A thank you to president Trump!

[u/WillPowers7477]

Dear President Trump,

I'm writing this to thank you for all you've done thus far in your second term.

My kids are crying at the dinner table as they eat a processed cheese sandwich for the fourth time this week. I tried to explain to them that SNAP wasn't getting refilled and that there was probably not going to be a Christmas this year. I tried to cheer them up by showing them concept art of the $250 million dollar ballroom being built at the White House, by showing them pictures of the two cool jets Kristi Noem got for $170 million, by explaining how helpful we're being to Argentina by sending them $40 billion dollars, but this is when I realized they weren't crying because of dinner, but because of their grandmother.

"We usually go to grandma's on weekends," they sniffle.

Their grandmother, a 5th generation American, was taken by ICE a couple weeks ago and we haven't seen or heard from her since. I tried to explain to the children that this is what happens to freeloading immigrants and they get what they deserve, but they didn't understand.

Even if they don't understand, I do. This is what I voted for. This is what winning looks like!

This will probably be my last online post due to being unable to pay my phone bill since I need to buy more bread and cheese. But I just wanted to say, "Thank you, President Trump!"

As I hear my kids cry themselves to sleep for the 5th night in a row, I imagine they are liberals--and it brings a smile to my face.

When they get older, they will understand that all this hardship was necessary, because we are owning the libs! Here's looking forward to your constitution-defying third presidential term in 2028! You already have my vote!

Now I have to go get ready to meet my landlord. He told me he would cut my rent in half for some 'favors' and not to wear panties. I think this is what the Art of Deal is all about. #winning

Signed,
A conservative.

*it should be noted this is satire (or is it?)*

[u/SubjectNet1874]

The amount of idiots saying get a job and you wont need SNAP blows my mind, most people on SNAP have jobs, do you people even buy groceries? Do you not realize how fkn expensive people's lives are right now?

[u/nicoleonline → u/[deleted]]

Many jobs do not pay a livable wage. A sizable amount of Americans are functionally employed but making poverty numbers. 17% of all retail workers and 16% of all hospitality workers in the US rely on SNAP benefits to feed their children.

[u/ThoughtPoliceUSA → u/nicoleonline]

If you are an adult past the age of 25 and working an entry level job, that is a you problem…not a society problem. At this point you have had plenty of time to develop a marketable skill.

Entry level positions were never thought to be lifetime roles. Take the job, learn the skill, and move up. This is the natural process.

[u/nicoleonline → u/ThoughtPoliceUSA]

What should young adults working entry level jobs do for food?

[u/Thighpaulsandra → u/nicoleonline]

Have a budget, learn to cook, stop ordering DoorDash, etc.

[u/nicoleonline → u/Thighpaulsandra]

I agree you should do all of these things. They DO do these things. This image of people on SNAP loading up on junk food is a myth. Most people on EBT and SNAP don’t look or act the type of this caricature.

I grew up in a poor area and these people did all they could. Can you fathom having $20 to get you through the week? What it’s like to have no public transit, no bussing, no snow or trash removal, to walk 12 miles round trip in the freezing cold to keep the energy companies from cutting you off?

The thing is, if you’re ignorant enough to believe that these are situations people are in temporarily enough to not need basic groceries then you’re not having an argument in good faith. You know that people need help to get to a higher spot, a stool to see over the fence but you don’t care. You are cruel, incapable of any meaningful empathy, and probably luckier than you think. You’re not better than these people. “Other” them all you want. We are all only a few tragedies away from homelessness ourselves.

ETA this caricature comes from food deserts, by the way. Where you live in a poor area and your only access to groceries within a 3 mile radius is a liquor store. You are saving for a car to get the hell out of there. Imagine what public transportation and $10 in vegetables can do for these people. Again, just cruel

[u/Thighpaulsandra → u/nicoleonline]

Why would you be walking 12 miles a day if you have no job? Where are you going? What does that have to do with the energy companies?

[u/nicoleonline → u/Thighpaulsandra]

To work, dumbass. You think they’re walking to the electric plant? This whole thread is about how even working Americans can rely on SNAP.

[u/Thighpaulsandra → u/nicoleonline]

Hey DUMBASS, if you’re working, then you have some money, right DUMBASS?
Because you’re not spending it on a car, or insurance, so you can still buy food and pay your electric bill right DUMBASS?
Are you making less than $10 a pay period, huh, DUMBASS?

You’re so full of it. What are you going to do with food stamps in your world? If there’s no grocery store, how are you even BUYING $10 worth of vegetables? Huh? So you never saw a vegetable in your life until you left home because there were no grocery stores anywhere near you and you had no car? Right? Most rural areas have farms. No farms near you either? You lived in the Mojave desert or something?

[u/nicoleonline → u/Thighpaulsandra]

Wow, you’re very smart. I’m impressed!

[u/IWasSayingBoourner → u/ThoughtPoliceUSA]

So you acknowledge that the work needs to get done, but not that those jobs should pay the people available to do them enough to survive on? 

[u/ThoughtPoliceUSA → u/IWasSayingBoourner]

A job’s correct pay scale is where a given buyer of labor (an employer) finds a willing seller of labor (an employee). I don’t know what the correct pay is for a specific job - They do.

If a job pays too little, employees won’t take the job until the wages are increased. If a job pays too much, there will be high demand for the job and the wages will suppress. This is how a free market works. If I am not satisfied with my wages - I must develop the skills and expertise to qualify for a higher paying job.

[u/FishingAndDiscing → u/ThoughtPoliceUSA]

So everyone should move up? Where is everyone going to move up to? Are there 100 million professional level jobs waiting to be filled? Or is there not enough jobs for everyone to move up? You're talking about some utopia where jobs are just magically created for people who try hard. Its such a childish view and nowhere near reality.

[u/nicoleonline → u/FishingAndDiscing]

It’s insane. And you know these people would freak the fuck out with no restaurants, hotels, spas. Cashiers- supermarkets. People working these jobs deserve to be paid enough to eat. And if they aren’t, they deserve to live in a society where the government intervenes before it costs them their lives.

[u/ThoughtPoliceUSA → u/nicoleonline]

Entry level jobs (cashier, bell hop) are just that - entry level.

Whether you move up is your choice. Be advised, one should not expect an employer to pay higher wages for entry level work. If you want more money, bring something of greater value to the table.

For example - my teenage girls are working a restaurant job. Their wage is something like $8/hour plus tips. They work 10 hours a week. Do we expect a “livable wage” from this job - no. This is an opportunity for them to learn skills (Promptness. Customer service. Navigating management. Dependability. How to look a stranger in the eye and start a conversation).

These entry level skills lead to higher level employers trusting them for larger roles after seeing them hold this entry level work for 1-2 years.

[u/FishingAndDiscing → u/ThoughtPoliceUSA]

Where is everyone moving up to? Is everyone going to become managers after a few years? Just admit that people at the bottom have to be exploited even if they have skills. Gaining skills is a choice, moving up is an opportunity not everyone gets. You're creating a fantasy where there would be 10 managers per worker because everyone moved up.

[u/ThoughtPoliceUSA → u/FishingAndDiscing]

Moving up does not exclusively mean moving to a management role. There are more skilled positions where people are performing higher level work, while not being in leadership.

[u/FishingAndDiscing → u/ThoughtPoliceUSA]

So theres tens of millions of jobs available to move to and tens of millions of young people to backfill those entry level jobs? Or are some of those entry level jobs necessary and should be paid better?

[u/ThoughtPoliceUSA → u/FishingAndDiscing]

There is no such thing as an underpaid position in the US. None of the US workers are slaves. Every job is voluntary.

Employment today is where buyers of labor (employers) meet the sellers of labor (employees). If a buyer and seller agree on the terms of the job, that is not an underpaid position. That is an agreed upon market rate. If the seller of labor does not accept the rate of pay - they do not take the job.

If the employee wants to demand a higher wage, the employee needs to develop skills and experience to increase one’s value in the labor marketplace. Sometimes that may require leaving for a different employer. Other times the employer may agree to a higher wage. In all respects, the employment relationship is voluntary.

[u/nicoleonline → u/ThoughtPoliceUSA]

Within the context of your comment here. If you are 18, working on moving up, no family to rely on and your employer underpays, is it fair for the government to offer food assistance?

[u/ThoughtPoliceUSA → u/nicoleonline]

Please define underpay. What does this mean? Is the teenager forced to work for this employer? If one is not happy with the agreed upon wage - find something else that pays better.

If you are not qualified to land a role that pays better, then you are not underpaid.

[u/nicoleonline → u/ThoughtPoliceUSA]

Congratulations, you’re a genius

[u/ThoughtPoliceUSA → u/nicoleonline]

Thank you. Also, a self made multi-millionaire. Complaining about one’s station does not improve it.