Overly angry rant.

Since SCOTUS punted for at least one more day (Seriously, they are trolling us) I will take this opportunity to Blog about what really got me angry yesterday. And I mean really, really angry.

Watching Mellissa Harris Perry’s Show (and if you don’t watch you should), the topic of SNAP and Farm Subsidies came up. I made the logical comment that we shouldn’t be incentivizing HFCS and instead should use that money to increase SNAP benefits so that people could afford healthy food such as veggies. Predictably I was trolled by a bunch of conservatives who wanted to put down SNAP beneficiaries with all the predictable, hate-based lies that can be expected. I ignored and blocked them because I know better than to engage their vitriol. Later I was encouraged by friends to read Kluwe’s Salon article debunking Ayn Rand….And it made me angrier. Because in it he buys into the pseudo-liberal myth that there is such a thing as “The welfare collectors who churn out babies because it means another weekly check to buy shoes or purses.” Now I wanted to vomit. Because this is a liberal buying into and dispersing RW propaganda that only encourages shrinking the safety net even more. This is EXACTLY what I was complaining about in my last post. I am unsure as to why, maybe some of my fellow liberals actually buy this BS, but over and over again I hear “of course we want to weed out the ‘takers’, too.”  As if this mythical subgroup exists. At all.

First, most adult SNAP beneficiaries work. Those that don’t fall mainly into three categories: the disabled, the elderly, and college students. Now onto the Welfare lies. The average benefit is between $400-600 a MONTH. These mothers are lucky if they can keep a roof over their head for that, they are certainly not buying purses or shoes because they popped out another baby. If they have more children it’s most likely because they continue to have human sexual desires w/o being able to afford birth control.

Since 1996, mothers are kicked off TANF after five years and are required to get job training/and or work. Only disability doesn’t have a work requirement…cause, y’know, they’re DISABLED! Most Welfare recipients are fleeing abusive relationships and only use it while their kids are very young. But that doesn’t play well with the poor-shaming crowd...Let’s not let facts get in the way…

Fact, in some Scandinavian countries you get a guaranteed monthly allowance whether you work or not. You literally get a living wage for doing NOTHING. Even if you have no children. So there is a large percentage living off that, right? No. Their unemployment rate is lower, because (contrary to popular belief) most people want to work, want to raise their station and if childcare/job availability/low wages don’t stand in the way…they do.

Another common complaint among even my fellow liberals is “these supposedly poor” people having phones, Internet, etc. Because you are supposed to live on the edge of starvation in a cardboard box before you ask for help? People cannot get jobs, job training, etc. anymore without these things. And, seriously, these are still PEOPLE. I don’t believe making people grovel and feel unworthy of even the smallest pleasure encourages people to do anything but feel worthless and depressed. As I said last time, people’s poverty and struggles are not necessarily the result of bad choices. And even if the are: Bad choices don't erase your humanity and don't invalidate pain.

 Want to change things my fellow Liberals? Stop joining the Cons in poor-shaming lies. Start demanding we fund education (such as COLLEGE) for poor, single moms/dads if they want it. Make childcare (especially nights/weekends for retail/service workers) available for all. HELP people!  And, personally, I’d rather fund the EXTREMELY small percentage that doesn’t want to work than continue to make it nearly impossible for those that need help to get it. Stop making the income requirements ridiculously low so that you have to be destitute before you can get help. It’s harder to climb out poverty if you have to reach the bottom before the safety net catches you. Stop making the money benefits ridiculously small and discouraging people from saving money, as that will cost them benefits. Stop encouraging the greed of businesses, which won’t pay a living wage nor fund the safety net they make necessary. Don’t be like RWNJs, please. Again, let’s stop arguing their case for them. Let them prove their “welfare queens” exist and, if they do, are anything more than an aberration.

Let love and compassion guide us, my friends.