In America we’ve been conditioned so that when we hear the term poverty it evokes feelings and images of destitution and hopelessness – people who are hungry, without clothes and homeless. There is no doubt that a certain segment of the population lives this way – roughly half of a percent of Americans (about one in every 200) experience homelessness in any given year.
However, the majority of poor Americans are not as bad off as we may have been led to believe – at least in terms of everyday amenities. With a government social network that includes benefits like unemployment, food stamps, welfare, rental and mortgage assistance, and health care, the poor in America are still doing fairly well compared to their counterparts in most other countries around the world.
The following chart from The Heritage Foundation shows that even poor Americans – those who fall below the official income poverty line – usually have a DVD player, video gaming system, multiple televisions, a computer, washer and dryer, cable TV, dedicated internet, a cell phone, and in a very limited amount of cases, even a jacuzzi.
The figures were taken in a government consumption survey near the height of the financial and economic bubble in 2005.
With “poor” people enjoying the benefits of what would traditionally be considered middle class is it any wonder, then, that the entire debt based system of this country is in collapse?
America, it seems, has the richest poor people in the world.
We have created a culture of entitlement in this country, where the “poor” and even the “middle class” have been led to believe that they can spend above their means, and any income discrepancies will be offset by government assistance (incidentally, it seems that our premier corporations are operating under the same narrative). It is, after all, the right of every American to have a cell phone, or internet, several TV’s, and a washer & dryer. If that means we have to take income from one group of people at the barrel of a gun to make sure Joe Poor-Pack has these critical amenities, then so be it.
The gap between the middle class and the poor is certainly being closed. Unfortunately, it is closing in the wrong direction. Instead of the poor moving up the income and net worth ladder, it is the other way around. The depression, wage cuts, inflation, taxation and destruction of credit is knocking the middle class down one rung at a time.
Soon, there will be only the poor and the wealthy, but at least we’ll all have cell phones, iPads and cable TV.
I don’t have a jacuzzi, do you have a jucuzzi? You can’t handle the truth. Redneck jucuzzi doesn’t count.
I have a river in my back yard…clean clear Tennessee river with trout, rock bass, catfish…etc.
There is single woman lives by herself she’s 40 something, kind of easy on the eyes if you know what I’m saying. She’s just a few miles up the road, now she has a nice jucuzzi. For some reason she always has something she want’s me to come and fix for her…lawn mower won’t start, sink won’t work right, dishwasher ain’t working like it should…She says she has mice in her house but I can never find them…you know that kind of stuff…lol
Does her boat need fixing?
Sh what does it take to make a redneck jacuzzi? I’m assuming a plastic liner for the bed of a truck lotsa water, and a case of Bush’s Baked Beans?
Close, but hose to tail pipe with engine on.
Duke is not talking.
Big Duke has been holding his breath a long time now.
..a case of moonshine’s more like it, BC…and a shotgun to protect it!! They love their ‘shine here in Tennessee!!
But will moonshine give you enough flatulence to get that water bubblin’?
Believe it or not, it’s drop-easy to get a hot-tub/Jacuzzi, and do it *for free*:
1) go to craigslist.org for your area **
2) find some guy who paid thousands for his, but hasn’t used it in 5 years
3) go to his house with at least two strong friends, a strong dolly/hand-truck, and someone’s pickup truck
3) inspect it to insure that the wood is intact, the tub shell isn’t cracked/faded, and that the mechanics/electronics are sound.
4) carefully get the hot tub into the truck, and drive it home
5) hook that bad boy up at your place.
Total cost? Gas for the truck, a couple cases of beer for your friends, around $80 for the electrical wiring (the outside switch box is free if you know where to look), $50 or so to get the wiring inspected (depending on locality) and around $50 for a new hot tub filter and chemicals.
Long story short? With a bit of work, the hot tub can come in cheaper than a new XBox.
** reference: http://portland.craigslist.org/search/sss?query=free+hot+tub Try it in your home locale; results may vary though.
I know all this because I did it a few years ago, back when I had a house. While I was at it, I carefully removed the outer wooden shell, re-insulated the thing, and built it into the deck, giving it a new wooden shell in the process.
Wiring is actually easy if you’re electrically inclined, but you have to insure that you have the bits required (the outside switch box, large enough wiring, and breakers for both outside and main home panel), that you get it inspected, and enough room in your circuit panel for the breakers and the voltage/amperage to carry it.
et’ voila… 🙂
I got one the same way… and now I am the guy who would like someone to come pick it up…
It was fun for a couple a years… but winter/summer…. freezing/ too hot… buying chorline… testing… idiot friend… the hassle is not worth it, unless one is rich and has a pool girl come around to keep it up.
ps
plus when I redid my master bathroom I put a “2nds” (inexpensive)(but real Jacuzzibrand) jacuzzi tub in…… but still, I am wanting to have a pool lady coming around, just to keep it up 😉
No way only 54% have cell phones? I can’t be running into only 54% talking while driving and looking at their text messages? It has to be way more then that – of course this was 2005….market penetration has to be up some since then.
Of course only 49% pay income taxes, but 54% or more have cell phones….Look a that list and think about that….a bunch of those people with all of those “things” can not even contribute to making our government work.
I agree with that. I’d say its closer to 99% have cell phones.
In fact, I got an ad in the mail the other day that said I can get a “FREE cell phone!” I read the fine print and it said if I get any form of welfare – public housing, food stamps, etc. then I qualify for a free phone with 400 minutes per month.
I was going to call the company to give them a piece of my mind but then it dawned on me that they are just taking advantage of the legal nanny state that has been set up so in essence, it’s not their fault. It’s our fault – for allowing these goons to take over.
I guess I’m part of the 1%. I’m not on facebutt either.
MR B: Probably an Ad by DHS. They want to make sure they can find ANYONE and they can only find ANYONE if EVERYONE has a cell phone.
Trac phones are the way to go …. just saying.
Thank you DK for someone saying what I wanted to say on connecting the dots.
Its sort of like those commercials on TV for electric wheelchairs, diabetes supplies, catheters(?!), and etc.
They all include the line “…and at no cost to you!”, and I used to find myself shouting at the TV “…but not to me you fsckers! You’re welcome!”
…then I realized the same thing you did. They’re just taking entrepreneurial advantage of the sad state of governmental largess (translation: they’re creatively working the system and making a pretty shiny buck off of it).
Kind of hard to believe is’n it! 54% my ass! lol 🙂
Kind of hard to believe is’n it! 54% my ass! lol 🙂
What the Fuc*k! Why am I seeing double?? I’ve not ever stated drinking yet! WTF!!! WTF!!! 🙂 🙂
Bloody Mary. What time is it.
“Percentage of Poor US Households that have various amenities” Poll had a restrictive defined population base, not entire US.
Definition of “poor” assumed to be at and below poverty line as established by fed govt.
+1
also, most forget, to become poor you must have been middle class before poor or you probably would not have them things or maybe even, they do belong to another. just cause it is there does not mean it is theirs.
My kids wouldn’t have a WII, etc. if not for grandparent gifts at Christmas and birthdays either. We used to be middle class and have some stuff, but are hanging on to that status by a thread.
That was 2005. Now the % must be much higher.
it is the percentage of Households, not how many people have it.. as of the census there is 129,969,653 housing units holding 308,745,538 people
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/00000.html
My sister who lives on SSI has a nicer cell phone and better cable/internet package than me (you expect her to use dial-up?–Oh, the humanity!) and gets thousands of dollars in a “tax refund” every year. She never even says thank you and even has contempt for the people who pay the freight for her living.
She is one fo the people who make some of us say “bring on the meltdown” because things may actually get better in some ways when we can stop carrying people like her.
Ben, you know you are hitting a nail on the head with the SSI one..
I am not saying SS retirement, I am referring to SSI Disability… I see that game played far more than any poor me person.. it is like if you get disability then that is suppose to be okay because they say everyone earns that insurance… well ya maybe people do, but I see MANY people abusing that more than anything else..
I can not tell you how many times I have seen people apply for that.. they go in with the cane and such, oh my back hurts this way or that way.. or it is the hips or what ever old injury they had saying they cant work anymore..
they start by applying with a cane in their hand.. 2 months after they get approved for disability, you will no longer see them use a cane.. most times you will see them now dancing and such.. it boggles my brain in how they can be proud to be deemed a cripple.. go figure but that is the thing I see abused the most. SS Disability..
yes, I do know maybe 2 out of 15 people on it that truly do deserve it, so I guess ‘all’ isn’t lost on it to me… but it don’t make me happy..lol
truth is after you get past 40, the body hurts all the time period..lol
anyway, have a good one 🙂
The sad part is, folks like that make it impossible for folks who need it to get it.
It takes an average of 3-5 years now to get it (longer if you’re under 40), even if you have a demonstrable and obvious disability.
She retired at around 44 on disability. Now I will need SSI because my back is broken from carrying her.
Sorry Blacksheep but I must say something about your sterotyping here. There are two types of social security disability. One SSI for ppl who have not put in enough working time to earn regular disability. The other is what ppl have contributed to b/c they HAVE worked long enough to contribute, and they receive an amount relative according to their earnings when they worked. I don’t get SSI, I get the social security disability for ppl who have worked (RSDI) and I would like to say I don’t know anyone “faking” it. Most I know, like myself are actually dying b/c they don’t have money for medical care, or medications. Most I know like myself, have anemia, malnutrition, teeth falling out, nails falling off, b/c there is no money for food. It’s a great weight control system> make ppl live on this small amount. I weight 104. I have no cell phone, I don’t have 99% of the crap on the B.S. “report on poverty”. All I have are things I had when I was working for most of my life before I became disabled. So should I throw away my computer b/c now I am “poor”. ppl forget “those ppl” and the “disabled” have worked, have earned things as well. I don’t get food stamps, or “free medical care” like ppl believe all disabled get. I PAY for medicare, and part D, (over $300.00 a month)so there is nothing left to pay for the things not covered or medications or food. I was approved in 3 WEEKS,b/c my doctors said there was no chance of recovery or survival. Then I had to wait 25 months to qualify for medicare, over 2yrs with no medical care at all. As for the sterotype ppl keep expressing of “free rent from HUD”, keep dreaming. I pay more than $400.00 (which is more than half of my monthly check)a month for a very small two bedroom apt, and I have to sleep on living rm floor, so my two kids (18,16) can have bedrooms. HUD refuses accomodation so I can get an apartment w/ 3bedrooms so I can sleep in a bed, or have my own room, or provide second hand rail b/c I can barely get up stairs & guide myself, I am losing my vision as well. No one is proud to be disabled. It means we are considered disposable, worthless. And Ben, no one gets a tax refund if they only receive SSI or SS disability, period. You have to work to get the tax refund or earned income credit. Ppl don’t ask to become disabled,it’s already a terrible life experience, to lose health,freedom to have choices, lose our homes b/c we loose our jobs, lose dignity. I became disabled rapidly b/c of other ppls actions. I rec’d a Hep B shot for work,(w/out being warned of possible effects)w/in months I had systemic Lupus, my kidneys were messed up, & brain,bones,muscles,eyes in the yrs that followed. Then a doctor was doing a spinal tap re-entered the needle 6 times b/c of placement error. In two days all spinal fluid left my spine & head, leaking from the 6 holes he made. I was in severe pain, I couldn’t see. They had to do emergancy back surgery to block the holes, and I had to be awake during the surgery. Of course w/ my luck, 3weeks later a woman ran a red light at intersection and my head hit the window. More damage. The next month, a mass was found in my breast. No money for treatment for that either. I am just one example of the real ppl who are disabled and poor, we are not dancing around, we are not playing w/ cell phones,(I don’t even know how to turn one on, never had one). That foundations report does not represent ANYONE who lives near me in gov’t housing. Its just feeding into negative sterotypes that other ppl like to believe to see poor ppl as unworthly, & ppl wishing for their demise. This stuff hurts the ones who are really suffering. If my college and high school student were not required to have internet, I would not even have this service to see all of the cruel comments wishing for poor ppl to just be left to their own devices=die. Also, the innocent children growing up poor, they don’t deserve the hate either. There are many deaf, blind, autistic,disabled kids living in gov’t housing. and Ben more would have cell phones than washing machines, b/c most low income housing does not have washer/dryer hook up, and no one I know has a “home phone” here anymore, except for me. And those 10.00 pre-pay cell phones ppl can get from the dollar store are what most ppl here have. FYI
Note that more of them have cell phones or DVD players than washing machines.
The 1960’s social engineering experiment has failed.
Go into any small town in rural America & you’ll see masses of welfare folks who can live just fine on the money working Americans provide for them.
We’ve bred the desire to work & the need to work out of many tens of millions of Americans. They and their offspring will never get it back unless there is serious reform to include removal of ALL entitlements after a short period of say 6 months maximum in a lifetime.
Darwinism works but we’ve removed that element from society (not that I want people to die, I just don’t want them to have kids if they can’t afford them).
Unfortunately we are headed towards Idiocracy as the masses of uneducated and unmotivated out reproduce the rest of us. I’m glad I won’t be here in 200 years to see it.
http://www.ctia.org/advocacy/research/index.cfm/aid/10323
Update…302 Million Cell Phone subscriptions as of 2010…..yet only about 55 million tax payers…anyone see a disconnect there?
Well I bet a lot of those are kids and teens, so of course they’re not paying taxes.
Yes, but lets assume that each of those 55 million taxpayers each has one kid (thats 2 kids per 2 income family with 2 taxpayers in it). Some households have more kids but some have none – kids are grown or whatever.
That still only accounts for 101 million phones. Who are the other 200 million?!
Some of the phones are probably property of businesses – so a taxpaying individual might have a work and a personal phone.
However, clearly the non-taxpaying crowd abundantly has cell phones.
sorry, meant accounts for 105 million phones
Was behind a lady in line at the supermarket. In the process of digging her food stamps out of her suitcase of a purse, she laid three identical cell phones on the counter. She was dressed like a vagrant and not exactly clean – clearly poor, clearly unintelligent, not a contributing member of society. But, here I was getting my beans and rice with the little cash I had to spare (carrying my one cell phone, my only phone period) while she racked up on about ten ribeyes in her overflowing shopping basket. She grinned at me. I doubt she even began to understand the eat-sh*t-and-die expression I wore.
Theres no such things as “food stamps” anymore, its a EBT plastic card called SNAP, looks like a credit card.And those phones could have been her kids phones. Many ppl who live near me get the $10.00 pre paid phones from the dollar store for their kids to carry when they are outside or going someplace. If she was not dressed well she was not spending her $ on clothes if she had any, so clearly she was just feeding a family w/ that food. Are poor ppl not allowed to eat? (but, of course no she should not be eating steaks, meat is murder) But, what if it was one of her kids birthday that she was buying that for? it might have been a special occasion for her. Justsayin.
many of those are ppls kids, most kids dont pay taxes. this was an easy one.
Idiocracy. I loved that movie. That movie is what began my career of telling people, “THIS IS WHERE WE’RE HEADED.” Funny how people who didn’t believe me then, believe me now!
I love that movie Idiocracy also! But ponder this WE ARE ALL READY THERE and HAVE BEEN THERE for a very, very long time! Picture Thomas Jefferson here and now or here 20 years ago, going and getting a supersized meal, and looking at our money, and trying to talk to us. ” YOU MEAN WE SHOULD PUT WATER ON THE LIBERTY TREE, BUT SECURITY HAS WHAT IDIOTS CRAVE, YEAH, IT HAS SECURITY! We went from “if the american people ever let a private bank……….their forfathers conquered” TO clinton saying “whay is, is is” WE ARE THERE,WE(me included) AREDUMBA$$ES. LOOK AT OUR SOCIETY! LOOK IN THE MIRROR PEOPLE! LOOK IN THE MIRROR! ALL THIS IS ALL OUR FAULTS! YOU AND ME!
Don’t think you are heading there. I think the US has got there already and is taking exceptionalism to a whole new level.
Or go to any inner city neighborhood…
Gotta disagree Mr B: Been spending my time in Smallville for the past two summers. People in Smallville work. Try the underclass in the cities who do not have an education or skills. These are the unemployed and the ones receiving the lion’s share of the entitlements.
Feed the poor, people, or they will feed on you.
Don’t point to the poor as the problem. look to the Globalists in government and the gangster banksters who have stolen OUR economy, transferred it offshore, bankrupted the nation, and put these people out of work, out of their homes, and onto the street.
Rail against the disease, people, not the symptoms. But for the grace of God, go you and I.
well said, I could not agree more !
Lots of parasites in rural USA. Bugging out to “the country” may lower the number of city-bred zombies you have to deal with, but small towns have a good supply of their own.
Thank you DK….very well put and very true!
Thank you Durango Kidd, finally someone who actually knows history and how things work and not the brainwashing retoric fed from corporate sponsored media to “divide and conquer”. I shocks me how many ppl parrot that stuff.
Freebies will go away as USA finishes collapsing economically. Please give us time.
I hate to burst your bubble, but you’re already living through the start of Idiocracy. I was pissed when I saw the movie because they said it would be 500 years from now before society was THAT bad. But, I’ve been seeing the beginnings of it for the past several years.
I have no doubt that by 2100, things will be horrible. I am somewhat grateful that I won’t be here to see it.
The world will not get to that point. Things will right themselves, albeit with a lot of pain and misery attached.
Oh, I somewhat agree. It won’t take 500 years. Hell, in 500 years, everything will have collapsed, decayed into nothing, and whoever/whatever is left will have built it back up into yet another time around. We’ll probably in about the same shape as the 1800’s or so by then. Life goes in cycles. Time to restart…
Sir, over 12yrs ago there was a 5yr limit on all welfare, and ALL ppl who receive any assistance (that big $200.00 a month ck for a family of 3, or food stamps, or gov’t housing,etc) is REQUIRED to work or do at least 20 to 40hrs community service per month to receive such assistance. (and it does not matter how many kids the ppl have or when they have them) So there is NO ONE just sitting around getting anything.
Just as no politician will never define “FAIR SHARE” with any number/percentage value, “Enough” stuff will very be defined either. It is a good thing that our lower income class does have basic/needed goods but it is not the tax payers job to support their shoe, multi TV/ bigscreen desires, gaming systems, and other things like copy machines. it is this total complacency that has lulled our population to sleep on what is actually happening all around them. maybe if we make people a little uncomfortable in their poverty they might strive to get off the doll to aquire some of these goods.
Yes, its very comfortable to be poor, never have choices, or chances to getting anything better, or live in dangerous neighborhoods<that one is really comfortable, OH and the humiliation, and lack of medical care that is so very cushy too. If you believe the report of lies than you need to get an education yourself. Everyone forgets those who can qualify as poor right now were working good jobs before the economy went bad, so they still have the things they had when they were working. And some of it is just total lies. I live near thousands (literally) of poor ppl in public housing and I don't know anyone living like this report describes. Most are like myself, disabled, or have disabled children. Or they are caring for elderly relatives etc. Many are dying w/out medical care. And EVERYONE who receives gov't housing assistance, food stamps, a "welfare ck" (<which is limited to 5yrs per family) is required to work or do 20 to40 hrs of community service per month. So the community is getting a free worker for that time. And since the unemployment rate is what it is, and even ppl with a masters degree cannot find work, how can disadvantaged ppl, who cannot afford an education possibly find a job??? These facts are always forgotten.
Really? 20 to 40 hours a MONTH? I do that PER WEEK to gain experience in my chosen field so I can be hired and improve my socioconomic status.
Damn my foolish pride that keeps me working and paying my bills when I could live for free!
This is why you should take any mention of “poverty” in America with a grain of salt.
This is the only nation on earth that has “poor people” dieing of obesity related diseases!
Well Bet you a silver dollar most of that shit was bought on a credit card…!
Definitely….but hey when they cut it out let them talk to Visa not me. If they want electronic money for a service so be it. I like my iPhone and will miss it when they can’t keep it going. Oh well.
Dave,
the obesity in this country with the poor people is mostly from lack of education.
all these people know, is junk food.. the corporations media sensationalizes all this garbage. it comes in so many different ways now it is very sad…
to say poor people, who are obese, are not truly poor, shows ignorance of what education truly means…
to be a smart eater, you must first be taught what bad eating is. all they know is they are hungry, sorry if they not smart enough to eat something other than a complete box of Twinkies.
That all depends…
Do you define POOR as someone who doesn’t have enough? Or someone who makes below a certain number on a chart?
I define poor as someone who doesn’t have/make enough to feed themselves and their children, to clothe their children, etc. By that definition, I’m not rich, but I get by. By that same definition, if these people have these things and are dying from obesity-related diseases, then they are NOT poor. If they get these things from welfare programs, etc. then, they are bloodsuckers living off everyone who works their ass off like I do. There are some who really need it. Most NEED to get off their fat ass and get a job.
Cyber_Samurai, what part in my education being related to obesity are you referring to ??
truthfully, I see no difference in either of your definitions as they are truly the same.
the government mandates our lives to us.. do you disagree with that?? or is it easier for you to point out the symptom and not the root cause ?
Lets get straight to who the BIGGEST parasites are.. they are, The International bankers and the Federal Reserve.. they create something out of nothing and get the snickers for free while getting others to point their fingers at others instead of them.
this article helps them exponentially in the class warfare gig they are drawing down on us now…. sorry, I will stand by my fellow Americans, ONE and ALL, each and every dam one of them.. they///we///you///me, ALL have been played like chumps.
I will not defend to make monopoly money and materialistic items the savior of mankind… there is no way it can do this and only creates evil and greed.
for the record Cyber_Samurai, there are MILLIONs looking for that job you said they need to get… where is that job ??.. I was un-aware micky d’s had over 20 million jobs available..
I’ve lived in several third world nations, those folks are poor and many are starving – none of them are fat.
I think the point here is that our so called poor are eating something – and clearly lots of it.
America has no poor. Social engineering and redistribution of wealth has seen fit to take care of the weakest and exponentially grow the group by leaps & bounds.
Soon, as they continue to multiply, caring for our “poor” will be unsustainable. What then?
why post onto me for telling Dave what education is and how it plays into this obesity ??. I don’t get it of why, but hey fine then you have me started.
so because poor people in other countries are starving with nothing to eat then our poor people here should starve too.. I gotcha
I sure hope they cut the foreign nation welfare off to the MANY places such as Israel long before they cut food stamps off to Americans.
there is HUGE difference between nothing to eat as in third world and here..
go ahead, I don’t give a fuck, condemn your fellow Americans and fall into the herd group fight BS all you want… you are the one being played.
what I do know is fact, The table is tilted and game is rigged.
I disagree with your statement. America does indeed have people who are poor. However, that tiny fraction of the population aren’t the people that our politicians are talking about. When they talk about how they are concerned about the plight of the “poor” they aren’t talking about the people who they’ve passed legislation against, (anti-begging laws, anti-squatting laws, cops slashing the tents of the homeless, etc.) they are talking about people who have been convinced they are poor, but who are actually just slaves to the government handouts.
(FYI, if you actually have a need, I don’t hold it against you. But of the dozen or so people I know collecting food stamps, all but two could have done without if they just stopped buying designer clothes, the newest electronics, going out to eat and/or movies weekly or more, etc.)
Mr B: Gotta hit you again. Caring for our poor is “unsustainable” because the Globalists and gangster banksters have encouraged 30 million ILLEGALS to invade every nook and cranny in the USA, to the suppress wages of American workers, taxpayers, and families while they ship the American economy to China and India.
ILLEGALS cost American taxpayers more than $300 billion dollars every year, year after year and the number is compounding because the ILLEGALS are multiplying while they are here, with the intent to stay. Send them home and WE could care for OUR own without a problem.
http://shtfillegalimmigration.blogspot.com
Dante, what statement I made are you referring to ?
I have made MANY on this string including the number of %14.3 being in poverty.
Blacksheep, this sounds condescending. Education is all over the place. I take care of indigent women. They know very well what bad eating is. Please don’t assume that because they are poor they are stupid.
I never said all poor people are stupid.
wtf is with that ??.. I defend obese people with saying that part of the problem is from lack of education and you then throw me into saying all poor people are stupid.. while these others make them selfs feel superior talking down about obese people and you jump me..
Thank you.
have a great day !
That poorly educated excuse is laughable since all kids have been taught for the last 40 years from the time they’re in kindergarten of what foods are good & what aren’t.
The fact remains, we are fat from overeating, even if it undermines the myth of the US having “poverty”.
Travel to Cuba, Haiti, VietNam, Egypt or China and you’ll realize how silly it is to call any Americans “poor”.
you want to quote globalization ideals when it fits your ticket.. I am not comparing Americans to any other places, You are, not me. I want nothing to be like ANY of them. Neither did our forefathers.
anyway, there is more to education than you call as the laughable excuse.. it is called products of the environment… they are marketed hot pockets and many other junk foods and that has no cause in any of it.. ya okay.
I like how you and others think there is so much poverty in this country and that they are stealing from you.. the official count of poverty is 14.3% (them BIG numbers I guess then to you)
granted, total Food Stamp participation is alarmingly high when 45% of 129,969,653 households gets some part of food stamps even if a small amount like 100 dollars a month even.. But HEY guess what, the money spent on Food Stamps is CHUMP CHANGE compared to the amounts our Government doles out to foreign nations for what ever need it is for..
also, please lets not forget why things are the way they are rite now.. it is because that is how the TPTB want it to be. no different than our government bickering like it is… like another posted in here a short time back.
If the tax code is unfair, it’s because they want it unfair.
If the budget is in the red, it’s because they want it in the red.
If the Army & Marines are in Iraq and Afghanistan it’s because they want them in Iraq and Afghanistan …
If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it’s because they want it that way.
Why are people on Food Stamps, it’s because they want them dependent on it.
That English guy on TV who’s been going into American schools trying to change the menus for the better? He went into an elementary classroom carrying assorted fruits and vegetables. These kids couldn’t identify any of them – not a potato, carrot, pear, brocolli – nothing. You can’t expect good choices from that level of ignorance. When parents don’t put real food on the table, there’s no learning what real food is.
And, OH! He had a chicken leg too. They couldn’t tell him what it was either, but they all immediately recognized a chicken nugget. He later demonstrated how the nuggets were made, from the raw chicken’s bare carcus to the finished product. Disgusted, they all cringed and groaned at everything he showed them. When asked if they would eat it, all refused. But, once he breaded and fried them, right in front of them, they all wanted some, as if it was no longer the disgusting stuff it was. Now, THAT goes beyond ignorance and straight to stupid. The worst? These were average American kids from and average school – all income brackets.
Louis Theroux is one of my favorite journalists, I love his “when Louis met…”, “Weird weekends” and other shows and BBC specials. I remember the one you mentioned. It clearly showed that kids’ families do not cook at home, they eat out or microwave frozen dinners.
Kids had no clue what raw ingredients look like.
There was a similar scene in “Supersize me” when kids were shown portraits of famous people (including Jesus). No clue. But the ALL recognized Ronald McDonald.
“these people” really? Is it comfortable to believe those things? Blacksheep, many ppl living in poverty, like myself are vegan, not obese at 104 pounds. I have a college degree, I am poor b/c I am disabled.I didn’t make myself disabled. Many are poor b/c they have a child who is disabled and they must stay w/ them to take care of them or they have very high expenses w/ regard to them. And no one I know has even half of the things on that ignorant list of items. (NO cell phone, no toaster, no coffeemaker, no dishwasher, no big tv, unless you call a 15inch TV big, and I didn’t have a tv for yrs) I have a computer for my kids to use for school, and so I can write, I do “free” work to help victims of trafficking by writing. There is no pay for advocating for victims of trafficking. Please don’t say “these ppl” you don’t know all of us. oh and my favorite is “air conditioning” sure, God forbid “those ppl” not have a heat stroke when inside their home is 95 degrees w/ heat index of 110.
Good point. “The poor” are the fattest segment of the US population.
Elton John was right–“Times are changin’, now the poor get fat!”
Agreed. Poor people are fat not only from overeating, but because processed food is cheaper and more readily available than the healthy stuff.
I would like to add that in many inner city areas there are NO stores with fresh produce. So if one doesn’t own a car, one is out of luck.
Detroit is a good (even if extreme) example.
Very good point Nunjobizness and IndigoLight. I tried to request that unused county land be used for community garden for our community so ppl could grow vegitables, but I was always turned down. That would have really helped. The poor are not given the same choices, most don’t understand that.
ppl need to get real-
the very reason there is not blood in the streets right now is precisely BECAUSE
all us working class/poor schmucks HAVE TV and internet etc etc etc and access to beer and cigs.
Once those things are gone and you have to come home and stare at the wall- you start to talk.
You talk to other people, to your family and friends and neighbors, and after you’re done talking. You’ve still got plenty of time left and then you start to act.
Thank god for these electronic distrations or I’m pretty sure america would be a bloodbath from coast to coast
Good point.
I cant believe nobody remembers Will Rodgers’ old quote, which goes something like ” Americans are the only people in the world who go to the poorhouse in a car”. There is nothing new under the sun, folks.
why no mention in this article of how our Government has been mandating higher and higher standards of living every year for the past 50yrs ??
This government tells you what you can and can not have in way of housing and everything else in life.. everyone is made to believe they must live this way or that way.
lets say, you have 2 acres of land in the middle of nowhere and they will tell you “NO” you can not dwell out of a hut building made from like 15 sheets of plywood… but then it is “okay” for you to sleep under an underpass in the city..
You hit the nail on the head!
You can have your kids TAKEN AWAY if you don’t have a fridge! You may not want electricity or running water, and you can provide for your family and everybody is happy they will ARREST YOU, EVICT YOU and DESTROY YOUR FAMILY.
This is not the America our ancestors fought for. In this country “If you ain’t with the status quo , you better stay low.”
(PS Black Sheep, been reading your posts, and I can’t agree more. Too many people think America is being “weakened.” They need to understand they merely inhabit the cell run by the biggest bully. Keep postin!)
Thanks HE HE HE. This kind of report is just another “tool” of those in power to have an excuse to cut assistance to poor ppl and to further divide and conquer. If everyone is busy hating the poor, hating one “party” or another, they won’t pay attention to their rights and money being taken away.
Very good point.
With all this “crisis” developing globally, Apple doubled its profits for the first quarter.
After that what can we expect for the human race?
We will not have food to feed our kids, but we will walk around with an ipad or an iphone.
It makes you think…
-Mom i’m hungry.
-Go eat your dad’s phone. And please leave the battery for your brother. He is coming back from school and he will be hungry too. 🙂
Be safe guys
Spot on Manos! I enjoy people watching. It interests me to watch their habits, listen to their conversation and watch how they interact. I guess thats the “hunter part” of me, to know weaknesses (aka-soft spots) and patterns. I could go on as it fascinates me but back to our current broadcast…..BTW take care, good to hear from you.
You mean like the girl holding two babies, talking on her cell, while running her red, white, and blue flag card through the scanner??
That’s EBT for those that don’t know.
America’s could learn a thing form (Uncle Ted).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGQ51LCIcp4&feature=related
Ted ROCKS!!!… and GOD BLESS AMERICA!! (while she lasts)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0T0rlaNCrno
Hey, Ted Nugent will be at Sammy T’s August 23!!! I will be there…first beers are on me. 🙂
http://www.sammytsplace.com/tednugent.html
Mmmmmm….Ted. He should be potus and not the current squatter in the WH!!!
I’m a prepper, gardener, bout to be rabbit raiser, and hardworking guy.
I’m on food stamps. And I have no shame.
I could use the help and I am MORE then happy to take whatever I can from Uncle Sam. My tax dollars fund wars across the globe, torture, outright theft, an ever increasing police state, and all manner of terrible, terrible things.
The sooner Uncle Sam and all the other tyrants are laid to rest, the better. Can’t wait for the STHF.
at least you are very honest.
I can respect that.
I have no problem with low-wage working people with or without families, elderly and/or disabled receiving food stamps and living in subsidized housing as clearly they don’t have enough money for basic things (not cell phones).
However, I do have a problem with people who are not disabled receiving disability benefits because of stupid laws and SSA being afraid of being sued. I have a problem with able bodies milking the system.
I do have a problem with healthy young men not working and living in subsidized housing off of their “baby mama” and her dozen kids.
And speaking of kids…
Some of you may disagree with me on this, but I think there are circumstances under which a birth control should be enforced in the interest of the betterment of a society as a whole:
1) several existing children parent is not able to or can barely provide for (I not talking about happy, well nourished poor kids, I am talking about misery and malnutrition);
2) parent with a history of children taken away by the state due to neglect and/or abuse (not talking about some weird cases of a happy family living in a shack, I am talking about physical/emotional/sexual abuse);
3) mother with moderate/severe mental retardation, who is unable to take care of herself independently.
Idiocracy is already here as we produce more and more kids with borderline intellect and mental retardation.
And I am a woman and a mother, but also a world citizen.
Are the politician’s Direct Deposits going to be there on payday? I guess somebody doesn’t know how to balance a checkbook. Ted for president!
A girl I used to know works for some form of government assistance program here in Arizona…
She used to complain a lot about how people asking for assistance would drive up in new SUVs, with their kids all wearing new Nike shoes, and talking on iPhones…
Oh, yeah. All you need to do is spend a year teaching in an inner city high school. The kids have more expensive cloths and toys than the teachers — nothing but brand names, real gold, and the latest phones and MP3 players.
Rats. That should read “clothes.”
Used to have a rental in a “low-income” area. They ate out more often than I could. Heard one hard luck story concerning inability to pay rent and the storyteller was shocked when I told her that I had seen her the previous weekend spending the rent money at an outdoor festival.
I agree 100% Mac, that’s why this depression feels like a recession to most people!
“Soon, there will be only the poor and the wealthy” Yes – it’s just that the poor won’t know it.
If you’re unemployed, can’t feed yourself or your family and don’t know when you won’t have a roof over your head – you’re poor
If you can still watch TV, play video game and surf the internet and grill – YOU ARE THE NEW MIDDLE CLASS… let me welcome you! 😉
I like it.
Two recent observations on this subject. First, I happen to like Chipotle. When I go into Chipotle in this city–any of about 5 nearby–I usually am the only person speaking English, not on a cell phone, and not ordering $12 worth of food per person. The Chipotles I frequent most are in an area that is primarily public housing (my tax dollars) with nearby schools having a 90% free-meals student population (my tax dollars), and the bulk of the residents using food stamps at nearby markets. Now, I feel like I am splurging when I go low-end (hold the $2.00 guacamole) on the $6.00 burrito. Yet I am surrounded by people who are mostly on welfare, using my tax dollars for 90% of their subsistence, with apparently no qualms about ordering twice as much food as I feel I can even afford.
Second, this will only worsen since some 50%+ of our population now takes advantage of this arrangement. With a Democrat President and Democrat Senate hellbent on spending our money to buy these sorts of votes, we have no chance of ever fixing this. And this is the real crisis. It is not a debt crisis except insofar as the debt is the result of this approach to government (the Republicans are equally to blame, by the way)–the debt is a symptom of the cancer eating away our nation.
Is that a hot sauce that burns on the other end…
No Jacuzzi..check
No photo copier..check
no big screen TV..check
no video game..check
wish i could add to the list, to ..no TV..No cell phone no answer machine
and no government…yeah!
No cable–check
No cordless phone–check
No stereo–check
No answering machine–check
No cell–check
No video game system–check
No big screen tv–check
No copier-check
No Jacuzzi–check
Sorry Blacksheep – Obesity is not caused by a lack of education or intelligence. Period. Obesity is caused, in no particular order by : 1) genetics 2) a physical problem ( gland, hormone, etc. ) 3) lack of activity and 4) eating too much ( coupled with #1 and 3 ). People aren’t fat because they are stupid. That philosophy is directly from the nanny state which believes that we all need to be protected from our own ignorance. Ask any fat, poor or rich person to make a short list of healthy foods and that list won’t differ substantially from a list provided by a skinny rich or poor person. It is not a lack of education or money, it is making free choices and they are free to make them as they choose.
I can partially agree Sam but I think you have been force fed to not think education has ANYTHING to do with it.
you are telling me someone with a 6th grade education will make the same choices as 12th grade education level or a College Grad ???
how can that be ?
on your others,
1. I agree on body things such as glands etc.
# 2 and 3 are part of the cause, and that cause is the mandates from our government.
there is no longer recess in schools, no dodge ball etc.. thanks to mandates.
people no longer have outdoor activities thanks to mandates… very hard to have fun anymore playing by all their rules.
I prefer Darwinism as the rule opposed to as the exception..
From above (because this system wouldn’t allow me to reply above):
“the government mandates our lives to us”
They tell us what to think and do. But we CHOOSE whether to do it or not.
“the BIGGEST parasites are.. they are, The International bankers and the Federal Reserve”
True! I agree. However, we still must NOT take personal responsibility out of the equation. Government be damned, we still have the ability to make our own choices. I know! I make choices every day. Some of them, our government definitely would not like! I know the difference between good health choices and bad health choices, and I STILL make bad ones sometimes. Education isn’t going to guarantee that anyone makes good choices…only that they know what the choices are.
As for the above statement, “I prefer Darwinism as the rule opposed to as the exception”….
Sure, let’s defend our fellow man to the Nth degree, then, support “survival of the fittest” in which we kill each other off to prove our individual strength and to ensure we live long enough to conquer our neighbors…
btw, I am thinking you must also think that the media blitz of items has no effect either then… the convenience of buying them hot pockets has no bearing in it all…lol
in any event, I appreciate your discussing this and not throwing a group herd thinking into the mix.
Thank you my fellow human!
Yeah, hot pockets, and pop tarts! Who eats those things anyway? The sugar and sodium would give you a coronary!
Junk food is pretty much a “soft kill” and the govt cant shove it down some of us fast enough…
We all know most fat people are fat because they are lazy gluttons who eat so much because someone else pays all (or most) of their bills, and then pays the costs associated with their obesity. The gubmint treats fat slobs as victims. They are victims alright, but victims of that same gubmint when it uses them for votes to stay in power.
People who are parasites on the a** of society should not get to decide how much that society pays to keep their lazy a** supplied with munchies.
Note: This IS the sugar-coated version.
Sorry for the rant, but in some ways I would welcome a huge shake-up so I could stop carrying these “people”.
I see this kind of crap everyday. I teach school and the number of kids I see on free and reduced lunch wearing Nikes, gold chains/teeth, and every damn one of them has a cell phone and an IPOD. On top of that I watch them throw the free food away and eat bags of chips and soda. This is the mentality that I fight when dealing with these kids, they expect everything to be given to them and its engrained in the way they act and think. Can’t spend two bucks for lunch,but you can wear nicer shoes and have more bling than I ever will. Need to get rid of all these social programs!!!
it was like that 20 yrs ago when I was in high school…the kids from the inner city were better dressed than me,wore better jewelry then me, drove better cars than me…and were on the free lunch program…UNLIKE me!!! We didn’t have much money back then, but my parents NEVER asked for anything from the Gov’t!! I can only imagine how bad it is these days…no wonder we are broke as a nation…Takers all around us….it really IS the ME generation, isn’t it?
Despite gubmint interference, these problems will correct themselves in time.
Too bad that a lot if innocents will get hammered in the process.
I canceled my Netflix account a few days ago. Why? because they raised their rates 60% and I decided I really didn’t need it for that price; Whats gonna happen when the cell phone companies, cable companies, and Best Buy raise their prices to counteract inflation, all while people’s 1st of the month checks remain the same amount?
More theft!!!!
This day in age and with gun ownership on the rise, you can only rob people so many times before you are permanently rehabilitated.
I remember the first time the USA sent seeds to Ethiopia to help them feed themselves.
The poor people there ate the seeds. we did not send anyone to teach them how to plant and grow it.. I am told here, education and the environment means nothing.
everyone in this country is just that,
Products of the Environment.
Darwin for our politicians: U-Haul, lightly salted sunflower seeds, clean water & birth control (clad coin that says place between knees) or free trip to Mars.
While I appreciate your thoughts and arguments, I stand by my original post except to amend it with one more, which in my haste, I neglected. Culture. There are more cultures that encourage and appreciate “largeness” than those that do not. In many cultures, being fat is a sign of wealth, health and is appreciated as beauty. I don’t share those sentiments, but it is what it is.
you are correct Sam.
I fully agree, culture is a very large part in it all… good point and thought.. touche with them good words 🙂
I have trouble believing that none of them have ever planted anything.
This is sensationalistic.
“usually have a DVD player, video gaming system, multiple televisions, a computer, washer and dryer, cable TV, dedicated internet, a cell phone”
Anything under 55% – or probably 65%, but let’s stick at 55% – cannot be classed as “usually”. Which rules out the cellphone, dryer, computer & dedicated internet from this list. Same with some of the other appliances e.g. dishwasher. So many whitegoods get thrown out by people that it’s quite feasible to repair these yourself for little or no cost.
I can pick up multiple television sets on the street from people throwing them out when they buy their flat screens, so I think multiple TV sets can be excluded from that list too.
There’s also rising malnutrition among children. Check this out:
http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/health/articles/2011/07/28/ranks_of_hungry_children_swell_worrying_doctors/
A rising hunger among children
BMC sees more who are dangerously thin and facing lasting problems
Doctors at a major Boston hospital report they are seeing more hungry and dangerously thin young children in the emergency room than at any time in more than a decade of surveying families.
Many families are unable to afford enough healthy food to feed their children, say the Boston Medical Center doctors. The resulting chronic hunger threatens to leave scores of infants and toddlers with lasting learning and developmental problems.
Before the economy soured in 2007, 12 percent of youngsters age 3 and under whose families were randomly surveyed in the hospital’s emergency department were significantly underweight. In 2010, that percentage jumped to 18 percent, and the tide does not appear to be abating, said Dr. Megan Sandel, an associate professor of pediatrics and public health at BMC.
“Food is costing more, and dollars don’t stretch as far,’’ Sandel said. “It’s hard to maintain a diet that is healthy.’’
The emergency room survey found a similarly striking increase in the percentage of families with children who reported they did not have enough food each month, from 18 percent in 2007 to 28 percent in 2010.
Pediatricians at hospitals in four other cities – Baltimore; Little Rock, Ark.; Minneapolis; and Philadelphia – also reported increases in the ranks of malnourished, hungry youngsters in their emergency rooms since 2008. But Boston’s increases were more dramatic, said Sandel, a lead investigator with Children’s HealthWatch, a network of researchers who track children’s health. Researchers said higher housing and heating costs in Massachusetts probably exacerbated the state’s surge.
BMC has also seen a 58 percent increase, from 24 in 2005 to 38 in 2010, in the number of severely underweight babies under the age of 1 who were referred by family physicians to its Grow Clinic, where doctors provide intensive nutritional, medical, and other services to boost babies’ growth. Such malnourishment is similar to what is more typically seen in developing countries, Sandel said.
It is just anecdotal, but as I look around I have trouble finding an underwieght American. That will, however change soon.
Where do you look around? In suburbs?
I used to work in inner city and did not see many overweight kids there. But I did see hungry kids.
And parents who were drunk @ 10am.
And parents who were selling food stamps (at that time they looked like little booklets) for 50 cents on a dollar so they buy something to get them high. The only food some of those kids were getting were their free school lunches.
No, not all people on food stamps are addicts, And no, not all kids are going to bed hungry, but many are.
38 severely underweight babies is NOT anecdotal.
the reason the “poor” have toys and cell phones is becuase they didn’t bother to buy silver or save extra cash.
matter of fact few have silver, gold or savings accounts.
I’m the cable TV installer & repair technician in my area and sometimes I must disconnect a person’s cable TV service if they fall behind on their monthly bill; I can tell you that I am, rarely, if ever, required to perform non-payment disconnects in the section 8 subsidized housing neighborhoods… premium level cable TV and Internet service is very affordable when YOU, Mr. and Mrs. American taxpayer, are subsidizing it!! I could go on for paragraphs about what these people enjoy on our dime but I won’t.
I was going to comment on this subject matter but have decided not to. You all know where I stand on this crap!
I’m so poor I don’t even care about having a jacuzzi. I had to choose between home phone and cell phone, so chose cell (cheapest carrier in town, same three-year-old phone) so my aging parents can reach me at any time. Had to choose between tv channels or internet. Chose internet ’cause it’s the only way to apply for a second job (or any job) anymore and ’cause you can actually learn something through it. Have 1 tv with two aerials I must constantly adjust and usually watch PBS or catch the weather report. My 1 DVD player requires a good whack 50% of the time to get it to read the disc. They CD player in the car needs multiple whacks every time for the same reason. Can’t even remember the last movie I saw in a theater, but remember it was a second-run theater. Gas has reached the point where I can only drive halfway to work and must bike it in the rest of the way. Can’t cook, so I get a $1 breakfast sandwich in the mornings, BUT I save it to eat as lunch and don’t eat again ’til I scrape something together at home in the evening. And I’m an office administrator working for the state!?!? This is my life after ten years of loyal and devoted service and no cost of living increase for five years running. But, I’m lucky I have a job… aren’t I? I’ve been trying to find a second job (other than fast food or Wally World) for 5 years. Applied for two more today. Have my fingers crossed. Wish me luck.
Keep the chamber clear AZ. Pull!
i come from a poor family. i am still poor according to the government officials and statitians. but, i have a cell phone, a color tv, a vcr that has never been used, a computer and printer, a new car, a house with a deck and a back porch, three guns, two working dogs, plenty of food and so forth and so on. but when the shtf big time i can and am prepared to live and survive without much of these items. i have never lived on the dole or taken from the government. and i do not plan to in the future. when someone tells me there are starving naked kids in the usa i really piss them off when i ask them to prove it.
If these people lived within their means, then they wouldn’t have TVs, DVD players, video gaming systems and cell phones for every member of their family. Oh, my! What would raise their kids if they couldn’t brush them off to those things?!?! And that, my friends, is where all the ignorance and piss-poor social skills begin. Rare are the parents who actually RAISE children anymore. They are doomed to fail from conception. And it’s the ignorant, uneducated and irresponsible folks who are breeding like rats, fast outnumbering the sober and sane. I was never in a financial position to afford to have even one child with the level of success I could condone, and now that clock’s all but unwound. Maybe, I should’ve squeezed out a litter and gotten paid for it. What a backwards mess.
20 years ago,when I was going to school, with 2 jobs (lucky to sleep 4 hours a night, no time) I remember being in line at a store, with my pop tarts,mac and cheese, and top ramen, and a lady (really fat and black) had 2 carts full of food, 1 she paid cash for and the other she paid with food stamps. I have been unemployed for a while, any how, THIS MORNING While I was in line at the grocery store,with the mac and cheese in hand, the SAME shit happened! Yappin on her cell phone all loud, brodcasting her life to everyone, like we give a shit! I am ranting now! sorry! My point is That kind of stuff is starting to really piss me off! I paid ALOT OF *UCKING TAXES LAST YEAR AND AUDITED FOR ANOTHER $7,000!!!!!! These people will never change!! I know, I mentioned her race, so I’m a racist!! What ever a$$holes!
I see the same shit bud..and it is the fuse I have been talking about that has been smoldering in this country for a long ass time.
im not going to be the one to light it..but someday soon i think its going to stop smoking and start burning til it hits the powder keg
and than all hells going to break loose
kevin, nawww, you aint racist. you just pissed off.. so am I.. we all are really.
with the food stamps issue making you mad rite now is because, that symptom, of this country being screwed is in FULL view of you and most others when you see that.. it be ‘in your face’ kind of action..
Don’t get me wrong, I am not trying to make excuses for it, I am only telling you that the things most people don’t see, things that are going in the background and behind closed doors (the corporations and gov corp) makes that look like NOTHING..
Them types and of course their actions, takes the finger pointing INSTEAD of where it should be first. if you follow me.. I hope so
ask yourself, why is she like that?
only 1 answer makes any sense and allows it.
That is because, That is how our Government and the Corporations want her to be. That is over 50 years of their grand plan coming together..
If the tax code is unfair, it’s because they want it unfair.
If the budget is in the red, it’s because they want it in the red.
If the Army & Marines are in Iraq and Afghanistan it’s because they want them in Iraq and Afghanistan …
I hope you get what I am meaning..LOL
I hear what you are saying VRF, I can only hope most people will know what direction they need to direct their pain.. I hope you also understand what I am saying… DK is far better with them meaningful words of encouragement in how it all works than I can.. 🙂
blacksheep, I’m not pissed, just venting! I HATE MAC AND CHEESE! That laddy using this card for that cart, and this card for the other cart, had alot of ribeye. Dam I wish I ate like that! When the teet money stops, that lady will eat mac and cheese!!!! I dont like seeing any people not eat, But if I had MY,,, YES MY, (“tax”) money right now, that I earned, I would be eating ribeye, and SHE would be doin the mac and cheese! But I eat my mac and cheese.
venting is good as long as you truly do know where the real blame goes… I hear ya in any event though.
I think it has been about 2 years since I had a rib eye.. Mmmm. me not like mac to much either lol.
I eat more cabbage than anything else. probably 5 nights a week the cabbage has or shares center stage with something else.. come to think of it, I did like mac and cheese mixed with cabbage, almost forget, that was good mac that way..lol
cheesy cheddar type of mac & cheese with cabbage. give er a try 🙂
yep , I fully undersatnd
DAM! she had alot of liquer, I am not invited to the party! I have to pay for it!
The “real” poor in this country are those who make just enough to not quality for most government assistance programs. 🙂
there is actually a lot of truth in them words.
nice input.
amen brother!
That’s us. My partner makes almost exactly the amount that qualifies us for absolutely zippo in assistance. We’re in another country, but the rent around here would be more than half his wages if we didn’t own this house, and we’re in a working class area. We just spent our $150 fortnightly food budget and filled up less than half a trolley.
I tried to get a tetanus shot at the county health office. They told me they only took the state’s indigent health program “insurance” and couldn’t help me. On my way out, I noticed that the parking lot was filled with way nicer vehicles than what I drive. Ironic that they qualify for free-to-them healthcare and drive $45K cars while we pay our own way and drive 8-15 yr old paid-for vehicles.
Oh, yeah.
I used to work for one of those clinic and staff’s vehicles were more modest that clients’.
We charged $10 per visit but had to take their word if they said they didn’t have any money and see them for free.
Were at a point now that the unemployed can’t even land a low pay, part-time job, while constantly being nagged at and looked down upon by family members and loved ones. They expect you to do whatever means necessary to make that single dollar.
It is only going to get worse from this point on. Were going to see more crime for the most petty things. In my neighborhood last week, someone stole a steel ramp from a handicapped person’s home so they can sell the ramp as scrap metal. This is how low people have stooped down to, stealing from handicapped, the poor, the elderly, etc…
We had shoplifters in the grocery store this week. Once folks pass up the jewelry and electronics in favor of bread and chicken, it’s a sure sign of change in the air.
Time for a pep talk.
Poor people on public assistance is the least of this country’s problems. I do not understand why this is harped on so much. It’s a lot harder to get public assistance than is portrayed. I know a lot of people who are on public assistance. They are actually elderly and handicapped people. Giving to the poor and the needy is a Christian, or humane thing to do. Jesus would do it.
One thing I am seeing though with public assistance is that immigrants and refugees seem to be getting more public assistance these days than Americans. In the past 7 years I’ve seen immigrant populations just skyrocket, they get more help finding jobs, getting houses or public housing, and educational opportunities just handed to them, and more help in terms of public assistance. It just seems so unfair to Americans who could use this help.
For the record, I am what most people would consider poor. I don’t make enough money to pay taxes, except the gov does steal social security taxes from my meager $11K pr/yr net income which I know I will never see again. I don’t receive any government assistance because I don’t qualify. I work at a very low paying job. I have a bachelor degree but can’t find a job in my field because of the poor economy.
The reason it is harped on is because they are living a lifestyle that is WAY beyond the norm of a true poor person. Manicures, hair weaves, eating out, buying only brand name food & steaks with food stamps (while I load up MY cart with generics & chicken), kids dropped off at school in a Mercedes who get a free lunch, etc. These are just a few of the indiscretions they exhibit.
I personally know a family who owns about 15 rental houses. They have a modest $200K personal residence. They have a paid for vacation lake house – value about $400K+. Their only child gets new clothes all the time. They just bought said child a 2 year old BMW to go to college in. Now here’s the sucker punch. The child is going to college on a PELL GRANT! Federal Education Welfare. With a net worth well over half a million.
If these Americans (and illegals) are truly poor, THEN ACT LIKE IT! Use what you have to eat & pay utilities instead of flaunting MY wealth in MY face.
It’s also a problem when you pay people not to work. Able bodied adults receiving money NOT TO WORK!
I hope this clear up the “poor in America” myth for you. 80% of the time, they aren’t poor.
Wow, they should have turned the teleprompter around so I could have read it.
The Untold Story of Gun Confiscation After Katrina
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-taU9d26wT4
One mistake..(or really a few more then one)
these people said yes we have guns, or showed them to em..
Dont offer up that info, or that intel.
hide them very very well, and never give up their location or that you own any
try this..if and when asked, act scared as fuck about guns..and repeat after me
“nope..dont have any..why do you ask?, are you going to give me one if i dont have one?”..just kidding..
treat it like the Just say No sloagan they use for drugs
Just say No ..and stick to your guns ..so to speak
VRF: The folks that got their guns taken away still trusted the government, we don’t!
You try to get through my gate when (SHTF) at the farm you will be shot. They will not be knocking at my door. They have to ring the bell at the gate – or we will ring yours. It’s a big gate to…with a custom cattle guard. I was told that I should get a patent on it. So I am the paper work is being done and is still processing.
O-well I’ll share it with ya’ll. It’s a cattle guard with a presser plate that trips and the plate drops and you have flat tires if you try to get through. Think punji pit for a truck or car or any large vehicle. You can’t see the spikes …that trick you have to figure out for yourselves… with a bit of drafting and a bit of your imagination you …can build one for your farm as well. It may just save you ass some day in the not so distant future.
Crap..! I almost forgot to put the locking pin’s back in the cattle guard!!! LOL
Keep Prepping!
Bloodyfellow ….. So I guess they’ll be driving out to your place in a tracked AFV then?
Nomadic Survivor Guy:
I was referring to mostly civilian vehicles….If a AFV wants to come a knocking. It’s plan (b) However I truly doubt that things will go that far! However I don’t think AFV’s are going to be a problem.
NSG… You seem like a sharp fellow hope you farewell in your part of the world. I do wish you well and for what it’s worth,… I think I may have been wrong about you after all.
The whole entitlement system is broken and has been since its inception. Example: In the late 70’s I went back into the army just ahead of the collapse of the timber industry. I arrived in Alaska a PFC (E-3) with a wife and two children. Because of my low rank, I had to live off-post in Anchorage. The low wages made me tentatively eligible for assistance. My wife at the time took all the paperwork down to the public assistance office and “dip me in shit and roll me in graham cracker crumbs,” we didn’t qualify even though Sgt (E-5) with wife and 2 children on post did. Turns out the bureaucrat was honest and stated that the reason we failed to qualify was we were too frugal in our spending habits. Her suggestion was to buy a newer car or move into a more expensive apartment.
Broken and it will stay that way.
Giving to the needy is a virtue. The gov’t does NOT give. It takes and redistributes without my assent. That is NOT giving. Retaining assets while on assistance is BS. I have to sell my assets to make ends meet. Why NOT those on assistance? As income waxes and wanes, the intelligent person adjusts spending habits. Oops, intelligent now seems to infer play the system. Reckon that makes me the fool. Never mind.
overtheedge you are rite.. it is broken and warped.
if you have your home, land and car/truck (everything) paid for, and then hit hard times you will not get jack… But if you are in debt up to the gills to the banks on all them things, you then qualify because you have been living paycheck to paycheck for the banks to get your sweat while they control you..
They want it this way.. everyone selling their soul to the devil for materialistic gain.. I see it as giving the bankers everything the bankers want.. to own it ALL.
this is a stupid game.
create paper out of nothing and get land, gold, silver and hard assets in return. what a bad joke..
I Reckon that makes me the fool too.
WHY DO THEY WANT OUR GUNS?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j73SsNFgBO4&feature=related
Yea, funny how persistent the gubmint is on that point. Almost as though they want any protesters to be reduced to throwing rocks at heavily armed and armored police/soldiers.
If you think that stealing food is a sure sign of the times getting hard, then you will be sure that the times are hard, when you see that someone has stolen a roll of toilet paper out of a package…I have. Walmart has more employees than customers at times, and they actually are polite and ask if they can help you…very strange.
Regardless of whether people are taught to live this way or if its a matter of their culture or theyre freakin lazy or any of a handful of other reasons(seems there are several that add up to mess)…regardless,people were not intended to live like this,societies can not function like this for long.
There are “laws” written into our universe,like the law of the jungle…the law of planting and reaping what you planted…the law of what goes around comes around,there are others but y’all know what I mean…sooner or later regardless of who or what is responsible this will blow up on these people and on the planners who have pushed this scenario,you can defy the law of gravity for instance as long as you have enough force applied by the law of lift…lose the lift and you crash to earth,dont matter who you are or how much you believe you are special,youre going down,same applies to people living on the backs of others,this can only work when the law of force is applied to those who have and produce something,as soon as the gun of the states power is removed from the heads of the producers the law of the jungle and all the others will kick in and because they have been un-naturally restrained for decades when they correct itll be hell!
Its a wall of reckoning that no power on earth can hold back for much longer…it about to hit the fan …and wash the fan away too! Just an observation,thanks!
I’d be more impressed if the information had been arranged by a group other than the Heritage Foundation. Even if their bias were on the level, we’re talking pennies for these people when compared to the subsidies and breaks that the Heritage Foundation has no problem with.
I’m black, retired social worker, just got really sick of the system. The welfare mentality has no color. I live in a very rual area of Maine. I know mostly white people that play the system. I have a neighbor that’s 350 pounds, gets ssi. food stamps, buys all her food from the Swans truck, gets so many minutes a month free for her cell phone. I try to talk to her and others about shtf. They don’t have a clue. These people can not imagine not getting their stamps or checks every month. I told my husband we would have to feed her and her children when shtf happens. One good thing, she will lose weight. I’m not trying to be funny. It is very sad.
There are some seriously brainwashed people posting on this site. The man did not put you anywhere or hold you down. Like Lynda I too work in the projects, section 8 and have for more then most of you have been alive.
I do not discriminate as I know the numbers. Most of them are young ladies that choose not to fricking work and sit on their dead arses. Yes you can get a free cell with 250 minutes a month. I see whats in their fridges and I see their vehicles that are newer then the guy fixing their apartments. I see the flat screens, internet and video game machines. I see all of it. So you all keep on spouting the bull crap about how you have been brainwashed. Most of the folks I work with have PHD’s in sucking on the system and they will actually tell why work when we get it from you for free.
The only people getting screwed in this country are the taxpayers, elderly, and disabled. The truth hurts but here it is.
Average wage in my area is $8-10.00 an hour, lets say $10 just because its an easy number to work with.
$10/hr.x40hr/wk=$400-15%taxes=$340.00x4wks=$1360.00/month; we wont even mess with medicare, local and state taxes or any thing else.
Average housing cost in my area $450.-550./ month.
1360.-500.=860.
It’s a rural area so if you have a job you drive about 50 miles to get to it. Lets even say your car is paid off. My 1991 van gets pretty good mileage for its age and its about average around here so I will use that as an example. It costs me about $12 to make that trip to and from the 50 miles once so x 5/days/wk.x4wks./mnth.=$240.00 gasoline. My car insurance is 50.00 a month, with my perfect driving record.
860.00-(240.00+50.)=570.00
now subtract food.. I have a small garden (I own my home so I have to pay for house insurance too, thats another $50 a month.) and my parents have a huge garden (2.5 acres)so we will say that its harvested year round even though it isn’t so I don’t have to buy produce. So average $50 a week for food x4wks=$200+$50 home insurance a month.
570.-250.=330.00
Child care.. this wont count for most people because I have an impaired kid and his day care runs about $5. an hour. So here comes the SSI you all claim is free money. HAHA… Full benefits for him so $673. a month~ That still leaves me to pay for $127. a month. (its actually a bit more than that for travel times)
330.-127.=203.
Oh you want to have electric and cook and you want heat? GAAHHH damn you’re needy!
And now you are robbing Peter to pay Paul. And that’s with “Free Money”, no frills, no emergency breakage of the old car. no oil for the car either or any other upkeep. No going to dinner, or seeing a movie and no one you know ever gets a birthday gift, or Christmas gift and you don’t get to shower or wipe! 🙂 lol
Now you fall from a ladder attempting to repair a leak in the roof yourself because you sure as heck cant afford to pay someone else to do it.
Just sayen… Life… What are ya gonna do?
Average wage in my area is $8-10.00 an hour, lets say $10 just because its an easy number to work with.
$10/hr.x40hr/wk=$400-15%taxes=$340.00x4wks=$1360.00/month; we wont even mess with medicare, local and state taxes or any thing else.
Average housing cost in my area $450.-550./ month.
1360.-500.=860.
It’s a rural area so if you have a job you drive about 50 miles to get to it. Lets even say your car is paid off. My 1991 van gets pretty good mileage for its age and its about average around here so I will use that as an example. It costs me about $12 to make that trip to and from the 50 miles once so x 5/days/wk.x4wks./mnth.=$240.00 gasoline. My car insurance is 50.00 a month, with my perfect driving record.
860.00-(240.00+50.)=570.00
now subtract food.. I have a small garden (I own my home so I have to pay for house insurance too, thats another $50 a month.) and my parents have a huge garden (2.5 acres)so we will say that its harvested year round even though it isn’t so I don’t have to buy produce. So average $50 a week for food x4wks=$200+$50 home insurance a month.
570.-250.=330.00
Child care.. this wont count for most people because I have an impaired kid and his day care runs about $5. an hour. So here comes the SSI you all claim is free money. HAHA… Full benefits for him so $673. a month~ That still leaves me to pay for $127. a month. (its actually a bit more than that for travel times)
330.-127.=203.
Oh you want to have electric and cook and you want heat? GAAHHH damn you’re needy!
And now you are robbing Peter to pay Paul. And that’s with “Free Money”, no frills, no emergency breakage of the old car. no oil for the car either or any other upkeep. No going to dinner, or seeing a movie and no one you know ever gets a birthday gift, or Christmas gift and you don’t get to shower or wipe! 🙂 lol
Now you fall from a ladder attempting to repair a leak in the roof yourself because you sure as heck cant afford to pay someone else to do it.
Just sayen… Life… What are ya gonna do?