Why the demonization of the poor and homless?

[DrNewGod]

Among the middle class, and even the poor, there's often a religious element to it: God wouldn't let them be poor unless it's His Will, for whatever reason.

Does anyone really think that?

I don't doubt it.
I have often been told by church people that my health issues for instance are because god has a plan with me. And our religious nuts are way milder than America's.

Big part of why I became an atheist.

You'll get few people that are that explicit about the poor and homeless, but yeah, people really do think that. That's before we even get into the Olsteen Prosperity Salvation crowd. They're just plain bonkers, trying to buy hell insurance and a license to be both selfish and smug in one handy package.

[Photon Torme]

I never refuse money when somebody asks but sometimes wonder if I should. ARE they only going to spend on Alcohol or something that's going to hurt themselves. I always figure if they are scamming me or if they're going to use the money in a self destructive way then that Karma lies with them. I've only once felt INTIMIDATED into giving someone money. There was one time at Mcdonalds on a day that I was very sour and down on everything that a guy asked me for a buck for some coffee. I figured I was being suckered and I was kind of surly with him but forked over the money .... adding some money for tax. As I sat at my booth drinking my coffee, the guy surprised me by giving me back some change. I think being able to give is a gift or blessing in itself

[Trey Strain]

So they're not like the phones you can get prepaid at the store? Because that's what I heard them being described was whenever some ass complained about them on the radio. They made it seem like people benefiting from that federal program were getting iPhones but they were TracFones last I checked.

Nope. They're just phones. They have no video display. But people can text with them.

[Trey Strain]

Oh, and here's something else. The maximum anyone can get in EBT benefits is $189 a month. That's $6.30 a day.

Do any of you think you could survive on $6.30 worth of food a day?

And people usually get less than that!

[PaulBullion]

The needy will never be popular.

There is a long history of beloved poor characters in pop culture and literature.







If you hate the poor, that may be your political leanings showing.

[Trey Strain]

There is a long history of beloved poor characters in pop culture and literature.







If you hate the poor, that may be your political leanings showing.

If you watch movies that were made during and just after the Great Depression, the rich were usually portrayed as fools, and the poor as wise. For a long time though it's been the other way around. The rich are seen as "cool" now.

[PaulBullion]

If you watch movies that were made during and just after the Great Depression, the rich were usually portrayed as fools, and the poor as wise. For a long time though it's been the other way around. The rich are seen as "cool" now.

Hippy culture in the 60s and 70s held similar values.

Roseanne was one of the most popular sticoms from 1988 to 1997, celebrating the working poor.

[Emperor-of-Dragons]

That all changes when you bring in race though. That's the elephant in the room.

[PaulBullion]

That all changes when you bring in race though. That's the elephant in the room.

Depends. Lots of white people always bought blues records about being poor, or hummed along to ballads like "I who have nothing". And then of course, you have the more problematic poor black characters like Mister Bojangles.

[Emperor-of-Dragons]

Oh, and here's something else. The maximum anyone can get in EBT benefits is $189 a month. That's $6.30 a day.

Do any of you think you could survive on $6.30 worth of food a day?

And people usually get less than that!

My mom gets 150, that's about a week and a half's worth of food...... at best.

[Trey Strain]

My mom gets 150, that's about a week and a half's worth of food...... at best.

People who complain about aid programs are usually ignorant about how small the benefits are. And unlike every other developed country, the United States sees health care as a privilege, not a right.

You can get $300 a month in General Relief, but you have to have no assets and less than $50 in the bank. In other words, you probably have to be homeless. I knew a guy who was denied GR because he owned $500 in McDonald's stock that he got as a benefit for working there. He offered to sell it, but they told him it was too late. He said they acted as if he had been trying to scam them.

America is very cruel to its poor, but many Americans complain that their poor have it too easy.

[Emperor-of-Dragons]

People who complain about aid programs are usually ignorant about how small the benefits are. And unlike every other developed country, the United States sees health care as a privilege, not a right.

You can get $300 a month in General Relief, but you have to have no assets and less than $50 in the bank. In other words, you probably have to be homeless. I knew a guy who was denied GR because he owned $500 in McDonald's stock that he got as a benefit for working there. He offered to sell it, but they told him it was too late. He said they acted as if he had been trying to scam them.

America is very cruel to its poor, but many Americans complain that their poor have it too easy.

There's also the fact my mom is on dialysis, you wouldn't believe the hurdles she had to jump through to get disability. And here in Alabama there's not a lot of places you can stay for seven something a month. Once she got her SS they took away the former because it was over 700$. You get the very bare minimum with government assistance. They kept trying to find ways to screw her over, any kinda of loophole. And the employers of SS are complete apathetic assholes, who shouldn't be dealing with the public.

[Trey Strain]

There's also the fact my mom is on dialysis, you wouldn't believe the hurdles she had to jump through to get disability. And here in Alabama there's not a lot of places you can stay for seven something a month. Once she got her SS they took away the former because it was over 700$. You get the very bare minimum with government assistance. They kept trying to find ways to screw her over, any kinda of loophole. And the employers of SS are complete apathetic assholes, who shouldn't be dealing with the public.

She could probably get free medical care in California but she'd have to live far away from any high-rent city to make a move economically worthwhile.

[Madam-Shogun-Assassin]

Something else i find disgusting is the fact stores intentionally destroy food instead of giving them to the homeless, there's also a twitter post about a Eddie Bauer store DESTROYING jackets, and blankets so nobody could wear them...LIKE FUCKIN REALLY???!!

[Crazy Diamond]

Something else i find disgusting is the fact stores intentionally destroy food instead of giving them to the homeless, there's also a twitter post about a Eddie Bauer store DESTROYING jackets, and blankets so nobody could wear them...LIKE FUCKIN REALLY???!!

The part on food is because of the law (at least in the United States). They don't want to risk giving old food that then makes somebody sick. But that's what happens when stuff is produced not for necessity or use, but because it has to be traded on a market. What use is excess food if it can't be sold? Hence the garbage. It's messed up.

The same with the jackets and blankets. Some retailers and cloth makers take the excess stock (overproduction) and give it to companies that sell it at a discount (outlet stores, some online retailers, places like Ross (US brand that sells designer stuff at a discount)). I'm surprised that Eddie Bauer didn't try that first. Not to mention the trend of fast fashion which has all sorts of effects. But if it can't be sold on a market, what use do the clothes have? Eddie Bauer would rather destroy the clothes than lose money giving them away for free. So much for corporate social responsibility. That only matters when it makes for good PR see.