An Elitist Snob's Somewhat Skewed View.

I had the unfortunate opportunity to listen to Michael Medved on his Nationally syndicated radio program today for a few short minutes before turning to another venue when I couldn't stand another sentence about the food stamp program in America and how it is taken advantage of by so many people, that the program is basically useless and had I spent any more time listening to his whining would probably have called for an end to the program. I also, went on a web site with current transcripts of one of his shows about the homeless in America, scanned the material and decided it wasn't worth the complete read. This guy is an example of a conservative rich guy (and in principle there is nothing wrong with either the conservative or rich, personally I'm one but not the other and would like to be both if the opportunity arose)who not only lacks experience with the "ragged ass masses" but is devoid of compassion for his fellow man. Every time Michael opens his mouth and spouts off about the ills in America and criticizes those who are forced to go to the government for aid, just shows his lack of life experience and exposure to real life in America. He always has a pile of statistics and reports to quote from but never any real life examples. I have never been a recipient of food stamps, but, I have lived in a large city, Chicago, in the inner city close to the what suburban people would call "the ghetto" and have observed and interacted with many of the residents there. In the five years my wife and I shopped at inner city food stores that bordered on what was once called "hillbilly heaven" and uptown (that's uptown of the 80's) and stood in many a checkout line, we were able to see quite a few food stamp purchases. In that time we saw only one person who I would classify as a fraud. A woman in a floor length fur coat who split the order between food goods and non program items like cigarettes and liquor which she paid for with cash from a large roll of bills, for some reason that image has stuck with me and helped me look for a better understanding of those less fortunate than myself. The others I have observed have always appeared to be glad to have the assistance so they could feed themselves and their families. It was usually easy to pick them out, aside from the stamps they handed to the cashier in that they all looked like life was dealing them less than a great hand. Now I suppose to the casual elitist observer these downtrodden looking types are all fakes who should get a job and make a contribution to society instead of always taking handouts. The fact of the matter is that not all people are capable of earning higher incomes for a myriad of reasons, and maybe, just maybe they are doing the best they can with what God gave them. I know this may be a novel concept to an over educated elitist, but this is a small taste of real life on planet earth. These are by the way many of the same people who are forced to frequent food banks to again feed themselves and their families. I will readily admit, again, there are abuses in this system but not nearly as many as one radio commentator would think.

As we are being forced to become more of a service economy the wages are by and large lowered. Large service type companies attempt to keep as many workers on part time status as possible to maintain low overhead costs, they do not have to pay benefits to part time help and they can depress wages at the same time, all at the expense of the worker. As fuel goes up and utilities go up, rent goes up then food goes up for various reasons but wages stay the same and it reaches a point where the lower wage earners are basically going backward. I will only shop at a certain chain when it is a last resort as I refuse to shop where American workers are taken advantage of. Ah, the creation of a permanent lower class, but this should be of no surprise to anyone. Well I guess this doesn't have a lot of meaning to someone who makes millions per year as small rises in prices and costs of living don't really affect higher income earners in their daily lives, I only wish they all had to spend some time in another man's shoes and maybe they would gain a better understanding of reality. I don't advocate or for that matter wish a long term exposure to this other guy's shoes experience, as being poor hits home almost instantly and is difficult if not impossible to forget. And for all of you skeptics out there, those who have the ability usually climb out of poverty, as getting out of poverty itself is a great motivator.

The Homeless is something I have quite a bit of experience with and will address it tomorrow at length. I really want to go back and read Mr. Medved's transcript again as I look forward addressing his opinions and views.