Really, $20K/year isn't poor?

Both conservative and liberal politicians and pundits talk an awful lot of bullshit, of course. But one of the most galling pieces of bullshit is when conservative pundits say that the people who receive financial help from the government don’t really need it.

It’s reasonable, if harsh, to say “I’m sorry, I know you need help but I can’t afford to help right now.” It’s reasonable, if harsh, to say to a drowning man “I’m sorry, I know you need help but I don’t have enough rope to get you out of the water and into the ship.”

But it’s not reasonable to say, “Dude, you’re not really drowning. Stop whining and get yourself out of the water! It’s only a ten-foot climb up the side of the sheer, wet, slippery iron ship, and only one of your arms is broken. I don’t see what your problem is.”

Likewise, it’s not reasonable to say “Dude, you’re not really poor. Stop whining and get a second job! So companies are cutting rather than hiring right now, you don’t have the education to get decent pay or the time and money to get the education, getting a second job would cost you more in childcare expenses than it would bring in, and odds are you have a physical disability or mental health problem that makes you unable to do most of the jobs that would pay enough to feed you and yours. I don’t see what your problem is.”

It’s possible that we will have to tell people to sink or swim on their own, in order to keep the ship afloat. But at least we should be honest about the fact that most of them will drown.

And we should have another look at the ropes we have aboard the ship, and see if it's actually true that there aren't enough to help those that are drowning. I suspect most of the rope we do have is in the hands of people who are holding onto it so they can use it for water-skiing.