Time to stop blaming the victims. Some of us are failing to realize or acknowledge
WHY people are unemployed; why people are homeless; why people are on welfare.
Class warfare. The wealthy class NEEDS an underclass that will work for almost
nothing, so they create this class by cutting available jobs across the board;
exporting jobs to other countries; downsizing; etc. It isn’t any one persons
fault that this is going on, this is part of a master plan. The more desperate
a person is, the more unlikely that person is to try to organize or join a union,
and thus endanger the little that they have. Welfare (as it exists in the US)
does not pay anyone’s bills, nor does it feed anyone (unless children are involved,
and then it’s still very minimal).
Welfare actually causes crime. People will survive by whatever means possible. If
you go to work, or if you’re a welfare mom and get married, you lose your benefits.
But welfare isn’t enough to live on. What do you do? You sell drugs, or sell your
body. Or your teenage sons rob stores, or whatever. The power brokers know this
too, and want it that way.
Then they can blame their own victims. IN 1968 my family lived a pretty good
lifestyle. I don’t remember ever needing anything, and in fact my mother insisted
on my attending private schools. My mother didn’t work at all, she was able
to stay at home and take care of me. Every year my Dad rented a cottage by a
lake in Wisconsin or Minnesota and we all went on a fishing trip / vacation
for two weeks. About every five years my parents purchased a new car. My father
was a union factory worker and in 1968 he made $5.00 per hour.
Today, I work in retail and I make $7.50 / hour, plus commissions. I work as
hard as my father did. My job involves computers and so probably requires
more skills that my father had. But to live the lifestyle I lived as a child, I
would have to be making around $26.00 / hour. I have never met anyone
who “just doesn’t want to work.” I don’t believe such people exist. “They”
are part of the right wing myth that “our corporate masters” want
you to believe.
This was written on May Day, 2006
