The Ghost of RubangB said:
Kasz216 said:
The Ghost of RubangB said:
I don't even care about shrinking the Gini coefficient. I just want taxes to be high enough to pay for a safety net so I don't have to see my neighbors starve to death. It's disgusting. In cold cities like New York they actually freeze to death overnight, and if you're unlucky enough to be walking home at 4 or 5 in the morning you actually have to step over frozen dead humans.
I really don't care about the gap between the rich and the poor on its own. As long as the poor can eat and not die, the rich can get as rich as they want and blow all their money on their stupid $100 cheeseburgers and $1000 pizzas and food with little bits of tasteless gold sprinkles in it.
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As sad as it is... saftey nets aren't going to stop that sort of thing... they're barely going to put a dent in it.
The majority of people in need don't take advantage of what's there, even in countries with more saftey nets.
I think it's because of the nature of "Saftey nets" in that they are just that, a net where someone catches you. Most people that low are too prideful to get the help they need.
I mean, you see those kind of homeless people on the street all the time, or at least I do. The ones that try and sell you stuff, and when you give them money for free, they feel bad... they almost give it back, sometimes they try to and you have to convince them that it's ok.
A lot of people don't want a handout, they want to work for their living, or die trying unless you activly seek out and almost force them to go to a shelter or give them money.
A lot of other people are just ignorant of the options out there... afterall there is no "Citizens guidebook" you get nobody tells you where foodbanks are, how you apply for foodstamps, if you qualify, where to apply for energy vouchers... (which generally will pay for heating costs if you have a house or apartment)... where shelters are... etc.
Money isn't the problem the majority of the time. It's education of programs and locations.
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Yeah that's a good point. This past year I was actually eligible for food stamps but too proud to get them. They say that "people want roles instead of goals." It's more important to feel like you're part of something important, even if it's not actually important. Jobs are more important for confidence than money in that respect.
I've been painfully underemployed a few times, working part time at 2 jobs, going to school, and paying for groceries on a credit card. Tried doing 3 shitty jobs at once for a whlie, but it just started to mess up my sleep and make me go crazy. And that's when I start feeling like Donald Duck. I can understand the appeal of pink-faced half-wits like Glenn Beck.
Education's really the answer to everything.
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It's been the same with me. Don't think I ever qualfied for food stamps, but i've never collected unemployment
Education, a trying to "decrease" pride and offering those people roles for their help... as an option.
Oh, also FYI, i've read that apparently the heat is worse then the cold believe it or not. Even in areas that snowy areas. I hear more homeless people die in the heat in canada then the cold.... so i can only imagine what it's like for the US.
