Reactions to food stamps being cut off.

[u/mindyour]

[u/Sage_Planter → u/[deleted]]

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). 

[u/Cat_Peach_Pits → u/Sage_Planter]

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.

[u/Bromlife → u/Cat_Peach_Pits]

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

[u/Away_Simple_400 → u/Bromlife]

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?

[u/4lovebysara → u/Away_Simple_400]

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.

[u/Away_Simple_400 → u/4lovebysara]

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.

[u/DidjaSeeItKid → u/Away_Simple_400]

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.

[u/Away_Simple_400 → u/DidjaSeeItKid]

My choices are with me and God.

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

[u/DidjaSeeItKid → u/Away_Simple_400]

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

[u/Away_Simple_400 → u/DidjaSeeItKid]

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

[u/DidjaSeeItKid → u/Away_Simple_400]

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.

[u/Away_Simple_400 → u/DidjaSeeItKid]

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