Americans Are Truly Suffering

[sarettah]

Sheep Number 3 (and a gay one at that)

Originally Posted by Dravyk

I can no longer afford to make my homemade whipped cream out of Baily's now. *sniff*

[Hell Puppy]

Americans are a long way yet from 'suffering'. When lots of people are homeless and you start seeing huge bread lines because people dont have anything to eat, then we're talking "suffering".

We just sometimes have screwed up priorities. Alot of the people clamoring for socialized healthcare because they cant afford health insurance CAN afford multiple cartons of cigarettes per week, beer, cable TV and a cell phone. Chris Rock had a good observation, in lots of places in the world they do not have fresh water. We have it on tap nationwide. Perfectly good water. But we drink our water from bottles we pay for, the tap water is only used for shitting and pissing in and washing our ass with.

It's all a matter of perspective.

However, I really wouldn't want to own a small business right now that is providing what most people would consider a "luxury" or at least expendable product. Those are the first things to go when people lose their jobs or tighten their budget for other reasons. And the reason you then get a recession is the spiral that creates. As people reduce their spending, more and more jobs are lossed from things people are no longer willing to pay for.

[sarettah]

Originally Posted by Hell Puppy

However, I really wouldn't want to own a small business right now that is providing what most people would consider a "luxury" or at least expendable product. Those are the first things to go when people lose their jobs or tighten their budget for other reasons. And the reason you then get a recession is the spiral that creates. As people reduce their spending, more and more jobs are lossed from things people are no longer willing to pay for.

Tell me about it. The Monday a couple of weeks ago when they started yelling PANICCCCCCC, our jewelry sales tanked. Slowly recovering but still taking a killing. Assholes spreading doom and gloom predictions do not help the situation.

I'm not asking that they lie to us, but put more reality and less sensationalism into it and it might be able to be worked through.

Instead they come out on Monday and tell us that we are in breadlines Tuesday unless.........

Fucking assholes, you gotta wonder what the agenda actually is.

[Hell Puppy]

Originally Posted by sarettah

Tell me about it. The Monday a couple of weeks ago when they started yelling PANICCCCCCC, our jewelry sales tanked. Slowly recovering but still taking a killing. Assholes spreading doom and gloom predictions do not help the situation.

I'm not asking that they lie to us, but put more reality and less sensationalism into it and it might be able to be worked through.

Instead they come out on Monday and tell us that we are in breadlines Tuesday unless.........

Fucking assholes, you gotta wonder what the agenda actually is.

People wont calm down til after the election I fear.

[tony404]

Originally Posted by Hell Puppy

Americans are a long way yet from 'suffering'. When lots of people are homeless and you start seeing huge bread lines because people dont have anything to eat, then we're talking "suffering".

We just sometimes have screwed up priorities. Alot of the people clamoring for socialized healthcare because they cant afford health insurance CAN afford multiple cartons of cigarettes per week, beer, cable TV and a cell phone. Chris Rock had a good observation, in lots of places in the world they do not have fresh water. We have it on tap nationwide. Perfectly good water. But we drink our water from bottles we pay for, the tap water is only used for shitting and pissing in and washing our ass with.

It's all a matter of perspective.

However, I really wouldn't want to own a small business right now that is providing what most people would consider a "luxury" or at least expendable product. Those are the first things to go when people lose their jobs or tighten their budget for other reasons. And the reason you then get a recession is the spiral that creates. As people reduce their spending, more and more jobs are lossed from things people are no longer willing to pay for.

http://atlanta.creativeloafing.com/g...ent?oid=578027
Aid agencies already are feeling the pinch. Susie Ivy at the Center for Family Services (the Cobb nonprofit helping Brooke and Solomon) says the center expects to serve 1,450 families this fall, compared to last year's 1,100. The Atlanta Community Food Bank, which provides dozens of metro groups with food for needy families, issued an alarm last month that its cupboards were nearly running bare.

"We have never seen what we're seeing now," says Bill Bolling, the food bank's executive director. "I'm having people call me who are saying, 'I have donated to the food bank for a number of years, and I'm embarrassed to say that I need help now.'"

[Hell Puppy]

Originally Posted by tony404

http://atlanta.creativeloafing.com/g...ent?oid=578027
Aid agencies already are feeling the pinch. Susie Ivy at the Center for Family Services (the Cobb nonprofit helping Brooke and Solomon) says the center expects to serve 1,450 families this fall, compared to last year's 1,100. The Atlanta Community Food Bank, which provides dozens of metro groups with food for needy families, issued an alarm last month that its cupboards were nearly running bare.

"We have never seen what we're seeing now," says Bill Bolling, the food bank's executive director. "I'm having people call me who are saying, 'I have donated to the food bank for a number of years, and I'm embarrassed to say that I need help now.'"

Wonder how many of them have cable tv....

[tony404]

Originally Posted by Hell Puppy

Wonder how many of them have cable tv....

why do you resent them? they came up on hard times and they are mocked. i dont get it.

[Hell Puppy]

Originally Posted by tony404

why do you resent them? they came up on hard times and they are mocked. i dont get it.

I dont.

Dont get me wrong here. I feel for anyone without a job in this economy.

And until right now, I've never talked about my own views toward charity. To me if you brag about what you give, you cheapen it. I dont give anything for the glory of doing so. But I do participate in a lot of charities, I always have. When I didn't have money, I gave time. Now I have little time, so I give money or goods. And I'm very selective about where it goes. Although I give some to the big charities, my favorite is small local stuff where you can actually have a direct influence on people's lives.

Anyone who really knows me, knows this. My favorite every year is Christmas. I typically "adopt" 3-5 kids who wouldn't otherwise have anything from Santa. I take great pleasure in looking at their lists and buying carts full of goodies to make sure they have a memorable Christmas morning.

I also do the food drives. Not only do I buy a trunk full myself, you'll find my fat ass at Perimeter Mall one afternoon during the holidays helping sort and load all of it onto the truck. It's exercise that makes you feel good in more ways than one.

So dont for an instant think I'm a total cold blooded bastard....

[MRock]

... was the part "She and her 6-year-old daughter moved into a smaller home" missed by the OP? Taking from the context of the full article this sounds like a single mother that has made a drastic move in housing AND cut lawn service and gym for her daughter.

I read this post a while back and it rubbed me the wrong way. After seeing more comments, I thought I might point out the above observation because it is a big one no one else mentioned ...

[Hell Puppy]

Originally Posted by tony404

why do you resent them? they came up on hard times and they are mocked. i dont get it.

But now for the other side...

Why am I critical of some charity cases?

The ones I have no sympathy for are the ones looking for a hand out instead of a hand up. Again, it's that pesky southern upbringing and sense of responsibility.

If you dont have a job, you should be looking for a job if you need the money. I've always said I would go work at any menial job before I'd go hungry or even ask my parents for a handout. And I mean it.

Some people are victims of their own bad decision making.

Things like cable tv, cellphones, cigarettes, booze, etc, these are not necessities of life, and all are fairly expensive. You can feed a small family off of what a lot of people spend on this. I have very little sympathy for someone asking for a food handout while watching HBO on a plasma smoking a ciggie and having a beer.

Likewise, you have two kids you cant feed or clothe. Not a lot of sympathy when you continue to get knocked up and now have 6 of them.

For these people, being hungry is a byproduct of bad decision making.

Now, jury is still out for me on the mortgage portion of this equation. I have not yet made up my mind where the blame belongs for people who bought more house than they can afford. There's the question of how big of a role predatory lending and government encouragement played. Like it or not, many people are too stupid to understand even simple amortization.

[Dravyk]

Originally Posted by sarettah

Sheep Number 3 (and a gay one at that)

Baahhhhhyousuckdick. Baaahhhhh!