[G35POPPEDMYCHERRY]

Originally Posted by LogicalApex

There is a lot to unpack here and I won’t be able to unpack it all. So I’ll unpack some of it.

The biggest problem with the “people need to be more responsible” line of discussion is that the nation’s economy would collapse if people were more responsible with their money. Over 60% of the US GDP is consumer spending and the further down the economic ladder you go the more of their money is actually spent in the economy. So they are targeted heavily by lifestyle advertising to ensure they spend as much as possible to fund many many companies.

so we spend so the billionaires and capitalism thrives and stays happy since out country needs it? I thought we were against that and trying to level the playing field

But even excluding that reality. I never fully understand the desire to see those who have less suffer for having less. If a poor person is spending their money on an iPhone (which I’d argue isn’t inherently wasteful, but let’s skip that for now) or an occasional steak dinner. Why is it a problem for them to enjoy moments in their life? Why is it only acceptable if their life is like the a poor person in India or other third world countries? Why is that level of abject poverty OK in any capacity?

oh it is wasteful, you need a phone, not the newest iphone, you need shoes, not 15 different pairs, you need food, not a steak dinner...look I know you need these programs but there is blatant abuse and no enforcement. but the people who get rich off these programs need people dependent on them

Lastly, the school lunch program isn’t about the parents. It is about the kids. Well fed kids learn better. Kids who learn better have a chance of breaking the poverty cycle. It was a godsend for me that the Philadelphia School District provided free breakfast and lunch and played a very real role in my ability to climb out of poverty. It was a shame that we didn’t have running water in our high school, but you could buy it for $1 from the coca-cola vending machine though. I guess the times I spent money there would be seen as a “waste” by some though… They’d probably say I should have just drunk the toilet water… Like a person in a third world country would.
agreed, but the eligibility is based off the parents income correct? so if they that broke and constantly having extra scratch to have an iphone and extra cash then something is up no

i get it, two sides to every coin, there are truly broke people who need it and thrive off of it, and there are scum who abuse the fuck out of every freebie and reproduce scum. I would lean more towards the latter since obviously why the fuck not.

like many things there is no perfect answer. yet we tend to only look at the Dickensian aspect and not the wastage and scum nature of us human beings.

some more packing