Why are people so mean and heartless to people who need foodstamps and aid?

Question

I've read several posts regarding foodstamps and people's views on them. It sounds to me that these people have never been through trials or hard times.
My husband and I have strings of bad luck, I lost my job which I quit due to ethical reasons. I found out I'm now pregnant. My husband's boss won't give him the raise which he was told he would get. Our income is cut short now, I am not a lazy, uneducated person who wants to live off the government. I have worked my butt off from high school on up and am currently working on finishing up my bachelors degree and in the mean time looking for a job. It's enough to have to go through the depression period of losing your job and feeling like a loser. Bad things happen to good people and some of you need to just realize that. My husband and I have posted and done some small computer business jobs, we've sold most of our valuable posessions. WHY? to make ends meet and yet we still need assistance. Some of you people are so judgmental.

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Answer 1

I have NO PROBLEM with AMERICAN CITIZENS getting help fomr Federal, State and local governments such as, Medical, Foodstamps, Welfare, Housing, Heating Bills ETC.

It is all these ILLEGAL INVADERS getting the same thing that pisses me off. They have NO RIGHT to receive ANY type of support fomr ANY Government in this country.

These benefits are FOR AMERICANs BY AMERICANS adn paid for by AMERICAN TAX DOLLARS!

Answer 2

I know a lady that is faking cancer right now. Has a handicapped car placard and everything. When she told my neighbor, I felt really sorry for her - and even talked to her, wishing her well. Then ~2 years have passed, and I have seen her look no different than before. She parties sometimes next door, has 3 children from 3 different guys (the last one, she is still married to, and they all live together).

The daughter is neglected (emotionally), and acts like a little bi+ch (loses all her friends within a few weeks, steals expensive clothes, camera's, etc). She mooches food off the neighbors, and after a month of that during summer time, they talked about it with her parents. She pretends she's 19 on myspace, has pictures with bikini's on, but is only 14. My neighbors were the ones that told me the mother is faking it.

Now I rarely see them, I'm sure they have sent her to mooch off other parents from school. I don't think they care about anyone but themselves.

Get this, her husband is an EX-COP! Still has something to do with the police department, not sure what. Thought it would be funny if he drove up to us, sirens flashing while we were blowing up some fireworks on the 4rth, then hung around and drank all our beer. They have a nice house (nicer than mine), an in-ground pool, 2 newer vehicles, a classic mustang, a harley, and a frigging huge RV.

Tell me why she is on aid. I should turn her in, but it would only make things worse, in a really bad situation that they themselves created. PS: she works for cash under the table at her job. Yes, she has a job + some sort of federal or state aid.

I had ONE friend from highschool that was on food stamps for a few months (6?), his family was poor, and he was going to school at the time. THAT is the kind of person that needs a little help, not the jerks I described above, which I hear about a lot more often. I hope your situation works out, finish up that school, and keep your chin up.

EDIT: Also some advice, my neighbors husband is on workman's comp for another 3 months, but is paid through work @ a 60% rate. She needed some extra cash, so she waitresses at some slightly higher end restaurants. She seems to average about 800 a week, for 4-5 days of work - it's tough work, but she has the personality and drive to do it.

Answer 3

The entire welfare system encourages abuses. A hand up is one thing a hand out is something altogether different. Any one can find themselves in a situation of need sometime. But there is a huge difference between those that get welfare for a short time and those that live on it who are perfectly capable of working. There should be a limit to how long a person can draw these types of benefits. I was once in a grocery store behind a woman who had not one but two shopping carts full of groceries and paid for them in food stamps. When I left the store to get in my car she was loading her groceries into a brand new Cadillac! Now, you tell me, if you can afford a Cadillac why are you on food stamps? Was she making "ends meet"? I raised a child by myself working making $5.75 an hour without welfare or child support and had a $25.00 a week grocery budget and I drove an old beat up car at the time. Was it fun? No, but if I can do it so can other people.

Answer 4

Based on the fact you're posting this in immigration, I think you may have taken it out of context. People posting here would likely have no problem with temporary assitance to citizens or legal immigrants. But have trouble with assistance to illegals as well as long term assistance to anybody. Hope that makes sense. Also, many of us are upset that immigrants and other "special" people are given all kinds of help and native born Americans of certain ethnic backgrounds are denied even basic health care. Let alone food stamps or other aid. So it's relative. If you are saying Americans should be able to get temporary help without judgement, most would agree. If you're saying any poor person from anywhere should, we'd disagree. Americans should come first. And we aren't.

Answer 5

That's not entirely fair. As a misanthrope, I would be mean and heartless to the well-fed or independently wealthy, too, given the opportunity.

Nobdy needs foodstamps - they might need food, but that food doesn't have to be stolen out of the taxpayer's wallet, and given out as slips of paper that are routinely sold for cash in the grey market and used for things other than food.

There are lots of people and organization who are perfectly happy (even eager) to give needed help, without coercion by the IRS.

Serioulsy, criticism of the program is not criticism of those in need. Criticism of those who abuse it, certainly.

And, well, the truth is, we all go through hard times, especially when we're young. There are a lot of tough lessons to be learned in life. You'll look back on this some day, and, if you've gained wisdom, be more thankful that you have a child, than regretful that you were short on money for a while.

Answer 6

The stereotypical view of a person who goes on that type of aid is that they feel they are owed the aid and that they deliberately pump out children to receive it. I'm sure you have heard of a welfare Cadillac. There are unfortunately people like that.

The aid systems are good things for those that truly need it. For the vast majority it should be a temporary condition. There are a few who are mentally / physically disabled that need it for life. If the people receiving it or more accurately the media depicted them as having appreciation for it, the public's attitude would change.

Answer 7

People tend to begin losing compassion when so many abuse the system, They begin to look at everyone who receives government aid with suspicion. Honest, hardworking citizens who have fallen on hard times are made to feel ashamed as if their troubles are their own fault. I have seen families subsist on one sparse meal a day rather than apply for food stamps. On the other hand those who are scamming the government feel no shame at all.

Answer 8

The hard part was being denied aid when we needed it most.
My husband had a job, but he made too much money for us to qualify for any assistance.
So we pay full price for services given for free to people on assistance, including medical insurance. My daughter did not go to pre-school because we couldn't afford it even though we live in the same neighborhood as those on assistance.
I pull out of the trash every week clothes thrown away by people in poverty. I pick up their beer bottles and cans and cash it in for recycling. I watch them at the supermarket paying for food with food stamps and cases of alcohol with cash.
I'm glad that the system is providing for you in your time of need. We had to look elsewhere than the government. We have had to rely on ourselves and our own resources. Poverty is as poverty does. I have seen both dirty poverty, where the trash is everywhere in the house and the cockroaches multiply by the thousands per week. I have seen clean poverty where they have nothing and the cleanest floors in the world. I have seen able-bodied men standing on the street corner holding a sign begging for money and I have seen college kids getting paid money to hold a sign advertising new houses. I gave to the man hobbling on one foot holding the sign, I did not give to the ones who broke in to the empty house next door, trashed the place, and my former neighbor was left with a bill for damages she did not incur.
I don't know you, I can't judge you, I won't judge you. You are the people the system was designed to help. It's nice to see people getting help when they need it.
I hope things go better for you in the upcoming new year.

Answer 9

I understand completely and empathize totally. I supported my self and a child and a ill husband on State Disability for three years. And I was earning under $12 an hour at the time. I refinanced our home to pay off the credit card debt we accumulated then he passed away. No one has a right to judge anyone simply because they have needs.

Answer 10

There is nothing wrong with using food stamps for a short period in your life. Everyone has hard times and those without great economic value may have to depend on food stamps to get by, for a while. I, on the other hand, am highly critical of people who spend their life on food stamps. These people feel that they cannot get anywhere without the government giving it to them. The sad part is that they are right. It becomes a self-fullfilling prophesy that they go nowhere because they believe they can go nowhere. And yes, I am judgemental, as every human being on the face of this planet is.

Answer 11

I have ask myself this same question, the answer? Because some people don't work at all, not becuase they can't, but becuase they don't want to, plain lazy. They are the ones that mess things up for everyone else. There are some people who are obviously going thruogh a hard time. Not everyone is heartless and mean. I care.