Food Stamps Are For Losers

h/t Instapundit for this:

"That's for food stamps," she said, finally. She was black. I am so white that sometimes, in the early morning, I blind myself in the bathroom mirror. I have never felt like such a dumb, privileged middle class white girl in my life. Ever.

Okay, foodstamps aren't something simply for losers and if ever such assistance were genuinely needed and available to me or someone else in a time of great need, especially someone with children, cool.

But spare me the white guilt. I grew up in a lower middle-class neighborhood and am no stranger to the concept of foodstamps. But at a practical level, it isn't anything I have any familiarity with today. I don't feel particularly privileged because of that.

And I'll be damned if I'm going to feel dumb or guilty because of it. Give me a break! The underlying assumptions are ridiculous. One doesn't have to be poor to be noble and it's far from any American norm.

Comments

[K]

I thought it was idiotic when I read it at the original blog.

The woman went to a market, saw an acroymn she didn't understand and asked what it meant. It was about food stamps. And that makes her feel ???? because she is white and middle class.

But the writer did point out how much nonsense is generated when we decide guilt is not from what we do but from what others did.

[Thomas Jackson]

Food stamps aren't for losers? Exactly what kind of person depends on someone else to feed them because they are too lazy to work?

[grandma]

Ok, ignorant a-hole Thomas Jackson. My mother, who is 77 and survives on less than $10K a year in NJ qualifies for food stamps. I wish she would take them. Instead, I buy her food, pay for her health insurance and help with her property taxes while I support 3 young children and a disabled husband. So Tommy - blow me - not everyone can work and because of A_holes like you, honest people wont claim the benefits they paid into for years because of your ignorant opinions.

[Purple Avenger]

"and because of A_holes like you, honest people wont claim the benefits "

Quite a leap of faith in asserting a causal connection between one person's pride and another's scorn.

[Dan Riehl]

"I support 3 young children and a disabled husband. So Tommy - blow me"

Okay, is it me, or is there a major disconnect with that comment??? LMAO

[Cindi]

honest people wont claim the benefits they paid into for years because of your ignorant opinions.

Posted by: grandma | Saturday, January 13, 2007 at 06:41 PM

Hot DAMN! I do not see the big deal if you are able to support her. Is that not what adult children sometimes do?

I work retail, AND I can tell you that the system is abused. Had a young woman a few weeks ago use food stamps to buy Two pints of Ben and Jerrys Ice cream, seven candy bars, three deli sandwhiches, two bags of popcorn. I made the mistake of ringing her sale up as cash. Two days later she came back to the store, demanding a cash refund. My manager had to spend 2 hours going over video tapes to prove she never handed me cash. All the while, this flashy bitch had nails painted on, gold hanging from her neck, all the while talking on a cell phone. Give me a fucking break. Food stamps are for loosers. If you have a family member who requires food stamps, Its your duty to step up and help them out. Don't ya think? After all, if you couldn't afford it there would be no issue of your helping them out. So you have to do without a few things, big fucking deal.

[Cindi]

PS grandma, did your mother not take care of you when it was needed? Suck it up and stop crying for christ sake

[Scrapiron]

Welfare and food stamps were to be short term help but now we have families that haven't worked a day through three generations. I neither envy the rich or pity the poor. We are what we make ourselves. Some people are just sorry asses and will never change as long as it's handed to them. Acually some families have been on welfare since 1865. Any guesses?

Never drew a penny in unemployment.
Never drew a penny in welfare.
Lucky, or hard work?

[bud]

As to the original post... Give Megan a break here, Dan. The girl was raised in an upper-middle to upper class household in NYC in the 70's and 80's. She's worked past her leftish indoctrination in economics, but the old guilt-trip reflex is still there. For those who have no idea what I'm talking about, read Tom Wolfe's _Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers_. It nails the attitude and assumptions she was immersed in during her formative years.

[Daisy]

Goodness! People sure do get worked up about foodstamps, don't they? Possibly because we know that most people who use foodstamps could be using the money from their weekly manicures to buy their food. It's the truth. I grew up pretty darn poor, but my parents didn't accept foodstamps. It wasn't because of "assholes" like Thomas Jackson making them feel bad. It was because busting your butt to feed your own family is the right thing to do, as the old lady mentioned in the comment above apparently failed to teach her daughter. I fully expect to do exactly what commenter grandma is doing at some point within the next 20 years. My parents never achieved wealth enough to support themselves once they become helpless (if they do, God forbid). It's a near certainty that I'll be helping one or both of them eventually, along with my own two children. We support our parents because it's the right thing to do. Newsflash, it's your JOB to take care of the needy members of your family. Yeah, some folks really need foodstamps to survive. But not many, and not the 77 year-old mother whose daughter is supporting her. She has a right to expect the financial support of her family. Shame on you for complaining, grandma.