Funding cuts leave many without home heating assistance in Macon

[PiKA2001]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

Ha! Me and my "friends" will be saving that money like we always do instead of using it to "create new jobs." Don't you know that's the way trickle down really works? I'm so sorry I pegged you as a Republican, but you sure sound like one. I sure didn't ask for my tax windfall...most will probably get saved, though I give a significant part of my salary every year to charity. As for contacting the Macon paper to pay this lady's bills, holding your breath is stupid. So, because I think it's dumb to judge the poor for their choices and expect them to live in a cardboard box before they can ask for help means that I personally have to support every single person that needs help? I may have a tax windfall in the future, but that's not feasible, and your rhetorhic is always over the top. This is why we have government programs to help because they CAN have widespread reach.

Why don't you put your money where your mouth is then? If you are against YOUR tax cut and believe you shouldn't receive it then donate it (as opposed to saving it) to a non profit that assists the needy.

I really don't think you're getting my point here. I think since you are ASSUMING that I'm a Republican you are reading between the lines and think that I'm anti welfare. I never said anything about letting people live in cardboard boxes or cutting out welfare, but we need to be helping the people who really need help and not the people trying to maintain their lifestyle. How is it "fair" if a lady who shows up in line first but owns a late model car and an expensive entertainment system gets assistance over a lady who has never been able to afford a car or a entertainment system? IDK if you read the article posted by Low C but do you think that family should get utility credits, foodstamps, free school lunch program? I mean, they are struggling!

[Drolefille]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

I don't see a substantive distinction between pointing out irony and making, what you perceive to be, a judgment. It's really the same thing. Then again, I try to avoid getting lost in people's tone, and whether they come across as an asshat, and focus on what's embedded in what people say.

I make the distinction based on how many assumptions someone is putting onto a subject and whether that person is then deciding something fundamental about the subject, generally negative, based on essentially no actual information.

Pointing something out: Huh, that guy likes to wear pink shirts a lot.
Making assumptions: He's probably gay because he wears pink shirts.
Judging: He shouldn't be gay, that's bad. (or alternatively)

Pointing something out: Hey she has a pretty nice TV.
Making assumptions: She's living beyond her means. She cannot manage money well. She spent taxpayer money on that TV.
Judging: She doesn't deserve help because she has that TV. If she really needed help she'd have sold that TV. It looks bad for her to have that TV.

You are not the only person in this thread who has professional and/or personal experience with poverty. That does not mean that everyone with professional and personal experience with poverty will interpret and respond to this topic in the same manner.

Nope, I'm not. But it's the way I respond and will continue to do so. You can argue that my response only created the reaction I expected from others, but I don't actually care about that in this context.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by Drolefille

Nope, I'm not. But it's the way I respond and will continue to do so. You can argue that my response only created the reaction I expected from others, but I don't actually care about that in this context.

That's cool because you acknowledge that your response was primarily based on your defensiveness and your perception.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by PiKA2001

Why don't you put your money where your mouth is then? If you are against YOUR tax cut and believe you shouldn't receive it then donate it (as opposed to saving it) to a non profit that assists the needy.

I really don't think you're getting my point here. I think since you are ASSUMING that I'm a Republican you are reading between the lines and think that I'm anti welfare. I never said anything about letting people live in cardboard boxes or cutting out welfare, but we need to be helping the people who really need help and not the people trying to maintain their lifestyle. How is it "fair" if a lady who shows up in line first but owns a late model car and an expensive entertainment system gets assistance over a lady who has never been able to afford a car or a entertainment system? IDK if you read the article posted by Low C but do you think that family should get utility credits, foodstamps, free school lunch program? I mean, they are struggling!

I do put my money where my mouth is. I vote Democratic. I donate money to charity. I also save money so that I do have that cushion we have been talking about. It's called being responsible. If I wasn't putting my money where my mouth was, I'd just go out and buy a 3D TV and a new surround sound system and maybe some furniture with the money.

As for "fair", I'll let you in on something. Life isn't fair. The asshats who set up the program made the program that way. It's not the fault of the woman who needs assistance that has more means than her neighbor and gets the assistance because she showed up first if that's the way the program was set up. I haven't had time to read the story posted by Low C sharp since I've been working all day, but I'll get around to it. This country has been all about cutting off aid because people think the poor are just trying to get something for nothing....until of course someone THEY know needs assistance.

Also, I think you are missing the point that you have no way of knowing that people are trying to "maintain their lifestyles." Sorry, if welfare money is a lifestyle, it's a pretty crappy one.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

As for "fair", I'll let you in on something. Life isn't fair.

So keep the judgmental party going.

[PiKA2001]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

I do put my money where my mouth is. I vote Democratic. I donate money to charity. I also save money so that I do have that cushion we have been talking about. It's called being responsible. If I wasn't putting my money where my mouth was, I'd just go out and buy a 3D TV and a new surround sound system and maybe some furniture with the money.

As for "fair", I'll let you in on something. Life isn't fair. The asshats who set up the program made the program that way. It's not the fault of the woman who needs assistance that has more means than her neighbor and gets the assistance because she showed up first if that's the way the program was set up. I haven't had time to read the story posted by Low C sharp since I've been working all day, but I'll get around to it. This country has been all about cutting off aid because people think the poor are just trying to get something for nothing....until of course someone THEY know needs assistance.

Also, I think you are missing the point that you have no way of knowing that people are trying to "maintain their lifestyles." Sorry, if welfare money is a lifestyle, it's a pretty crappy one.

WOW

LOL @ the bolded for so many different reasons.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by PiKA2001

WOW

LOL @ the bolded for so many different reasons.

Wow for what? If you haven't figured out that life isn't fair at this point, you will have a pretty miserable life wringing your hands in misery. Shit happens. And I stand by my earlier part of the post, too. You may have a different ideology, but I don't agree with independents who ride the fence. (Does a big grin make that feel better?)

[PiKA2001]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

Wow for what? If you haven't figured out that life isn't fair at this point, you will have a pretty miserable life wringing your hands in misery. Shit happens. And I stand by my earlier part of the post, too. You may have a different ideology, but I don't agree with independents who ride the fence. (Does a big grin make that feel better?)

So since I don't buy into the mainstream political bull-shit/brainwashing I'm a fence-sitter? Sorry, but I vote for candidates, not political parties

I think you're disagreeing with me just to disagree with me because you think I'm a evil GOP'er who wants to dismantle welfare. I'm not and I don't but as a member of the elite 52% of Americans that pay income taxes I have a right to question and criticize how my money is being spent.

And the wow comment was for the irony of the "life isn't fair" comment (given the article and subsequent posts) and how you criticize me for judging when you've done nothing but judge in this thread.

[DrPhil]

I hope AOII Angel is making a distinction between Independents and "Independents who ride the fence."

Just like I remind myself that all Democrats and Republicans are not brainwashed fools who believe that "choosing a side of the fence" is the solution to complex social issues. Only some Democrats and Republicans are brainwashed fools who blindly vote straight ticket because they think that party alliances substantively mean something beyond politics.

(That grin doesn't change the words but, instead of attempting condescension through smiley, it relaxes the tone since I assume none of us are "heated" over this discourse. It certainly isn't the first time we've had this conversation off and on the Internet, right? Such is the life of those who like to discuss REAL topics.)