A Rant for the Right Wing Ear
Recently I've had conversations with right wing friends who have made comments about "Obama's socialism," "people expecting free handouts," and "people with a sense of entitlement." Often the last two remarks were inferring an application to me specifically.
Now, I'm about to spew some thoughts about this in an attempt to warn those who I might annihilate should they let something like this slip again in my presence. Most assuredly, the people to whom this relates most won't take the time to read it, but at least I will have tried.
In regard to the first comment, do you all really think Bush's fascism was better? Do you consider England, Canada, Japan, or Australia socialist? They have far more socialized programs than we do, including health care... which is far superior to our own. Would you really like to see our roads and highways privatized? Would you like them to be as reliable as your internet provider, or would you like to see the private corporations you pay for your roads be as honest as your electric company? Would you really like to live in a country where public school wasn't an option? Do you really think it would be your own fault if you couldn't afford private school, and your full-time work schedule prevented you from homeschooling? Would you like to see a country with less law enforcement, firefighters, and 911 dispatchers? Have you ever been put on hold when you called 911? I have. Obama isn't trying to make us an entirely socialist nation. The amount of money he is currently spending scares the crap out of me, too, but he is building infrastructure, which history does demonstrate is the very thing that eventually brings an economy out of a recession, and it is in no way endangering the enterprising spirit of America. So, unless you have something specific to say about what Obama is doing, and you may very well have something specific that is worthy of complaint, but unless you do, shut up. You don't know what you are talking about. Quit pretending that you do. Accuse the man of the things he's done, not the things he hasn't or the things you think he might do.
In regard to the second and third statements, permit me to vent a little about the kind of handouts I expect and the sense of entitlement I have. I feel that after working full-time for 16 months in a dead-end job for little more than minimum wage that required a specialized education that I took upon myself to acquire all while consistently looking for better employment, employment that provides a high enough salary to actually keep my child fed and clothed, I feel I am entitled to find such an upgrade in work, especially since I am well read, well educated (albeit informally), and have a good employment history, and my test scores for the jobs to which I am applying are the highest. I feel that after searching every law enforcement office's website from here to AZ, searching all the job-finder websites, listing resumes, filling out more applications than I can count, applying for jobs in any field for which I qualify regardless of my level of interest, I should be handed the opportunity to prove myself in at least one of these positions. After spending tens of thousands of dollars on court fees, attorney fees, assessments, and investigations in order to keep my child safe from her drug addict father, after not receiving any of the child support to which the law says I am entitled for over a year, after busting my butt at a job I hate in order to be home with daughter as much as possible, give her the best education possible, and provide for her needs (Forget any of her wants!), and after realizing I still couldn't make enough money, and then after busting my butt even harder to train both academically and physically for a new job in order to make myself more marketable all while continuing the job hunt and the full-time job... after being a single mom to a girl who is allergic to everything normal and therefore requires that I cook every single thing she eats from scratch (No bbq sauce or mayo or bread or cereal or anything you eat!)... After all of this, I feel my daughter is entitled to proper health care. After doing all of this with my own unresolved health issues that make getting up every day complete hell, let alone actually accomplishing anything, I feel I deserve some free blood work. After taking in the animals that you who think pets are mere commodities have thrown away, I think I am entitled to receiving help FROM YOU to pay for the precious lives you disposed of. After applying for welfare and being denied because rent for myself and one dependent costs more than $450 a month in CA (the government-accepted amount) and because I made $1250 a month when the cutoff was $1200 a month, I feel I am owed the opportunity to work toward a better job.
So, if anyone else makes mention of people leeching off of the welfare system without knowing how the system works, if anyone else infers that all, most, or any of the 11.6% of people receiving unemployment are lazy or that the rest of the jobless population who doesn't qualify for unemployment and are therefore not counted in this statistic because they were a stay-at-home mom when their spouse left, they quit their job and couldn't find another before the recession hit, they were a kid who didn't need to work until their dad got laid off, they were the housewife of a husband who got laid off and now neither can find a job, or any other of the thousands of reasons out there deserve their poverty, bankruptcy, loss of home, etc., I will come unglued.
If you know me at all, you know I work harder than you. If you know me at all, you know I live on way less than you. If you know me at all, you know I give everything I possible can to help others when they are in a worse situation than I am. If you know me at all, you know I don't ask for help until the food is gone, and even then, I probably won't ask. As my very good friend,
rhia_hilldancer said, "Sometimes I wonder just who it is that has that sense of entitlement, anyway... those who are in need or those who don't want to help anyone unless it doesn't interfere with their material-driven lifestyle."
Get off your pedestals and stop looking down on the rest of the world who is doing more to better it than you are. Stop being so judgmental, and ask yourself what you have really done to deserve what you have. And if you dare insinuate that I am lazy, expect more than I deserve, or that I am looking for handouts, you will see a side of me you have never seen before. I do not ask for help. I do not want help. I am simply working harder than anyone with a good job to not ever need help again, and I am working within the political spectrum to provide such opportunities for everyone. I believe these opportunities are a basic human right. Don't you?
Now, I'm about to spew some thoughts about this in an attempt to warn those who I might annihilate should they let something like this slip again in my presence. Most assuredly, the people to whom this relates most won't take the time to read it, but at least I will have tried.
In regard to the first comment, do you all really think Bush's fascism was better? Do you consider England, Canada, Japan, or Australia socialist? They have far more socialized programs than we do, including health care... which is far superior to our own. Would you really like to see our roads and highways privatized? Would you like them to be as reliable as your internet provider, or would you like to see the private corporations you pay for your roads be as honest as your electric company? Would you really like to live in a country where public school wasn't an option? Do you really think it would be your own fault if you couldn't afford private school, and your full-time work schedule prevented you from homeschooling? Would you like to see a country with less law enforcement, firefighters, and 911 dispatchers? Have you ever been put on hold when you called 911? I have. Obama isn't trying to make us an entirely socialist nation. The amount of money he is currently spending scares the crap out of me, too, but he is building infrastructure, which history does demonstrate is the very thing that eventually brings an economy out of a recession, and it is in no way endangering the enterprising spirit of America. So, unless you have something specific to say about what Obama is doing, and you may very well have something specific that is worthy of complaint, but unless you do, shut up. You don't know what you are talking about. Quit pretending that you do. Accuse the man of the things he's done, not the things he hasn't or the things you think he might do.
In regard to the second and third statements, permit me to vent a little about the kind of handouts I expect and the sense of entitlement I have. I feel that after working full-time for 16 months in a dead-end job for little more than minimum wage that required a specialized education that I took upon myself to acquire all while consistently looking for better employment, employment that provides a high enough salary to actually keep my child fed and clothed, I feel I am entitled to find such an upgrade in work, especially since I am well read, well educated (albeit informally), and have a good employment history, and my test scores for the jobs to which I am applying are the highest. I feel that after searching every law enforcement office's website from here to AZ, searching all the job-finder websites, listing resumes, filling out more applications than I can count, applying for jobs in any field for which I qualify regardless of my level of interest, I should be handed the opportunity to prove myself in at least one of these positions. After spending tens of thousands of dollars on court fees, attorney fees, assessments, and investigations in order to keep my child safe from her drug addict father, after not receiving any of the child support to which the law says I am entitled for over a year, after busting my butt at a job I hate in order to be home with daughter as much as possible, give her the best education possible, and provide for her needs (Forget any of her wants!), and after realizing I still couldn't make enough money, and then after busting my butt even harder to train both academically and physically for a new job in order to make myself more marketable all while continuing the job hunt and the full-time job... after being a single mom to a girl who is allergic to everything normal and therefore requires that I cook every single thing she eats from scratch (No bbq sauce or mayo or bread or cereal or anything you eat!)... After all of this, I feel my daughter is entitled to proper health care. After doing all of this with my own unresolved health issues that make getting up every day complete hell, let alone actually accomplishing anything, I feel I deserve some free blood work. After taking in the animals that you who think pets are mere commodities have thrown away, I think I am entitled to receiving help FROM YOU to pay for the precious lives you disposed of. After applying for welfare and being denied because rent for myself and one dependent costs more than $450 a month in CA (the government-accepted amount) and because I made $1250 a month when the cutoff was $1200 a month, I feel I am owed the opportunity to work toward a better job.
So, if anyone else makes mention of people leeching off of the welfare system without knowing how the system works, if anyone else infers that all, most, or any of the 11.6% of people receiving unemployment are lazy or that the rest of the jobless population who doesn't qualify for unemployment and are therefore not counted in this statistic because they were a stay-at-home mom when their spouse left, they quit their job and couldn't find another before the recession hit, they were a kid who didn't need to work until their dad got laid off, they were the housewife of a husband who got laid off and now neither can find a job, or any other of the thousands of reasons out there deserve their poverty, bankruptcy, loss of home, etc., I will come unglued.
If you know me at all, you know I work harder than you. If you know me at all, you know I live on way less than you. If you know me at all, you know I give everything I possible can to help others when they are in a worse situation than I am. If you know me at all, you know I don't ask for help until the food is gone, and even then, I probably won't ask. As my very good friend,
rhia_hilldancer said, "Sometimes I wonder just who it is that has that sense of entitlement, anyway... those who are in need or those who don't want to help anyone unless it doesn't interfere with their material-driven lifestyle."
Get off your pedestals and stop looking down on the rest of the world who is doing more to better it than you are. Stop being so judgmental, and ask yourself what you have really done to deserve what you have. And if you dare insinuate that I am lazy, expect more than I deserve, or that I am looking for handouts, you will see a side of me you have never seen before. I do not ask for help. I do not want help. I am simply working harder than anyone with a good job to not ever need help again, and I am working within the political spectrum to provide such opportunities for everyone. I believe these opportunities are a basic human right. Don't you?