I will preface this by saying I am a moderate Democrat. I have received aid from Pell Grants, the food stamp program, and unemployment benefits. Both of my parents benefited from Medicare and Social Security, as did both sets of grandparents.
My father enlisted in the US Navy (served in WWII and Korea), and his father was in the Merchant Marine during WWII.
My father, too, served in WWII and won the silver star. He never spoke of the war. However, he was proud of serving and fighting for our freedoms. Later in his life, he spoke often of how socialism and communism were slowly taking over America. He worked three jobs to support us and now Americans have become accustomed to the handouts from our government, and refuse jobs that they feel are beneath them. We all need to work at any job that is available and stop relying on a socialist influenced government to care for us.
Now I normally don’t discuss religion or politics on this blog, but I find this comment (from a Yahoo news story that I was reading) to be offensive at worst and uninformed at best.
This comment makes it sound like the ‘socialist leanings’ in this country are a new thing. I don’t call programs that started 78 years ago in 1933 (the New Deal programs of Franklin Delano Roosevelt) and 47 years ago in 1964 (the Great Society programs of Lyndon Baines Johnson) ‘new’
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Depression
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Depression#United_States
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Deal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Society
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_D._Roosevelt
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyndon_B._Johnson
Would this commenter prefer the widespread suicides that occurred in the early years of the Great Depression? Or perhaps he would like the 20,000 people per day laid off every day, or maybe the 20,000 companies that declared bankruptcy would be what floats his boat?
During the Great Depression, unemployment rose to 25% and crop prices fell by up to 60%. Attempts to shore up the US economy by retaliatory tariffs on imports from other countries worsened the economy in all affected countries including the USA.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoot-Hawley_Tariff_Act
Perhaps the commenter thinks people should be left to starve when there are NO jobs available or the competition for jobs is fierce.
And in reality, if you are on self-sufficiency programs such as unemployment or some of the ‘welfare’ benefits you are not allowed to turn down employment without sacrificing or limiting your benefits. Perhaps the commenter should do some research into the facts before parroting ‘Americans turn down jobs in favor of handouts’
Personally, I have been unemployed or underemployed since November 2005 when I moved to Bend Oregon to take care of my elderly father (who has since died). I am NOT picky about jobs, I have applied for over 500 jobs in the last 6 years (fast food, janitorial, banking, clerical, accounting, retail, personal care, etc). I have worked several temporary jobs in the last 6 years.
I sold everything that would sell (antiques, collectibles, vintage jewelry, vintage glassware, tools, books, etc) to keep my bills paid from 2009-2011. My mother paid about 13 months of space rent or I would have been living in a truck with two cats (not to mention the litter boxes!)
I have 2 college degrees (BS in Business/Economics, and AS in Hotel/Restaurant Management), and 20 years of experience in various fields. I currently have a permanent part time job (10 hours per week) for an online freelancing site (in their Risk Management Department)
I have no children. I am not a senior citizen. I am not disabled. Unemployment benefits ran out in April 2010 (with a 5 week extension in mid-2011). Therefore, the only ‘socialist’ benefits I am currently entitled to are food stamps and state health insurance (the first year on the insurance there was no cost to me, but now that I have income my insurance costs me $9.00 per month).
I take 8 prescription medicines daily (10 pills every day, not including iron, calcium, and Tylenol). I could not afford my prescription medications without the ‘socialist’ state health insurance. I have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, anemia, and am borderline diabetic; I also take blood thinners since I was diagnosed with pulmonary emboli (blood clots in the lungs) in August 2010
I make $85.00 per week before taxes–a total of about $340.00 per month. Cable internet (which I must have for my job) and phone runs around 70 per month, ditto for electricity. This leaves a whopping $190.00 to cover all other expenses. I couldn’t afford food without the ‘socialist’ food stamp program