“Socialism doesn't work—it's
idealism.” I hear this one a lot: friends, you're thinking of
Communism which doesn't work because it neither provides for the
individual in a fiscal sense or in a personality sense. Socialism
though, does work. It's working in countries all over the place who
work less and have much higher standards of living than those of us
in the USA. Instead of setting a top bar, which is as high as you can
go, it sets a low bar, of which no one shall sink below.
There's been a lot of talk about
Welfare happening in the country lately and about this elusive
'American Dream'. And because we live in a two-party system and we
see everything in black and white—we're getting shit seriously
wrong. I was impressed, maybe not with the science of this article
but with the basic thesis which is that despite vowing to stay in
dichotomous terms, most of people and life don't happen that way.
At the end of 2008 the market crashed.
I'm not entirely sure what that means because I'm not an economist,
but I do know that the hours at the job I did have got reduced to 6
hours per week and despite applying everywhere, there were no other
jobs. I was literally starving. I dropped a lot of weight and was
feeling really sick most of the time. It was cold in the house
because we couldn't afford to heat it and we limited showering at
home to twice a week each to save on the water bill. I applied for
the modern, card-equivalent of Food Stamps.
Welfare junkies do exist and I won't
for a second say that they don't. I've heard people laugh about
living off the government and not working. That's disgusting.
However, most people aren't like that. Most of us hate being on
welfare, find it degrading, but you can't go to school, can't work,
can't look for work if you don't eat.
I am not responsible for the system and
I can't understand how a family of four can't get food aid but a
20-year-old gets about $200/month. I would've accepted about $20.
That being said we decided that no one else would be applying and I
would just use some extra money to feed my friends. That's illegal
but there's no reason for the government to give me that much money
and this way they saved money and time and paperwork but did what
they would have done anyway. For the first time in months we had
cheese and fruit. Winter got colder, the house seemingly more drafty
and my roommate still showered at the gym.
When I called to cancel my benefits my
worker seemed shocked. I told her I was moving and thanked her
profusely. When I was homeless for a while, she had kept me on
somehow without proof of where I lived. Because the problem for most
isn't being out in the streets begging, it's working a little and
either having a place to live OR food to eat. Because the cards had
carry over with your money, I still had tons of money left on my
card.
I moved, I came back. My card still
worked so I used it to buy food while I found a new job. The money
ran out a few months into my job and I just bought my own food after
that. My residence and my employment history haven't been super
steady since but I've managed to feed myself. I wouldn't be where I
am today though if the government hadn't fed me for a while. It
would've been ironic if I'd been hospitalized because I have no
health care. I know it happens. People can't afford food, they get
sick, they go to the hospital and get charged hundreds of dollars.
Should I have gotten more than $100/month in food aid? No, but that's
not the biggest flaw in the system.
Mitt Romney's daddy paid his way
through private schools and a good secondary education and then
college until Romney had made enough money to flounce around. He
didn't have to pay it back at 6.8% interest. Most of us do. And while
I'm sure that the level of schooling, and extra curricular that upper
classes receive does make life easier and sets them up in the long
run with advantages, I believe the biggest advantage that upper class
people experience is never actually having to worry. Moving is still
stressful, but they don't have to worry about nights on the streets.
Maybe grocery shopping is a chore or sometimes they can't eat out all
the time, but they never have to worry about starving. Just being
warm, safe and fed and almost guaranteed that state is a leg up on so
many people.
I don't believe in a welfare state. I
believe in a state welfare. That everyone has the opportunity to
live.
