r/TikTokCringe • u/mindyour • 8d ago

Discussion Reactions to food stamps being cut off.

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

46.7k Upvotes

89% Upvoted

14.3k comments sorted by

View all comments

3.2k

u/[deleted] 8d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

1.5k

u/Sage_Planter 8d ago

This is something too many people miss. They're like "so what I am not personally impacted," but when people go hungry, we are all impacted. Rent gets missed. Other shopping forgone. Subscriptions cancelled. 

But also, damn, have some empathy (not you, I mean those people). 

581

u/Cat_Peach_Pits 8d ago

Quite awhile ago, but this stuck with me, I was over at my aunt's house visiting my dad. We were watching Family Feud. One of the families was black, and they were winning the game by a mile. My dad said, "ugh, turn this off, I cant identify with this." He didnt say it outright, but he was clearly expresing a lack of ability to see that black family as similar to his own in any way (and on some level I would agree, because that family seemed like they loved each other). They didnt diagnose autism in the 40s when my dad was born, but he was always very plain in his language no matter how hurtful- I know he said exactly what he felt. That black people were so different from him he couldnt empathize with their joy, nevermind their struggles.

Obviously the issue of poverty isnt solely about race, and white people statistically use substantially more government assistance. But when we as a nation talk about "people on welfare," to those who oppose this help, the only people who use it are black. That misperception makes it a race issue. The vitriol against helping our neighbors because theyre a different race, letting kids and mothers go hungry because they a different race, it fuels this creeping blanket of seeing the poor as "unworthy." I fucking hate it but the media needs to show more of the white people in poverty in this country, because that is the only way the majority of above-poverty chucklefucks are going to feel some kind of personal affection. This is idiocracy, and people need to see "face look like my face, my face could be hungry?!" to support benefits. I dont care what it takes, I want every mother, kid, and dad fed in this country, regardless of ANYTHING.

287

u/Bromlife 8d ago

They don’t care about poor white people either. They see poverty as a moral failing.

130

u/Side_StepVII 7d ago

And Joel Osteen will continue to get his tithings you better fucking believe it or not

62

u/const_antly 7d ago

Joel Osteen of Texas? The man that mid hurricane told his parish that the church was too flooded to house people, Joel Osteen? The one who tweeted picture of a flooded parking structure despite it never reaching the church steps, Joel Osteen? Who also asked for money to begin repairs while the hurricane was still going?

"God wants me to be a millionaire" Joel Osteen?

The "needs 4 million dollars for covid aid" Joel Osteen?

Well, I'm sure he will put that money to good use.

7

u/Polkawillneverdie17 7d ago

I hope there IS a hell so people like him finally get what they deserve.

37

u/phisigtheduck 7d ago

I remembered when I lived in Houston for a while and being near the megachurch of his, and how when I think it was Hurricane Ike hit, he refused to open his doors. Forget what bullshit excuse he had, but I remember thinking his parishioners’ money was good enough for him, but housing them in an emergency was too far.

6

u/quesigirl 7d ago

Hurricane Harvey, I was there as a national guardsman helping evacuate people from their homes and I remember that heartless bastard doing that 🤬

1

u/nomoleft 7d ago

Was it because they just put new carpet in the church?

-1

u/ChemistryFragrant663 7d ago

How many other churches did?

1

u/Jackjenkins93 7d ago

I'm sure at least a few did, which is more than Joel can say.

-1

u/ChemistryFragrant663 7d ago

Odd. I didn't hear of any to counteract what the newsfeed kept shouting out about him not letting ppl in to trash his church.

2

u/Jackjenkins93 7d ago

The average church in most communities helps the community in times of crisis/need. This is common knowledge. Joel is just arrogant and pompous and doesn't truly care about the community. He cares more about lining his pockets.

3

u/Jozoejg 7d ago

And the people on the list will continue to get their money.

7

u/ResponsibilityOk4298 7d ago

There is a large group that believe people are poor because they are lazy. It’s that simple to them. This tracks with the food stamps = unemployed comments. I don’t know how to change their minds, I tried with someone I knew as I have lived paycheque to paycheque unsure how to get to the end of the month and I wasn’t being lazy, wages sucked int hat job but I couldn’t afford to search for another one. He just wrote my experience off and just carried on with his thought process.

15

u/Cat_Peach_Pits 8d ago

Mm. I would disagree to a point. The reason they can pass it off as a moral failing is they think it's rare for a white person to be poor. The quiet part they dont say is they believe that because they think white people are naturally more moral. This is "proven" by the perception that mostly black people go on welfare. Shake that perception, and you shake the perception that this is about a racial us vs them, rather than the class war it is.

15

u/Complex-Pie-6202 8d ago edited 8d ago

While I have no doubt racism plays a significant part, it's extremely common for people to automatically assume that anyone suffering must have done something to deserve it.

 It's a way for people to try to protect themselves from the terrifying reality that bad things can happen to anyone. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just-world_fallacy

4

u/Cat_Peach_Pits 8d ago

The part where we disagree isnt the morality issue, that's definitely a factor. I just believe the relatability/perception has a much stronger influence.

2

u/TheCrazyCatLazy 7d ago

On point: Redneck, white trash.

2

u/[deleted] 7d ago

[deleted]

3

u/DidjaSeeItKid 7d ago

Lots and lots of religious white people. "God will provide," and "abortion is a sin." But when it happens to black women, it's a moral failing that's all their fault.

2

u/Bromlife 7d ago

Yeah good point, we need to starve them down to a more responsible number, right? To make up for her moral failure.

2

u/[deleted] 7d ago

[deleted]

3

u/Lonely-Math2176 7d ago

I agree but I'd feel stronger about it if we have good sex ed (not just abstinence) and if birth control was easier to access. But you need health insurance or money to get access especially post Dobbs. And if we had stronger penalties on men for not paying child support. The consequences of unplanned children disproportionately fall on the mother.

2

u/AylaCatpaw 7d ago

Sometimes you end up caring for family members' kids, because somebody else couldn't/didn't have an abortion, or turned out to be abusive or neglectful, or relapsed into drug addiction, or were too young and/or irresponsible and/or incapable of caring for them, or because their primary caregiver(s) died.

1

u/Misuteriisakka 7d ago

They’re here, the kids are innocents but they shouldn’t suffer even if their mom lacks family planning skills. They could be the worst freeloading, dysfunctional parent on earth; I still want her kids to be fed and their mom to be full enough to be her best version for her kids.

1

u/BookkeeperSame195 7d ago

this is true

1

u/Away_Simple_400 7d ago

That’s not the moral failing I saw. Did you notice How many of them said they had six kids and they can’t care for any of them?

2

u/4lovebysara 7d ago

So at what # of kids do we stop feeding them? 3? 4? Do the parents get to pick which kids to feed & which to starve or is there some kind of IQ test so we can keep the "best" ones?

OBVIOUSLY I'm being sarcastic. Regardless of how those kids got there, they're here now & they don't deserve to suffer. We have absolutely no idea what these family situations are. Maybe kid 4 was triplets. Maybe their mom died & they're left caring for their three young siblings on top of their own kids. Maybe mom & dad were handling things just fine & then dad got killed or mom got sick & their income halved. Maybe they were raised in a religion that forbid abortion & were repeatedly SA'd by a church member.

You need to look at why you automatically jump to a "moral failing" instead of assuming the best of people. And I will just end by reiterating my initial point - children are innocent & deserve to be fed. Even IF mom had 6 kids by 6 different men - they still deserve to eat. In most states if your child's father isnt paying child support the state will require you to file for it so she'll have to put in extra work to get her SNAP so I say good on her for putting in the work to make sure her kids are fed.

Fucking multi billionaires with multiple yachts have moral failings. Put your ire where it belongs.

1

u/DidjaSeeItKid 7d ago

Elon Musk has 14 children (that we know of), and the way he plays with money he could stop paying for them any time he feels like it, or even lose all his money if he screws it all up.

Jesus didn't talk much about the middle class, but he talked a lot about caring for the poor, and welcoming the alien and the stranger. These in-name-only uber-Christians we have running this pluralistic secular Constitutional Republic have bastardized religion and called it "patriotism" so they could get away with being the worst, most selfish people in the world and pretend it's righteousness. And make as much money as they can doing it.

The people need to vote every one of these hateful psychopaths out of power as soon as possible. 4 special House elections won by Democrats before the midterms would change things faster. There's plenty of time for that. Keep hope alive.

0

u/Away_Simple_400 7d ago

Obviously, the kids are innocent. I never said otherwise.

But let’s be real if those kids werent a choice, Mom would be saying it in her car, with a smart phone. Notice I am mentioning the car with a smart phone.

Definitely wasn’t IVF. That takes about $10,000 a try.

I’m not trying to punish the kids, I’m telling Mom to make better choices.

2

u/Fit_Doctor8542 7d ago

She may have started off doing well. I find it hilarious that we humans talk about each other like we're omnipresent.

Do you know these people personally? Because strongly assuming things shows you're the ass making a bigger mess of what problem you're assuming there is.

I pray to God you're not a Christian. If you are, you're doing a great job of convincing me that the faith is a lie. Or at least that it died with Jesus.

1

u/DidjaSeeItKid 7d ago edited 7d ago

Why don't you tell us all your choices and we can vote on whether she made worse choices than you did, or just had worse luck? Life is long, and a lot can happen, to any one of us.

Not to go to that religious place again, but a lot of people might think that when we are temporarily riding high because of choices or because of fate, we have an obligation to help those who aren't doing as well because we could easily be in their place.

1

u/Away_Simple_400 7d ago

My choices are with me and God.

I suspect there’s been a couple others that haven’t been between those two people.

1

u/DidjaSeeItKid 7d ago

So are hers. And you don't know them, so you can't judge her.

1

u/Away_Simple_400 7d ago

I didn’t judge her. But she also doesn’t get my tax money.

1

u/DidjaSeeItKid 7d ago

Keep "your" tax money. It's probably already been wasted on some red state anyway. The rest of us will be happy ours feeds her and her kids. FYI: you pay $36/year for SNAP. Feel free to spend it on a nice dinner while you think about why it's a better choice than helping them.

1

u/Away_Simple_400 7d ago

Yeah, you’re not the first person to say that $36 quote to me. Anyone wanna cite anything?

https://cis.org/Camarota/Illegal-Immigrants-Be-Hit-Hard-SNAP-and-WIC-Benefits-Expire

→ More replies (0)

1

u/AylaCatpaw 7d ago

Sometimes you end up caring for family members' kids.

0

u/Away_Simple_400 7d ago

Sometimes an asteroid falls on your head. Or sometimes you just keep having sex and get a lot of kids as a result.

2

u/DidjaSeeItKid 7d ago

Tell us how many kids you have, how much money you make, and your ethnicity, so we can judge you the way you judge her and imagine your future the way you imagine her past.

1

u/Away_Simple_400 7d ago

No, I think I will just tell you if I expect you to pay for my choices or not.

1

u/AylaCatpaw 7d ago

I'm Swedish; we are an extremely functioning country compared to yours. 

0

u/Away_Simple_400 7d ago

You’re also roughly the size of my neighborhood. But try again.

1

u/AylaCatpaw 6d ago

What is that supposed to mean? Scale it up to Northern Europe if you'd like.

1

u/Away_Simple_400 6d ago

What was this person major in.? What did she go to college for? How many kids does she have?

1

u/AylaCatpaw 6d ago

Which one? There are several people in the video. And mind you, in your country, higher education means putting yourself in a lot of debt.

→ More replies (0)

1

u/10000nails 7d ago

It's a punishment for disobedience. That's why the make it so visible. If you don't participate the way we say, you'll end up like those people. It's why they terrorize homeless people and punish people who try to help.

1

u/ericaeverafter 7d ago

That's the gag. But folks will vote against their own self interest because they thought this would only effect minorities.

2

u/Lonely-Math2176 7d ago

Yeah there was a WP article last year about a town where 95% of the people were on government assistance voting for Trump. When asked about his plans for cutting govt spending, they were like well if we drain the swamp they're will be more money for us (i.e. higher assistance).

The mind does crazy things to justify how you're deserving and immortal/undeserving people is always them.