on being poor..

[jbm]

I was looking for info for another discussion and came across this post. Every bush supporter in the country should have to read this.


http://www.scalzi.com/whatever/003704.html

<snip>
Being poor is knowing exactly how much everything costs.

Being poor is getting angry at your kids for asking for all the crap they see on TV.

Being poor is having to keep buying $800 cars because they're what you can afford, and then having the cars break down on you, because there's not an $800 car in America that's worth a damn.

Being poor is hoping the toothache goes away.

Being poor is knowing your kid goes to friends' houses but never has friends over to yours.

<snip>

[Erika]

1. Reagan' fruition of cutbacks to the needy

and shame for those who are poor.

[Drum]

2. What you've included here hits it right on the head...

What is the line from that poem..."a dream deferred"?

Being poor is a continual pushing of one's upward gaze downward...the starvation of hope and optimism.

[knowbody0]

3. my sister once said

"we can't afford to fuck" that's how poor she and her family once were.

[SeattleGirl]

12. I like that. Here's one a friend of mine used to say:

"I'm so poor I can't pay attention." This guy was in dire straights at the time.

[proud2BlibKansan]

4. They need to read this book

I highly recommend it.

[niyad]

5. "so poor I can't afford to pay attention" is an old, alas true one.

[Kali]

6. pretty rough to read

even though I can relate to quite a few. Some by choice, though.

[hardrainfallin]

7. hey, you think READING it is bad,

try it on for a "lifestyle"

(sorry, sometimes I just get completely out of control about how oblivious MOST people in this country are to poverty at their own doorstep). And that poverty is NOT something that came in with Hurricane George.

[Kali]

11. I can relate to quite a few - as in how my life IS ...

that is why it was hard to read. Do I need to list them?

[hardrainfallin]

15. No. And i"m just damn glad it's the way

my life AIN"T (anymore).

There is nothing glamorous about being poor, especially not when the poverty is intergenerational.

What I don't get is how anyone who "rises above" it can ever forget about it and just pretend it's not still happening.

And I am also continually amazed at the tremendous amount of ignorance in this regard that persists in the liberal blogosphere.

No, I don't mean U, nor do I necessarily mean DU (though I've seen it here too).

I'm pretty sure the situation in NOLA was a hell of a "reality check" for a lot of people sitting at these keyboards.

Thank bush for small miracles, eh?

[Porcupine]

8. Had a blood vessel in my left eye burst last week....

it was in the white of the eye and didnt' interfere with my vision. I just had to hope it went away. Hurt like hell for a few days and I didn't dare take Ibuprophin my only available painkiller.

No health insurance.

[jbm]

9. I had to cancel my sons dentist appt for tomorrow..

he has two cavities, but I absolutely don't have the money to pay to have them filled. (I hesitate to post this not out of shame, but because I know how generous DUers can be and I don't want anyone taking up a collection or anything..I promise that my son is actually happy we had to cancel his appointment and that he is in no immediate pain)

I hear what you're saying about your eye. I'm glad it went away on it's own. I think people really truly are getting poorer, and people who didn't have a significant financial comfort zone are really feeling the pain now. I have a small business that took a major hit during the 2002 recession so it's drowning in debt. To help hang on to the business, I've kept a weekend job waiting tables, but when the gas prices went up, tips went down. Our last remaining luxury is the internet. I've never ever been wealthy, but it really scares me to be this poor, and to not know what will happen if that last financial straw falls.

[shugah]

10. every bush supporter wouldn't care

if there weren't bush supporters, that would go a long way toward alleviating the plight of the poor.

altho i do not wish dire poverty on anyone i wish that there was a way to make people understand how hopeless and circular it can be.

"hoping the toothache goes away." there is more to this one - it's when the toothache does not go away, and you go to the cheap dentist - no anesthesia, no hygiene - it causes more pain than the toothache ever did, and you take home herpes.

i read the whole blog entry. it broke my heart, struck close to home, and reminded me of much.

there are some things about being poor, tho...

being poor, you learn to be creative

being poor poor can lead to extensive and varied reading

being poor, you learn to separate money from everything else (money trouble is one thing, and it never goes away. but it is really poor people who understand real tragedy and appriciate what has lasting value)

being poor often means a close and loving extended family

being poor means learning to live and love day-to-day - and you don't forget it, even if you manage to get out of the poverty

if you were ever truly poor you can't lose your humanity

[NMMNG]

13. "Every bush supporter in the country should have to read this."

They should, but they won't give a darn. They can't relate, and don't want to.

[titoresque]

14. Heres the thread from yesterday I think....

Being Poor.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4725941&mesg_id=4725941