Why does the working class look down on people who are in need of governmental assistance?

Question

They don't care if you're paralyzed or blind. People here on Y!A always tell others to get off their lazy @$$es & get a job. They don't know our circumstances. They think we're just lazy & leeching off the government for free. I'm neither blind nor paralyzed, but I am disabled to the point where I can't get a job. I'm tired of people on here telling me, "Stop leeching off of our tax dollars & go get as job!" or "Stop stealing our tax dollars & do your own damn work!" You don't know how much I'd LOVE to work. I can't force anyone to hire me & give me a job. I have a college degree, so that at least says something about me trying to put forth effort in improving my life.

I asked a question a few minutes ago about my landlord mistakingly charging me extra rent, & this 1 asshole said, "We're tired of paying your rent. Katrina is history!" She never paid a penny of my rent. Yeah, I went through Katrina & we're still eligible for assistance. I also get SSI & Social Security until I work.

Answer 1

Some people think that because they were able to obtain work, then it's easy for everyone. Even if it was hard for them. Their mentality is "I have, therefore you have no excuse. You should have as well " But our corporate society is not set up so that any one who is willing and able to work can find a job. Most people don't know until it happens to them.

Being able to use Yahoo answers does not mean you can obtain a job in computers. First, you have to be trained in certain programs and then you must be certified for a better job. If you mean, working as an administrative assistant, that depends, not only on how fast you can type but, for many companies, on your experience in that line of work. Also, one must remember that you are competing with various applicants. If four people are qualified and there is one position openned, three applicants are still jobless.

Answer 2

It's not my place to tell you what to do with your life. I do have an opinion, though. Sometimes the answer isn't always the best solution to the problem. However, people give answers according to what their opinions are...sometimes they are nice, sometimes they aren't.

I am a stay-home mom. I get told, quite frequently, "you don't work?".... LOL!!! I don't? I think I probably do more than most people do in a 40-hour work week, and the major difference between me and someone that punches a time clock?? I DON'T GET PAID FOR ALL THAT I DO.

Until you've walked a mile in my shoes...keep your negativity to yourself. Just keep saying that over and over again to anyone that is negative to you. They don't know your situation, and it's really not fair for them to assume that you're just some government moocher that doesn't want to work and is looking for the easy way out. I don't know you from a hole in the ground, but I will tell you this... I am so sorry for what you went through with the Katrina thing. I cannot imagine what your life has been like.

Ignore all of the stupidity.

Answer 3

Well, it is hard because people struggle without government aid. I have a friend who is on SSI, and honestly he could have got a job and work just like everyone else. He does have some issues, but being dependant on the government so he can live his life doesn't help him with his problems at all. In fact in many ways SSI has made his situation worse. The system of SSI is really messed up and the only way I would ever use it is if I were disabled like blind or paralyzed. Once you are on it, you pretty much don't have much incentive to try to get off of it and make yourself better.

So, yeah I think if you are on it there is a different type of mentality at work. There were many points in my life where I was without work sadly and I remember when I didn't have any food to eat at all, and I never went to the government for any help. It's hard for people to be sympathetic to your situation because they don't know what it is, and many people myself included do not like their jobs. I hate my job and my coworkers, but I go to work every day because I have to make a living, and I just don't have it in me to depend on the government to take care of me when there is something that I can do to make a living.

You can type so you could get a job doing something. Granted again, I don't know your situation, but from what I know about SSI I'm sure it's not helping your situation. You might think it is, and it might in the very short term, but the longer you are on it, the harder it is for you to get off of it and contribute to society again.

At least if you have to be on SSI and you can't take a regular job try to do something for your community by volunteering or something. It'll make you feel better about yourself, and you will be giving back.

You can't get people to stop their negative perception of SSI or any of these systems. If you really need it, then why do you worry about what other people think anyway?

Answer 4

That is the commom notion of people who have job or stable job - others are just dependent on government assistance. But they must not look down anybody since they really don't know what this less fortunate is going through.
That's why the government should check those who really need assistance because there are :those who need help but capable to get a job yet not doing anything; and those who are incapable because of physical problems and the like.

Answer 5

Honestly, I believe it is because they have been brainwashed over time to react that way. I am disabled, and it is because of a group of working class citizens. I worked for many years, and anything I collect from the government, I have already paid into ss myself. However, most would like to believe they are superior to me for this reason. I find their logic laughable, if working class citizens have anything to be pissed about, it should be the rate inflation and taxes rise, and the fact that uncle sam stole all their ss money they paid in for years, and the fact government officials are paying their friends to put ashtrays in airplanes where smoking isn't allowed at $400 a whop. People are so gullible, and they have their priorities all screwed up, but when they become crippled, disabled with physical pain, or elderly, most begin to see the light. I don't care what those ignorant fools think and you shouldn't either. ;-)

Answer 6

Congrats on getting a college degree thats wonderful.

Probably the reason people feel or act that way is because sometimes those things aren't told to us and what i know my self have seen, is people who are completely capiable to work but choose not to, and whine tehy dont have money or what not.

I also understand what you mean by can't force anyone to hire you or give you a job. I'm unemployed right now and i have been unable to find work. I've gone to school and graduated with an A in my class for Hospital unit coordinator. I'm still looking for work on a daily bases here in california it's horrible to try to find a job. Thought i'll take what i can get.

Sometimes those of us who can work feel like we are working to the bone while others sit on their butts and i've seen it and do nothing but have all these nice things. It kills me.

Answer 7

People, in general, do not like the Idea of their efforts and hard work being taken from them, i.e., tax. Government assistance is merely one of the more visible uses of that money going to people who represent a negative contribution to our economy. In cases such as yours, where there is an obvious and understandable need for assistance, through no fault of your own, there should be no question in a taxpayers mind as to the importance of this system, because its sole design is to foster the confidence, as a society, that in case something beyond or control should happen to any one of us that puts us in that situation, help will be there for them, to give them a boost and help get them through until they can find a way to make their own way again.
Best of luck with your job hunt.

Answer 8

And the worst thing is these are the christians, too. "Hey, goldbrick, get a job. Oh, and believe in my god, too." People sometimes find themselves in a fix. As a taxpaying voter, I would rather that my country -- the richest, most successful country in the history of the world -- made sure that it's own citizens could get help when they need it. I'm not even christian and I know that how a country treats its poor and weak is more of a measure of its character than how rich or religious it is. These people are mere pretenders.

Answer 9

People are resentful of anyone who needs help. Your parents worked and you are now disabled. It is partially funded by your parents tax dollars. The money is there for those who need it.

These people who are so great at criticizing others must think that nothing can or will ever happen to them or their families.

Answer 10

They have been trained to by the rightwing talk show hosts who are in favor of lower wages for the very people who support them.

A society is judged by how it treats its weakest. We are not a jungle.

I'm working class. My mother returned her FEMA checks, saying my family is taking care of me so give this to somebody who really needs it.

And to anyone who didn't experience Katrina except via twisted media, kiss my New Orleans butt. You have NO idea what we went through. NONE.