Call me blonde, but I never expected to start such a stir by posting some rants about the Welfare Debate board That said, I'm leaving the comments because honestly I believe in freedom of speech, even if I don't agree with it or they with mine.
In any event things turned a little personal when there was comment made by someone (do I have to say it was anonymous?!) referring to the "name" I've given my older son "Piss-boy". I felt it was a little bit of cheap shot, but I guess they didn't get the Fredo reference otherwise they would have been up in arms about that also.
Not my problem.
One comment that Jennamum left (thank you for at least signing it with a name) I would like to respond to because I think she misunderstood the thrust of the rant, as did Michelle. It's sarcasm, and something I use quite often in my blog at least a good 90% when I rant about the kids pissing me off, or something Rainbird has done. I am not taking a side for or against Welfare, I'm only trying to point out the lack of compassion and overall humanity because it's lacking on that board in a major way. You cannot sum up anyone's life hypothetical or not, into a few short sentences, and have them include standard phrases like, "they didn't plan enough." Not everything in life can be planned for, shit happens and I truly believe to say that or to make other comments like, "you should sell your car, possessions, quit having children (okay, I kinda do agree with that one), move to different place, or you shouldn't have pets," shows a severe lack of compassion.
Sure it's easy to make pithy little comments like that, but it's much harder to come up with real solutions to the problem and they're not offering anything real. People on that board are put down on a regular basis, and some are just trying to make ends meet, they are working, and struggling to survive. The level of sarcasm that exists on that board in particular stoops to levels that are nearly diabolical. To the point to where nothing can be said without someone firing off a sarcastic reply. It just goes too over the top when they say children don't need birthday or holiday gifts, or even a birthday cake.
There is no welfare debate on that board, anytime someone asks the question what you would do to change things, the thread dies. It's much easier to take shots at someone than it is to say what should be done to change things and rationally discuss the pros and cons of such changes. It requires give and take in the discussion, and concessions that yeah, since some people do live without transportation, they should be allowed cars, people that live in city's or some suburbs should maybe be given vouchers for public transportation. They don't do that there, as though they are afraid if they make a single concession their whole argument is lost.
That's just fucked up in the head.
People on welfare certainly should be allowed to go to a friend's house for dinner and have a cocktail if they are offered one by the host. If I had a friend that was on welfare I would certainly invite them over, I think it's a nice thing to do (since they were likely invited before they were on welfare and I consider them a friend to begin with). I would also buy them a bag of groceries and include some goodies for their children (if they have any), I'm sure some would be pissed at me if said that on the board. Some would surely comment that I shouldn't be buying them goodies at all for whatever reason that would fit their whim.
One final thought before publishing. I've read time and time that people on the board will not debate personal stories because (the excuse) people get offended. Well, I personally find it offensive when the same people use their own "personal stories" which are nothing more than observations, to point out welfare excesses. When it's pointed out that not all abuse the system they defend their personal observations with more observations or other anecdotes about how they live without such and such, every one should.
