact with it or even cross paths with it, we don't acknowledge its existence. our ignorance is hindering the working poor who are giving up their family life, their health, and mental well-being so that WE the middle class and upwards can have a fabulous fucking thanksgiving.
welfare? give me a fucking break. the government does SHIT to help the poor. and if any of you even breathe a reagan-esque thought of poverty in america, i will shoot you and you'll be buried in a dumpster. have any of you been to a food bank? there are so many obstacles to even get assistance from these types of programs that it UNENCOURAGES the poor rather than ENCOURAGES them to seek help. for example, a food bank that my brother's boy scout troop is helping demands that you show ID, a copy of your utility bill, and your social security card to even ensure that you can get some shitty canned cream corn to feed your family. the most ironic thing about all of this is that these programs exploit the fact that they're "helping" the poor and homeless when they poor and homeless that they're allegedly helping cannot even get any food because they're missing one or more of the requirements to get food. by the way, this program is one of the largest food banks in the san fernando valley and there are absolutely no food banks that cater exclusively to the homeless here.
so basically when you're poor and living in america, you're fucked. you're so fucked that there's no way that you can get unfucked. the more you work, the more you are becoming a slave to the upper-class corporate management who are putting MONEY before PEOPLE. and there is a widening division between the lower and upper class so the cost of living is increasing and becoming out of reach for the working poor. you can't go to a trade school so you can get a better job as a dental assistant for $15 an hour or get a degree because it will take time out of your work schedule. and you can't quit one of your two or three jobs because then you won't be able to feed your family, pay rent, or both. isn't that absurd? we do absolutely nothing here in america to give the poor the opportunity to rise above poverty and into prosperity.
politicians are so blind and ignorant to the poor. you never hear about the poor in national campaigns. you never hear about the working class in campaigns unless the candidate is in your working class town at an over-priced rally where the money used to construct such a rally could have fed the whole god damn town. all we hear about nowadays is the war in iraq and global warming; well, we should add AMERICAN POVERTY to the list. how dare our nation put forth overly excessive effort to give money to other countries (money that probably isn't even going to the destination we were told) who are neck-deep in poverty. we are being led by this out-of-sight, out-of-mind mentality that is crippling our economy, causing "affordable living" to be not so affordable and driving thousands of our nation's citizens below the poverty line everyday.
so, is this what we want? do we want a nation polarized by wealth? are we going to become a society of have's and have not's? i sure as fuck hope not. and what am i going to do about this? probably absolutely nothing because there is nothing that i can do. i can't go out and lower the cost of rent or raise wages for single mothers living in their minivans with their two kids. the poor don't become poor by themselves. they DO do everything that they possibly can to survive. they work through physical pains that we would most certainly call in sick for because they can't afford to go to the doctors and they can't afford to miss a day of work. it's getting to the point where some people can't even afford to work at their jobs and are forced to quit and find better pay elsewhere. none of you even care about this crises that's infecting our nation. it's not important to you because it doesn't touch you or affect you. well, IT WILL AFFECT YOU--and when it finally does, it'll be too late to do a damn thing about it. wages are FAR TOO LOW to be justified by any means. and none of you even care.
in the spirit of thanksgiving, i want to go out and help these people. i want to go out and fight for them because they cannot afford to do it themselves. what do i have to lose? i don't have a family to support or rent to pay. i want to gather up forces of people to fight for our nation's working poor. these people deserve to be heard.
i mean, what kind of america are we living in? we are engaging in these public fights against poverty in third world nations when we are ignoring the poverty-stricken citizens that are living HERE in AMERICA. i'm going to go so far as to say fuck africa, let the bitches fend for themselves so we can start fixing this state of emergency here at home.
yes, poverty is a state of emergency. and because most of us don't interact with it or even cross paths with it, we don't acknowledge its existence. our ignorance is hindering the working poor who are giving up their family life, their health, and mental well-being so that WE the middle class and upwards can have a fabulous fucking thanksgiving.
welfare? give me a fucking break. the government does SHIT to help the poor. and if any of you even breathe a reagan-esque thought of poverty in america, i will shoot you and you'll be buried in a dumpster. have any of you been to a food bank? there are so many obstacles to even get assistance from these types of programs that it UNENCOURAGES the poor rather than ENCOURAGES them to seek help. for example, a food bank that my brother's boy scout troop is helping demands that you show ID, a copy of your utility bill, and your social security card to even ensure that you can get some shitty canned cream corn to feed your family. the most ironic thing about all of this is that these programs exploit the fact that they're "helping" the poor and homeless when they poor and homeless that they're allegedly helping cannot even get any food because they're missing one or more of the requirements to get food. by the way, this program is one of the largest food banks in the san fernando valley and there are absolutely no food banks that cater exclusively to the homeless here.
so basically when you're poor and living in america, you're fucked. you're so fucked that there's no way that you can get unfucked. the more you work, the more you are becoming a slave to the upper-class corporate management who are putting MONEY before PEOPLE. and there is a widening division between the lower and upper class so the cost of living is increasing and becoming out of reach for the working poor. you can't go to a trade school so you can get a better job as a dental assistant for $15 an hour or get a degree because it will take time out of your work schedule. and you can't quit one of your two or three jobs because then you won't be able to feed your family, pay rent, or both. isn't that absurd? we do absolutely nothing here in america to give the poor the opportunity to rise above poverty and into prosperity.
politicians are so blind and ignorant to the poor. you never hear about the poor in national campaigns. you never hear about the working class in campaigns unless the candidate is in your working class town at an over-priced rally where the money used to construct such a rally could have fed the whole god damn town. all we hear about nowadays is the war in iraq and global warming; well, we should add AMERICAN POVERTY to the list. how dare our nation put forth overly excessive effort to give money to other countries (money that probably isn't even going to the destination we were told) who are neck-deep in poverty. we are being led by this out-of-sight, out-of-mind mentality that is crippling our economy, causing "affordable living" to be not so affordable and driving thousands of our nation's citizens below the poverty line everyday.
so, is this what we want? do we want a nation polarized by wealth? are we going to become a society of have's and have not's? i sure as fuck hope not. and what am i going to do about this? probably absolutely nothing because there is nothing that i can do. i can't go out and lower the cost of rent or raise wages for single mothers living in their minivans with their two kids. the poor don't become poor by themselves. they DO do everything that they possibly can to survive. they work through physical pains that we would most certainly call in sick for because they can't afford to go to the doctors and they can't afford to miss a day of work. it's getting to the point where some people can't even afford to work at their jobs and are forced to quit and find better pay elsewhere. none of you even care about this crises that's infecting our nation. it's not important to you because it doesn't touch you or affect you. well, IT WILL AFFECT YOU--and when it finally does, it'll be too late to do a damn thing about it. wages are FAR TOO LOW to be justified by any means. and none of you even care.
in the spirit of thanksgiving, i want to go out and help these people. i want to go out and fight for them because they cannot afford to do it themselves. what do i have to lose? i don't have a family to support or rent to pay. i want to gather up forces of people to fight for our nation's working poor. these people deserve to be heard.