Newspaper headline...

[LeahMira]

"40 years later, empathy for poor gives way to resentment"

http://www.delawareonline.com/newsjournal/local/2004/03/15waronpovertymor.html

So, is it the fault now of the poor that they are poor? One person is quoted as saying that his heroin addiction cost him his job and his home, so he doesn't expect society's sympathy. Apparently he is clean now, so that being the case, why would society fail to be sympathetic enough to help him get on his feet now? I think he should get help, and I think he is mistaken. What about society today is making these folks feel so bad about themselves? Why are we turning on the poor?

"The Delaware Housing Coalition recently finished its Realities of Poverty report, a look at housing, hunger, health coverage, welfare and other issues affecting the poor. The report concludes with two dozen recommendations, such as raising the minimum wage, providing universal health insurance, expanding benefits for low-wage workers, cracking down on predatory lending, building more low-income housing and others."

It's an interesting article. For once, the local newspaper "done good."

Personally, I think we are resentful is because we are afraid of being among the poor ourselves and scared to give of what we have to help them for fear of not having enough to survive ourselves. Then, there is plain old greed among some. But if the political situation continues and the nation becomes more and more in debt, hadn't we better start taking care of one another pretty soon?

[Mountainman]

1. If someone asks me for a handout I give it to them if I have it

I don't care why they need it. If they need money for food or booze it is up to them how they spend it. I feel better doing that than I would spending it on pizza or something.

When I was a little kid I was told to look on those lest fortunate than me to see Jesus in them. Would you turn Jesus away because he didn't have a good job?

[elfwitch]

8. It's a mitzvah

A mitzvah refers to any Jewish religious obligation, or more generally to any good deed. We are required to help those in need. My husband and I keep change in the car for the folks that hang out at stop lights and such. We don't care what they do with the money. It is just something you should do.

Not to refrain from maintaining a poor man and giving him what he needs (Deut. 15 : 7)

[Mountainman]

9. I really like a lot of the Jewish ideas and things

Espescially that they don't try to convert me or take over my government and the debt forgiveness.

[elfwitch]

10. We don't try to convert anybody

Hell, if you want to convert rabbis are required to turn you away three times. It is a tough process and not for the casual religion hopper. And once you convert, you are considered a Jew for the rest of your life even if you don't practice the religion any more.

There aren't too many of us. We try not to start trouble when it can be avoided.

[Skip Intro]

2. Plain old greed

And ten to one the people who say the poor are undeserving of help, sympathy or pity - "they like being homeless" as someone said to me once - would describe themselves as passionate, good Christians. And they'd counter any mention of the golden rule with "the Lord helps those that help themselves." Christ-like, ain't it?

Besides, they gotta fill up them 10mpg SUVs every few miles. What's another's hunger compared to that?

[DuctapeFatwa]

5. Affluent Americans don't mind paying extra if it means the poor will

suffer a little more.

Study after study has shown that it would cost a lot less to provide job training (for real jobs that people can live on, not "food service") while paying 100% of housing, food, transportation and child care during the training period than it costs to provide the pork barrel bureaucratic programs that do nothing to help the poor become self-supporting and everything to accelerate the subsumption of the children into the criminal justice system, where as inmates, they finally make an important economic contribution - helping to keep America's growing prison industry strong and a perennial investor favorite.

Similar studies have been done showing that providing housing for the homeless would be cheaper than locking them up, chasing them from place to place, building fences around grates they may use to seek warmth, gating office parks, hiring guards whose only real function is to prevent the homeless from using public restrooms.

As the transition to feudalism progresses, though, I think the poster has a point. Many Americans have a little extra loathing for the poor these days because so many of them are living 1 or 2 checks from the street themselves.

[Bandit]

3. Why are we turning on the poor?

Because the Right-wing Christians think that is what Jesus wants. It is mostly Conservatives that feel this way and they are the Party of Christ.....aren't they?

[John BigBootay]

4. Living in Downtown L.A. "cured" me of giving to homeless--

I give now to organized charities, figuring they have better luck in making sure the money goes to food, shelter, etc.

[lectrobyte]

6. Iggy Pop says it the best: This whole country is scared of failure

and that pretty much sums it up.

[rbnyc]

7. I just love Iggy Pop. (nt)