Look at things a little more objectively

Spud,

Take $10 to Meijers and see how many HEALTHY meals you can buy. You can get maybe a head of lettuce, a can of beans and maybe a couple CHEAP steaks. Or, you can buy cheap bread, one dollar pizzas, cheap pop, microwaveable dinners, etc, which are MUCH cheaper. Maybe if it wasnt so damn expensive to eat healthy, the poor wouldnt be so fat. Yes, its their choice to spend their hard earned money on crap food that only adds to their health ailments. But, if i had a family of four, and i had to choose to take $10 to the store and buy one healthy meal that would only really feed two people or take $10 to the store and buy 5 meals fthat would feed four people....what would you choose? I wouldnt say "No healthcare for poor people because they are obese and dont make healthy choices" without thinking critcally on how they have ended up in their circumstances to not be able to make healthy decisions. And please stop stereotyping poor people - yes, some people are poor because of bad decisions, but should a child suffer that is born into a poor family? Or should we shun the family that cant afford their house payment anymore because their Mfg got outsourced?

Re: More hate mail

So because I am liberal I am automatically "simply unable to comprehend such a concise, rational argument"? Wow. Have you ever been to mexican town in Detroit? There are no super markets. Many of the poor have no transportation, other than buses. So, you can either jump a bus (pay to ride it) take a few hours and go to a store and get over charged for "health food" (by the way, with all the crazy preservatives you should buy organic, but cannot afford to do so). Or, run up to the corner 7 Eleven and grab a hot dog, and maybe a box of Pizza Rolls. But most crazed conservatives have never been to an inner city to "stop and smell the roses" Have fun voting for McCain. If by some stroke of luck he does get elected, maybe we can have another 4 years a great as the last 8! See ya in Iraq, oh wait, or is it Iran? I always get those confused.

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Mike,

Tell that person with $10 to find a better job and quit bitching. Can't find a job in Michigan, move. Back in the day people used to wagon their families across the whole country to find a better job. Now the common practice is to stay put and expect government handouts. No sympathy from me

Re: More hate mail

Joel,

No sympathy? Seriously, it troubles me how much we have distanced ourselves from our fellow man. We are the richest nation in the world, but yet we dont give a shit that people are literally dying from things that are entirely preventable. I bet if it was a family member that was in the situation, you would think differently. And Joel, it should be noted that the Government is largely responsible for the economic recession we are in, as well as the stagnant wages and the dramatically high un-employment rate. Is it so bad that someone would want help from the people that have helped put them in that situation (and please note i say help because i because i know you would be all over me if i blamed it all on the gov't, i know the individual is responsible as well). And maybe just humor yourself and go through what it would actually take to just "find a better job" or "pick up and move". I wonder how easy it is to get a job without an address? Or go to an interview with dirty clothes because you quit the "crap job" that wasnt paying enough and "picked up and moved", like you suggested, and now have no money to even buy food, let alone wash their clothes. And it is just the EASIEST thing in the world to just walk down the street and find a better job. Again, pretend you were looking at a family of four; the dad lost his job from a plant that he worked at for 20 years, the mom works at a low wage job because they depended on the dad to pay the bills, the kids are to yound to work, and now they are being evicted from their house becaue they cant pay their mortage, all the money they do have goes to just sustaining their existence, they cant put any in savings in order to move; all they are asking for is a little help to get back on their feet; TELL ME THE HONEST, WHOLE HEARTED TRUTH that you would look those parents right in the face and say "quit your bitching, just go get a better job." Its real easy to send emails and preach over a microphone about this type of stuff, but in order to do it with some sort of dignity you have to at least make a genuine effort to look at things from the other side of the tracks. There is this little thing called "empathy" that assists in having this other emotion called "compassion." Maybe the world might be a better place if we all employed them both a little more.

Re: More hate mail

Mike,

This lack of sympathy stems from the attitude many of these people have developed. For instance your example, this family of four, father is laid off, family has little to no money, thus father is too smelly to find a new job, you know that one. Look, I'll sympathize breifly, and whole-heartedly, as long as messures are taken by the father to find new work and be willing to follow work wherever it may lead. What bothers me are the people that give up, and accept the defeat. These people then blame government for not stepping in and helping, all the while expecting some sort of hand out to save the day.

And by the way, my father was one of these people. And yes I did tell him to "quit his bitching and find another job." It wasn't immediate, but he stopped complaining and expecting handouts. He found a new job, and is doing fine. You can talk all day about lack of compassion and empathy, you can put quotes on them to help them stand out, but at the end of the day too much compassion and empathy can lead to a loss of drive and selfloathing.

Re: More hate mail

Joel,

I called you the other day and told you that i disagree with 95% of what you say but when i do agree, i agree spot on. I 100% whole heartedly agree that people should not expect handouts and they should make every effort to find new employment. All i really want from you is an acknowledgment that it really isnt as easy to just "go find a better job" as some people try to make it. We as a society, including our government, should want to help those people that stumble to get back on their feet but be firm enough to make sure they realize they must rely on themselves as well. Also, it should also be acknowledged that our society would not function without droves of people working in low wage jobs (your grocers, your fast food employees, your gas station employees, etc). In these instances, these people go to work 40 hours a week and sometimes work two of these low wage jobs (which is why they are referred to as the working poor). I know your retaliation will be that these people should not be working in these jobs if they have a family and they should get better jobs and so on and so forth. I'm hoping you arent too dense to admit that this isnt always possible. And in those instances, you have people working 40 to 80 hours a week and they still cant make, and you cant say its not for a lack of effort. Wouldnt these people be entitled to some help? Wouldnt it be morally just that the people that make good money and use the services that these people provide want to maybe help them out a little if they NEED it?

Re: More hate mail

Mike,

Although "Joel" makes some very good points here, you seem to be under the impression that he is me.

Sadly, he's not. If I ever post a comment here, rest assured I'll use MY name.

Thanks for reading and listening,

Spud