Anonymous wrote:I live in what I have been told is a Democratic bastion in Arlington. I am the neighborhood person who always gets asked to solicit help for major charities such as Lupus, Leukemia/Lymphoma Society, March of Dimes and similar well known charities. The most I have gotten from the 27 people I have been required to solicit funds from is $10 from a woman who carpools with me. I think she was embarrassed not to give something. This has been at least 6 requests a year for 7 years. $10. I feel bad that no one will give me and always just write a check for $200 to the charities. I can afford and so can my neighbors. But they won't give a dime.

Anonymous wrote:I live in what I have been told is a Democratic bastion in Arlington. I am the neighborhood person who always gets asked to solicit help for major charities such as Lupus, Leukemia/Lymphoma Society, March of Dimes and similar well known charities. The most I have gotten from the 27 people I have been required to solicit funds from is $10 from a woman who carpools with me. I think she was embarrassed not to give something. This has been at least 6 requests a year for 7 years. $10. I feel bad that no one will give me and always just write a check for $200 to the charities. I can afford and so can my neighbors. But they won't give a dime.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dh & I came from very poor families, and we are doing pretty well. All of my siblings and dh's siblings are also doing a hell of a lot better than our parents. None of us are poor. All of us own our own homes, cars, have money invested and or saved in case of emergency, take at least one vacation a year etc.

That's fabulous, you've beaten the odds.

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Anonymous wrote:Op here again, I am not talking about people who live in abject poverty eat. I am talking about people who had the opportunities to make certain decisions with their lives be at get an MBA or an engineering degree but decided that working for the department of agriculture or And obscure nonprofit was what they wanted to do. That is all well and good but you must realize that with that life comes certain sacrifices. Just stop blaming people like me who chose to go the other route. Yes money was a motivating factor with everything I did up until I actually started working.

The problem with people like you is you don't realize how your own greed affects others. I work for a law firm that is about to fall apart. Over the last several years, staff have been forced to go without pay raises, we've had large increases in their health insurance costs, and have had other benefits reduced. We've had to go through multiple rounds of lay-offs, with the result that my workload has increased and I make LESS money. The attitude of the firm is that we should feel lucky to have jobs at all. We stay because we are desperate, not because the jobs are good. It should not be this way. I've heard attorneys say "if you wanted to make any money, you should have gone to Harvard like me." Well, not everyone wants to be a lawyer. Not everyone wants an MBA. That shouldn't be the ONLY option to make a decent salary that can support someone in a large urban area. It shouldn't have to be a choice between a millionaire and having nothing.

At the same time I read about how the partners at my firm have made more money than ever the last few years. But staff cuts can no longer finance the partner compensation increases. Now that they are faced with a decrease in their already overblown compensation, they are all going to just jump ship to go to some other place stupid enough to give them large pay guarantees. The staff will be unemployed.

The company I work for should pay me enough that I don't have to just scrape by. In no way do I think I should make as much as the attorneys, but the difference between what the people at the top make and the rest of the company gets larger and larger. The greed is mind blowing.

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Anonymous wrote:It is a common misconception in America that just because someone is poor, then that is their fault.

Everyone is under the belief that in this country of ours, EVERYONE who wants to make it CAN.

And those that do not make it, only do not make it due to fault of their own.

That in America, EVERYONE has a shot at the brass ring.

This is the American Myth. It is pure mythology folks.

Why? For the obvious reason. Do the math.

Because theoretically speaking, there are not enough decent jobs in this country for EVERY single person in this country.

It just isn't possible for each and every single American in our country to hold a decent job here. It could never happen. And anyone who says it could is dreaming.

Well, yes, but that is not in contradiction to saying those who work hardest and are smartest are bound to end up better off than those who do not, barring some major bad luck (like being hit by a car crossing the street and turning into a vegetable).

When I was a cild, my family immigrated here with nothing but two suitcases each and less money than it would take to pay a month of rent on a crappy apartment. Knowledge of English at the time varied from very basic to nonexistent. Guess what? Every single one of my family members is currently middle class or upper middle class - the adults worked hard and made the way, the children studied hard (in practical fields) and then worked hard. I also have a number of immigrant friends with similar stories. As far as I and people around me are concerned, the American dream works fine.

Just curious, pp. How much did the government help you and your family? What kind of benefits did you receive? SNAP? Subsidized housing? Anything?

Well, the Government let us in, which was huge. We relied in large part on private charity for people of our background and some family that was here already, but we also did receive food stamps for about 6 months and health care.

I want to make clear that I have zero problem with social net programs like snap, medicare, housing assistance etc. Not just because they helped my family but on general principles - I don't believe people should be hungry or homeless or ill because they cannot or are unable to work. I just wanted to post to say that the attitude that if you start out poor, you will end up poor is not really correct.

You have one anecdote. The bolded view actually has studies. Poverty is generational. You had family help. What was your life like where you were from? Was your family educated? Stable?

Anonymous wrote:Dh & I came from very poor families, and we are doing pretty well. All of my siblings and dh's siblings are also doing a hell of a lot better than our parents. None of us are poor. All of us own our own homes, cars, have money invested and or saved in case of emergency, take at least one vacation a year etc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is a common misconception in America that just because someone is poor, then that is their fault.

Everyone is under the belief that in this country of ours, EVERYONE who wants to make it CAN.

And those that do not make it, only do not make it due to fault of their own.

That in America, EVERYONE has a shot at the brass ring.

This is the American Myth. It is pure mythology folks.

Why? For the obvious reason. Do the math.

Because theoretically speaking, there are not enough decent jobs in this country for EVERY single person in this country.

It just isn't possible for each and every single American in our country to hold a decent job here. It could never happen. And anyone who says it could is dreaming.

Well, yes, but that is not in contradiction to saying those who work hardest and are smartest are bound to end up better off than those who do not, barring some major bad luck (like being hit by a car crossing the street and turning into a vegetable).

When I was a cild, my family immigrated here with nothing but two suitcases each and less money than it would take to pay a month of rent on a crappy apartment. Knowledge of English at the time varied from very basic to nonexistent. Guess what? Every single one of my family members is currently middle class or upper middle class - the adults worked hard and made the way, the children studied hard (in practical fields) and then worked hard. I also have a number of immigrant friends with similar stories. As far as I and people around me are concerned, the American dream works fine.

Just curious, pp. How much did the government help you and your family? What kind of benefits did you receive? SNAP? Subsidized housing? Anything?

Well, the Government let us in, which was huge. We relied in large part on private charity for people of our background and some family that was here already, but we also did receive food stamps for about 6 months and health care.

I want to make clear that I have zero problem with social net programs like snap, medicare, housing assistance etc. Not just because they helped my family but on general principles - I don't believe people should be hungry or homeless or ill because they cannot or are unable to work. I just wanted to post to say that the attitude that if you start out poor, you will end up poor is not really correct.

Anonymous wrote:The fact is, society doesn't need 95% of the world's population to have MBAs, law degrees, etc. What we need in addition to lawyers, financial advisors, etc. is for people to take jobs as teachers, firefighters, nonprofit workers, clerical/support staff, daycare providers, sanitation workers, agriculture workers, etc. Heck, I am extremely grateful for the night cleaners who are hired to empty trash cans and vacuum my office at night.

Your high paying job does not exist in a vacuum and it takes all sorts of positions to keep society running.

Does that mean a secretary should eat at the same fancy restaurants and take the same expensive vacations as the partner at her law firm? Of course not. But the secretary also shouldn't have to live 50 miles from her job and live paycheck to paycheck while praying her kids never have a medical emergency. How in the world can you lack such compassion for the workers who teach our children, make sure our Christmas packages get delivered, etc.

OP -- you are far from the only person on this planet contributing anything worthwhile and I'd be willing to bet a lot of people who make less than you are benefitting society more than you.

Anonymous wrote:I'm an atheist liberal and I give time, money and donations to churches that are using their resources to help people. Giving to churches that do good with the money is so much better than asking poor people to jump through a million red tape hoops that are needed to get assistance. I'm not down with donating for proselytizing. The churches I give to let whatever shine through what they do, not what they say.

-one of the poors, at least by DCUM standards

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Anonymous wrote:Thank you for posting this, OP! I've been struggling with how to explain the difference between a democrat and a republican to my five year old, and now I can simply read your post and explain that republicans are ignorant, selfish people who only care about themselves. Thanks again!

Republican here. Not all Republicans are as self-absorbed as this OP is. In fact, I would bet this poster would consider himself/herself an Independent - not a Republican at all.
There are some of us Republicans - many, in fact, - who care deeply for those who are struggling to make ends meet. There are those of us who volunteer for Meals on Wheels, or at a local soup kitchen, or at a local school providing tutoring services (for free). There are those of us who donate money and goods to non-profits in order to help others who are not as fortunate. Many of us Republicans don’t have the HHI that others do, but find the money and the time to help others.
Don’t let this poster serve as representative of Republicans - or any party - for that matter. S/he is in a league all his/her own. And, none of us want to join him/her.

Not to mention Republicans donate more to charity than Democrats who are waiting for the government to take care of things. I'm registered as Green so it's not like I'm siding with one party or another.

I started off life as a child of an upper middle class family and ended my childhood as the child of an upper lower class family. Maybe lowest of the middle class. Dad gave up his stressful, success driven, cut throat, executive position to become a civil servant. There wasn't money for community college let alone a 4 year school and I'm learning disabled and not a great student, so there weren't any scholarships or grants.
Still I managed to do well and even had $300k in assets. One severely disabled child is all it takes to lose all you have. Selling my DC house and moving to an area of the country with limited opportunities but wonderful services for said disabled child. Paid cash for the house so all I have to cover are the taxes and upkeep costs for our housing.

I'd rather be poor than happy than rich and miserable. Granted money does make things a little easier and it's nice to be able to afford a plumber.

The "charities" that Republicans donate to are largely their own churches.