Something that Pisses Me Off
There's a posting that goes around on all the social media sites. The gist of it is something like this:
Like if you think states should have drug testing in order to collect welfare or food stamps.
There are usually ten thousand likes for this and the comment section is even more upsetting to me.
Why don't I like it?
Because people are certainly making judgments and because those same people are casting stones at the bottom of the economic food chain.
Is drug-testing something I'm against because it takes away rights?
Not necessarily. There is drug-testing for all sorts of jobs in this country. Why not drug-test people who are getting free money?
Yet what bugs me about it is that we continue to look at the bottom-feeders and consider that they are the cause of all of the problems in the world.
I saw a lady using food stamps while talking on her smartphone!!!!
Those are the types of comments that get to me.
Let me try and explain my very unpopular position.
8 to 10 percent of the population is useless.
It's always been that way and always will be that way. No amount of coaxing, testing, cajoling, chiding, motivating or encouraging them will work. There were cavemen who wanted to sleep all day instead of helping to collect food.
Some people don't want to work.
Yet has that percentage increased recently?
No. What has increased are the number of people who have fallen into the arena of needing public assistance.
And do you know why that is?
Because wages have been basically stagnant since the 1990's for the typical members of the working class. Minimum wage is not a living wage by any means.
It used to be.
People used to be able to put food on their tables while doing what we now consider to be menial jobs.
A minimum wage job now barely pays the cell phone bill.
And do people who are at or near the poverty line need to go without even a single basic luxury before being able to collect food stamps?
I don't think so, but then again, I am a compassionate sort who sees people struggling as PEOPLE nonetheless.
I always want to answer the drug-testing question by putting something smart like:
Like if you think we should drug test the guys on wall street or the investment bankers making millions off the sweat of the working middle class by playing the numbers game and swindling people.
But I don't.
Instead I try and make the argument to people I think should be smart enough to understand.
Who was more responsible for the collapse of the banking industry, the auto industry and the housing industry?
Was it the guys who sit in sweatpants all day and steal $500 a month or was it the guys in neckties and nice Italian shoes who stole a million at a time.
Think about that a bit the next time you look down your nose at a guy who might be using food stamps at the grocery store on his way home of installing drywall as a side job after working as a laborer during the day...all for $8 an hour.
Think about it when you consider Madoff and the thousand guys like him who stole money hand over fist.
Who do you think paid for those losses?
Drug-test them bastards.
Like if you think states should have drug testing in order to collect welfare or food stamps.
There are usually ten thousand likes for this and the comment section is even more upsetting to me.
Why don't I like it?
Because people are certainly making judgments and because those same people are casting stones at the bottom of the economic food chain.
Is drug-testing something I'm against because it takes away rights?
Not necessarily. There is drug-testing for all sorts of jobs in this country. Why not drug-test people who are getting free money?
Yet what bugs me about it is that we continue to look at the bottom-feeders and consider that they are the cause of all of the problems in the world.
I saw a lady using food stamps while talking on her smartphone!!!!
Those are the types of comments that get to me.
Let me try and explain my very unpopular position.
8 to 10 percent of the population is useless.
It's always been that way and always will be that way. No amount of coaxing, testing, cajoling, chiding, motivating or encouraging them will work. There were cavemen who wanted to sleep all day instead of helping to collect food.
Some people don't want to work.
Yet has that percentage increased recently?
No. What has increased are the number of people who have fallen into the arena of needing public assistance.
And do you know why that is?
Because wages have been basically stagnant since the 1990's for the typical members of the working class. Minimum wage is not a living wage by any means.
It used to be.
People used to be able to put food on their tables while doing what we now consider to be menial jobs.
A minimum wage job now barely pays the cell phone bill.
And do people who are at or near the poverty line need to go without even a single basic luxury before being able to collect food stamps?
I don't think so, but then again, I am a compassionate sort who sees people struggling as PEOPLE nonetheless.
I always want to answer the drug-testing question by putting something smart like:
Like if you think we should drug test the guys on wall street or the investment bankers making millions off the sweat of the working middle class by playing the numbers game and swindling people.
But I don't.
Instead I try and make the argument to people I think should be smart enough to understand.
Who was more responsible for the collapse of the banking industry, the auto industry and the housing industry?
Was it the guys who sit in sweatpants all day and steal $500 a month or was it the guys in neckties and nice Italian shoes who stole a million at a time.
Think about that a bit the next time you look down your nose at a guy who might be using food stamps at the grocery store on his way home of installing drywall as a side job after working as a laborer during the day...all for $8 an hour.
Think about it when you consider Madoff and the thousand guys like him who stole money hand over fist.
Who do you think paid for those losses?
Drug-test them bastards.
Comments
Great piece Cliff. Send this to the Huffington Post. It should be published.