Social Service part 3

So we're getting rid of Social Security and Welfare. Those systems provide money to those who are not working. The reasons they are not working can vary from disability to illness to loss of employment to lack of desire to work. I will admit there are people out there who just don't want to work. It's those people that the anti-social service people target when they talk about those who abuse the system.
My mother and I were talking about this the other day and she said something that really made me think. If we were to force everyone to work, it would strain the already tight job market. Those who don't want to work actually provide more jobs for those who do. That's an interesting point.
I have a friend who's father is one of those people who doesn't like to work. He's an artist and his health is poor. He has a new wife and a small child. There is no way he's going to work to support them if his welfare dries up. What it will mean is that his wife and child will get less support than they get now. It's possible that she'll leave him. So where will he go - to his children. This friend who doesn't want to pay into welfare because she sees her father abusing the system will have to make the choice to support him completely. She can turn him away but that will mean her sister will have to support him (her brothers are not in a position to help). Having him on welfare actually keeps him from being a burden to his family.
I have an opposite example - we have a friend who wants to work but he's disabled. In the past he's gotten jobs and worked until he can't and then he quits. He has a mental disability which has lead to a physical disability. He's spent time homeless, during which he was subjected to horrible abuse. Because of his mental disability, he's not educated and he makes poor decisions. He makes friends easily but many of his friends take advantage of him. We got him on disability several years ago. During all this time, he's managed to stay in the same home. He gets adequate food and medical care (medical care for several issues that could have been prevented with adequate medical care earlier in his life). He still has problems with people taking advantage of him but he's finding less problems with the law and can recover from the situations far easier.
No one really thinks about how other people on social services will affect them if the social services are gone.
During the foreclosure crisis (when it was first made public), my mother asked an interesting question - who pays the taxes on the houses? The owners of the house are not paying taxes because they no longer own the house and the mortgage companies are not going to pay anything towards the house since they are already losing money. What happens - the city loses money, money that would pay for road repairs, city employees, schools, hospitals, fire and police departments.
What happens if people stop receiving money from social services? They can't pay their bills. How does this affect everyone else? Well they can't pay rent so the owner raises the rent for the next tenant to cover lost rent. They can't pay their electric bill or water bill - the prices go up for everyone else to cover the loss.
We won't pay into social services but we will still pay to support those who needed it in the beginning. There will be increases for medical charges to cover those who can't pay. Businesses may close because of the lack of income. It doesn't take much to cause a small business to go under.
In Lacrosse Washington, the grocery store closed because they could no longer afford the electric bill. It's a small poor community. As things became tighter, they bought less at the store. The store could no longer afford to cover its own expenses. No more store. No more jobs for the few that worked there. The owners no longer had an income and were far deeper in debt.
More small businesses will close, fewer jobs. More foreclosures as owners can't afford to keep up with their house payments or just decide that their rental property is too expensive to keep up with.
These are truths when it comes to the way of the world.
Let me ask you - when was the last time you gave to charity? Charities struggle and they will struggle even more when the social services are gone. I have watched my favorite support programs dwindle because their support is fading. Now is not the time to buy that big screen tv - that won't save this country. Give that money to charity, especially if you refuse to support taxes and social services.
A poem I like to refer to for any situation that involves that mentality - it won't affect me is:
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out --
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out --
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out --
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me -- and there was no one left to speak for me.

Who will you stand up for?

Social Services pt 2

I've debated rewriting my previous post but I've decided not to. It's not that I worry about the content, it's more about clarity but I think I can make things more clear as I go (or not). We forget how important social services are. I will agree that our government spends money on things that are not necessary and companies take advantage of our tax money but social services are one place I feel resources should be poured into. There is a reason they exist.
Today I want to talk about withholding social services from drug addicts and illegal immigrants. These are super hot buttons for much of the country because they feel that both populations do not deserve help or they take help away from those who really need the help. I believe that these populations do deserve help.

This plaque sits at the base of the Statue of Liberty. There was a time that America held open it's arms to those of the world who wanted to start a new life. Most of America's population were immigrants at one point in time. The country is just over 200 years old. How could we forget and how could we deny future Americans the same opportunity that we were given? On top of that, no one points out how many Americans are illegally living in other countries. It's tough to come to America. We have made it nearly impossible for people to start over here. So they have to come in illegally so they can care for their families. Most people think of Mexicans as the only illegal immigrant and they are the most persecuted but they are not the only immigrants in our country (illegal or legal). We get Canadians, Africans, Europeans, Australians, Asians who stay in the country. If they are white and speak decent English, they can't really be here illegally. Aside from that, many illegal immigrants that come into our country take the terrible jobs we believe we are too good to do. Because they are not here legally, they work long hours for a lot less pay and are grateful. Some come here slaves and we pretend it doesn't happen until they want rights and then we throw a fit about them taking jobs and resources that should be ours.
I think about a scene in The Big One by Michael Moore. He's talking to Phil Knight, CEO of Nike. Michael Moore wants Nike to open a factory in Flint Michigan and Phil Knight says he won't do it because Americans don't want to make shoes. As sad as it is, it's true. I hear people complain that they deserve a better job. The economy is tight but minimum wage jobs are still in need of people to fill them. People do take the job with gratitude, for awhile. Then they move on to something better, something that pays them more. In advanced societies, this is a common trend. However, there are plenty of countries where people work long, hard days for little money and are so grateful. They live in barely adequate housing, no electricity, running water or cable tv. Americans wouldn't put up with this. How many people think their life is over when they can't get on facebook?
We have jobs in America that only immigrants will do. It's sad that they are not treated better but we, Americans, have screwed the entire system. We want to pay as little as possible for things and yet we want to make good wages so we can buy more stuff for as little as possible. Companies can not make profits off of what Americans want to be paid. Granted there are some out there but it's a situation we got ourselves into. It makes for great situations for those who are willing to work hard for what they get paid and don't feel they need a lot. So many immigrants work to send money home to family members still in their country of origin.
Most illegal immigrants come to this country to work. Don't they deserve help to keep those jobs? Help to make a better life for their families? If you don't want illegal immigrants then we need to help them be here legally not return them to their country or treat them like second class citizens.
There are a lot of fears that immigrants equal drug dealers. That may be true for a small percentage but our approach to drugs is beyond stupid. Countries in Europe have had great success legalizing drugs and monitoring them but not in America. We don't even allow farmers to grow hemp because it's too close to Marijuana. If the country took over the drug trade, there's be a lot of positive changes but our "values" don't allow for that. Look how hard it's been to legalize marijuana for medical use. Want a solution to our financial situation - legalize pot and prositution and then tax it. Yes, it does mean a certain amount of approving the behavior but those who are going to do it anyway might as well have some of their money go to benefit the country.
I like to compare the abortion laws to drug laws. Making abortions illegal didn't prevent women from getting them. What it did was force them to take unnecessary risks. Many women died from these abortions. The things they did were just bizarre and dangerous. Legalizing abortion meant the women who were going to do it anyway would have safe places to go. They'd walk out healthy with doctors to follow up to make sure they stayed healthy.
In England, they did the same thing with drugs. They gave the addicts a safe place to go and doctors to watch over them. They had to maintain jobs and be good citizens. Here in America, we ostrasize drug addicts. We turn them into criminals. If we don't give them any support, then they have to turn to crime. Prostitution, theft, drug distribution are some examples. I heard a case recently of a young man who would get his girlfriend drunk so he could talk her into smoking meth. He made her an addict because he didn't want to be alone. I share this because becoming an addict isn't always a choice and some addicts need help beyond the addiction because their reasons for starting have to do with underlaying problems.
It's important to think about a bigger picture. What happens to the addict if they have nowhere to live or food to eat? What happens to their children? Their families?
I'm not going to argue for legalizing drugs but I will say that there are so many things we could be doing to help people but instead we try to sweep it all under the carpet by making it illegal and unacceptable. We have more problems than just money - we have a crisis of morality. It's easy to stand on the soapbox and preach against sin, it's tougher to accept that sin exists and we should love the sinner.

The truth about social services part 1

There's been a lot of discussion lately about social services (social security, welfare, government medical). It leaves a bad taste in my mouth when people talk about not wanting to fund these programs. There are lots of reasons why people don't want to fund them - they believe that the people who use these programs are lazy, they believe that there should be fewer taxes, they believe people need to take care of themselves and not expect others to do it for them.
I agree that some people abuse the system but, honestly, that's what the system is for. (not to be abused but to be used) What defines abuse of the system? So many people use the example of a woman with six kids who never works and each of her kids have different fathers. Yes that happens but that's just one example of someone who uses the welfare system. I have heard arguements about not letting those who take drugs or are illegal immegrants use the welfare system. I think that a nation who calls themselves Christians and is founded on the principle that we take in those who need a place to go - well it's just sad.
I'm not going to keep rambling because I do have some serious points here and I may take all week to get to them all. I know there are a million examples of people who abuse and use the system but if you took a moment to pick it apart you'd see something completely different.
I'm going to start with our use of the system. We've struggled for ages. We still struggle. We depend on food stamps to supply us with more food than we could buy on our own (at this moment my income doesn't cover all the bills let alone gas and food so we pick and choose and struggle). Xavier gets free lunch at school. With that he also gets free breakfast.
So the system goes away. We struggle more but we'll make it work. Rob will go back to work when school starts so we can pay all our bills and buy food. We'll make lunches to send with Xavier which he won't eat because he doesn't like to take a lunch so he'll not have lunch. We may try to send money for lunches because taking a lunch doesn't work but we struggle with him buying snacks so his lunches will vary from nothing to ice cream to salty snacks. We'll stop sending money because we want him to eat good food so he'll start begging from his friends.
We'll get mad at him because he has access to food which will cause him to purposely not eat. That's okay - he's a chubby kid so starving's actually good because then he'll lose weight and be perfect (because that's all we care about). No one will be concerned about his nutrition but his mother because he's far to fat (his previous dr tried to convince us he was obese because that's the big concern these days). He'll not do well in school but then he's on an IEP so that's expected. No one really cares if he does well in school or if he's able to go to college because that's not their concern - until he can't get a job as an adult. Then people will say he's lazy and probably always was because he did so poorly in school. He'll continue to be fat because the food he can afford has poor nutrition and high calories. Or he'll have to live with his parents the rest of his life because he can't function as an adult because he can't get a job (and the welfare/disability system is gone so there's no support for him to live on his own).
Most likely none of that will happen because he's got family support and we won't let that happen but it happens for children all over the nation. A simple program like free school meals is an incrediably important program. For so many children on the program the food they get at school is all they get. It's not the parent's fault that they can't make ends meet. Many families struggle with finances. In this economy so many are losing their jobs and they are losing their homes. I'll talk more about other programs later this week because I don't want this to be a mile long.
We worry about the children getting fat but no one wants to give money to these programs so the schools feed the kids what they have access to - which is not great food. No one seems to understand that cheap food is not always the most nutritious and quite often it's calorie dense. I had an arguement with a woman about obesity and the poor. So many want to instill educational programs because we are all too stupid to understand nutrition. That's not true - cheap food is not always the best food. This particular woman said she makes good food for her family for very little money but the dishes she offered were beans, pasta, etc. That was my point. I can feed my family a good dish for a few dollars but it's most likely going to lack in fresh vegetables and lean meats.
If my son goes to school and eats breakfast pizza and hamburgers, then comes home to a big pot of beans cooked with ham hocks -it's not exactly a diet that's going to make him look like a supermodel. But then we do away with the free food and he'll be eating white bread and tuna for lunch (and hope he eats something at home for breakfast) and then coming home for beans at dinner.
I know I'm rambling and it probably doesn't make any sense but I am so fed up with the stupidity of our nation - does no one think things through.