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Reuters article.
I was on food stamps for a while in the early 90s, during the FIRST Bush recession, when I had just graduated from college. My roommates at the time went in to the office together, submitted all our documentation, and even though we were all working, we still made so little money relative to our expenses that we qualified.
I was not ashamed. I refused to be ashamed. The idea that government food assistance is something to be ashamed of is a right-wing meme, and it is WRONG - most people who collect assistance of any kind ARE working. I worked full-time--hard, night hours--and still qualified. It was my EMPLOYER who should have been ashamed, not me.
And stop with the "taxpayer" meme too - even when I had that cheap-ass low-paying job, there was still state and federal income tax taken out of my paycheck. As there still is. And I'm fine with that! Assistance to the poor is a miniscule fraction of the federal budget compared to the military-industrial complex. I accept that we don't get to dictate where our tax money goes, but given my choice, I would SO much rather have my money go towards feeding people here than killing people overseas.
I just want to say, if you're one of the 1 in 8, you have nothing to be ashamed of. You have a right to help when you need it. Don't be afraid to ask - sustaining your life IS a worthy expenditure of taxpayers funds. You are worthy, and you deserve it.
And speaking of statistics, on this Memorial Day, 1 in 4 homeless people in America is a veteran.
I was on food stamps for a while in the early 90s, during the FIRST Bush recession, when I had just graduated from college. My roommates at the time went in to the office together, submitted all our documentation, and even though we were all working, we still made so little money relative to our expenses that we qualified.
I was not ashamed. I refused to be ashamed. The idea that government food assistance is something to be ashamed of is a right-wing meme, and it is WRONG - most people who collect assistance of any kind ARE working. I worked full-time--hard, night hours--and still qualified. It was my EMPLOYER who should have been ashamed, not me.
And stop with the "taxpayer" meme too - even when I had that cheap-ass low-paying job, there was still state and federal income tax taken out of my paycheck. As there still is. And I'm fine with that! Assistance to the poor is a miniscule fraction of the federal budget compared to the military-industrial complex. I accept that we don't get to dictate where our tax money goes, but given my choice, I would SO much rather have my money go towards feeding people here than killing people overseas.
I just want to say, if you're one of the 1 in 8, you have nothing to be ashamed of. You have a right to help when you need it. Don't be afraid to ask - sustaining your life IS a worthy expenditure of taxpayers funds. You are worthy, and you deserve it.
And speaking of statistics, on this Memorial Day, 1 in 4 homeless people in America is a veteran.
