poverty blog round 2

06/28/10 Journal 3: Combating the culture of poverty

I can identify with the culture of poverty school of thought, but I have little sympathy for those caught in the cycle. The young children have no recourse, and there should be a support system for them, but the adults should be held accountable for their actions. By feeding a starving child, you are contributing to the health of that child. By educating the impoverished, and giving them the opportunity to succeed, you are contributing to the health of the entire village. We watched a video in class which showed examples of people who dedicated their lives to helping the poor Appalachian people. A care giver ran a free clinic, but she had to pack a pistol along with her brown bag lunch every day in fear of someone robbing the clinic of their fool’s gold (prescription pills which fetch a high price, but really only rot the community from the inside out – pun intended). Another noble ran a dentistry practice where he gave the Mtn Dew fueled peasants new teeth in hopes of donating one essential piece of human capital. These two play an essential role in the process. I’m sure they educate the people on the dangers of HFCS laden drinks (especially in the baby bottles of 2yr olds) when consumed in unison with Oxycontin, but are they playing a broken record in a roomful of deaf people?
To break the cycle, philanthropists should focus on the children. Those of malleable mind are the fertile soils where we should be planting seeds. The adults who are caught in the cycle are more than likely caught in their destructive mindset as well. Giving money to adults in hopes of them spending it on their children is a lot like giving money to Saddam Hussein in hopes of him spending it on the common Iraqi people. Dangling the carrot in front of the face of the horse is of no value when the horse has 2 broken legs and an addiction to Oxycontin. I’d like to see tax dollars (or donated funds) go towards drug rehabilitation and education. A portion of the proceeds should also go towards drug testing for all of those receiving benefits. This would help to insure that the efforts are not wasted.

06/30/10 Journal 4: The system and those who abuse it

I get very angry when people take advantage of the system that’s been put in place to help those in need. I can vividly remember an experience I had while standing in line at WinCo. I was 18 or 19 at the time. I had moved out of my parents’ home and was living in an apartment which housed 2 adults. Unfortunately, only one of those adults worked, and at best worked 30hrs/wk. My budget for monthly groceries was less than $100. The list that I took with me was planned down to $.25 increments. As I stood waiting behind my cart, filled to just below the halfway mark with ground turkey (it was cheaper than ground beef at the time), Ramen noodles and bags of various bulk bin items, I couldn’t help but notice the gentleman in front of me. His purchases ranged from the everyday items like toilet paper and Hamburger Helper to the extravagant t-bone steaks and shrimp cocktail rings (yes, I said rings with an S). I saw his total exceed 3 figures, 5 if you count after the decimal, which I always do. This gentleman was obviously eating much nicer than I, and I assured myself that the Lexus parked out front couldn’t possibly be his. Much to his dismay, the cashier wouldn’t allow him to pay for his 24 pack of Budweiser with his EBT card. Even though the surf and turf he was about to enjoy was completely courtesy of the state, he had to pay out of his own pocket for his libations. Preposterous. What kind of country makes a man pay out of his own pocket for such crappy beer? I mean, he’s got a family of 4 to feed, and the V8 in that Lexus sure burns up a lot of dinosaur blood.
I’m not saying we should do away with the system altogether, but I am a fan of regulations. Someone mentioned in class that “the man” will watch how you spend your state assisted funds (ie: if you shop at WalMart too much, you’ll get a cease and desist order in the mail). Food should be allotted through government run organizations. Families in need of assistance should be given food boxes much like the ones assembled at the Oregon Food Bank. The box would contain enough sustenance for a family of four to subsist for four weeks. These boxes will be priced on a prorated schedule based on monthly income much like the discounted lunch programs in public schools.

07/05/10 Journal 5: Assets from a previous lifestyle

There has been mention in class of people driving up to government offices in Lexus-es (or is it Lexi?). I wouldn’t normally nit-pick a statement like this, but it’s come up a number of times, so it got me thinking. If people retain things from a “previous lifestyle” they must also retain the mindset of that same lifestyle. I suppose that keeping up with the Jones’ doesn’t stop, even when you’re in situations of financial desperation.
If you’re receiving state benefits, you should be subjected to monthly drug testing, as well as an extensive background check. By extensive, I mean turning your financial records over to the state. This painstakingly long process would create jobs for those qualified. For starters, we could pay unemployed financial advisors to comb over the records in search of people who drive cars worth in excess of $50,000 (any arbitrary number would work here, I just picked 50k for the sake of illustration). There could be guidelines for what would be considered a “luxury item” or “excessive spending”. For those who meet these requirements, state assistance would be given sparingly. If you’re in need of state assistance to feed your family (-ies in the case of some less morally responsible parties) you don’t necessarily need the title to your BMW 745i. I’m sure your wife’s Range Rover works excellent for picking up groceries, but do you really need to haul the kids to and from the beach house every weekend? I’m sure all of the newfound time you’ve got due to unemployment goes well with the steak and shrimp you just purchased with your EBT funds, but the rest of us would like a chance at life in your shoes instead of just having to pay for it via unemployment insurance.
My point is, rich people who retained possessions from their previous life as a gainfully employed CEO shouldn’t get to draw from the state assistance bucket just because their severance package ran out. If I’m struggling to put food on the table, the first thing that comes to my mind is, how can I liquidate my current assets in favor of feeding my family? If I can sell my $75,000 Benz which I paid off between rounds of golf at the country club and lunch meetings with corporate bigwigs and use the proceeds to buy a Camry and still have $20,000 to feed my family with, I guess I’ll just have to wait for my next severance package to purchase the newest status symbol.