Community Chat

[Porcelain]

I pay my taxes and I expect to see a return on that investment. Some of that money better be used to feed hungry kids. Maybe some like the idea of more Oliver Twists in the world. I don't.

[bikerbabe]

Um, so how do you fix this and prepare for this on your own when you are poor? And maybe not working because of closures due to the virus?

I get the need for a long term solution but that doesn’t do much for someone who is hungry. Today.

[wishmoon]

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@KarenQVC wrote:

I accept that not everyone will agree with me.  Because of my education, profession, and religion I am thoughtful about the least among us.  I see my attitude and interests as a blessing in my life. 

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...and I KNOW that I'm not one many agree with, I'm probably the most anti-religious person here but believe the same as to taking care of the least among us.

Life is funny, not funny, haha, funny, strange.

[Ms tyrion2]

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@Mominohio wrote:

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@Vivian wrote:

The stock market has already lost trillions, so what we spend to feed children who only get decent meals at school is a drop in the bucket. We don't have the luxury of time with this awful virus. If school is closed, we need to assure that poor children are fed. There is no time right now to teach them how to fish. That will have to come after the pandemic passes. As for their parents, if they get no help many will go to work sick and spread the virus to the rest of us. For people in the danger categories, that is unacceptable. Helping those without insurance is good for all of us.

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Fixing the system so people aren't so dependent on one provider (the government) in daily situations as well as crisis situations will make a stronger community in good times and bad. 

Every time there is a crisis, and people at any level (including industy, finance etc.) need to depend on being bailed out by the government, we make ourselves as a whole, weaker. It goes for everything from free lunch, to auto industry bail out and beyond. 

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@Mominohio ,

What you propose sounds good on paper, but think about the reality.

The former First Lady planted a garden to teach that people can grow their own healthy food. She strongly worked towards school lunches be healthy in order to teach good eating habits in children.

She was mocked and jeered at the whole time.

So, exactly what does the government do? There is no magic job creation and improvement in the lives of low income people withoout some changes being made.  However small and incremental.

[wishmoon]

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@Porcelain wrote:

I pay my taxes and I expect to see a return on that investment. Some of that money better be used to feed hungry kids. Maybe some like the idea of more Oliver Twists in the world. I don't.

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I think most of us still believe we are our brother's keeper.

[Mominohio]

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@bikerbabe wrote:
Um, so how do you fix this and prepare for this on your own when you are poor? And maybe not working because of closures due to the virus?

I get the need for a long term solution but that doesn’t do much for someone who is hungry. Today.

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There was always yesterday, and there will always be tomorrow, when things aren't so bad. That is when things should be/should have been addressed and done. 

And many poor actually do quite a good job of providing themselves a certain level of preparing for things. It's about opportunities taken/not taken, choices made, skills learned and practiced, expectations set. 

No one is going to be able to prepare for everything, but everyone is able to do something, even small scale, to contribute to being self sustaining in some small ways for some bit of time. People are not empowered to believe they can over come, but instead encouraged to see themselves as victims in circumstances. For so many, it's about perceptions impeding their way to even small steps to successes.

[Mominohio]

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@Ms tyrion2 wrote:

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@Mominohio wrote:

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@Vivian wrote:

The stock market has already lost trillions, so what we spend to feed children who only get decent meals at school is a drop in the bucket. We don't have the luxury of time with this awful virus. If school is closed, we need to assure that poor children are fed. There is no time right now to teach them how to fish. That will have to come after the pandemic passes. As for their parents, if they get no help many will go to work sick and spread the virus to the rest of us. For people in the danger categories, that is unacceptable. Helping those without insurance is good for all of us.

---

Fixing the system so people aren't so dependent on one provider (the government) in daily situations as well as crisis situations will make a stronger community in good times and bad. 

Every time there is a crisis, and people at any level (including industy, finance etc.) need to depend on being bailed out by the government, we make ourselves as a whole, weaker. It goes for everything from free lunch, to auto industry bail out and beyond. 

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@Mominohio ,

What you propose sounds good on paper, but think about the reality.

The former First Lady planted a garden to teach that people can grow their own healthy food. She strongly worked towards school lunches be healthy in order to teach good eating habits in children.

She was mocked and jeered at the whole time.

So, exactly what does the government do? There is no magic job creation and improvement in the lives of low income people withoout some changes being made.  However small and incremental.

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That's the issue. The government does too much, not very well, and at a huge expense. 

It needs to be less the government, and more private industry, private charity, grass roots community movements. 

And when the government is involved, it needs to be about their input being temporary and it's end game to not be the endless hand out, but the effective hand up so each individual is the next hand up to those coming after them.

[Snowpuppy]

@Mominohio I listened to the 2pm press conference in Columbus.

They got a waiver to package school lunches and breakfasts in a grab and go style.  School districts will choose how to distribute. Pick up or deliver when possible.

This is not an attack on the OP. This is an observation that legislation can wind up not getting funded.

[Porcelain]

I believe someone a lot of us look up to handed out endless loaves and fishes.

[suzyQ3]

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@Mominohio wrote:

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@Snowpuppy wrote:

Please don't wait for legislation to rescue you.

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I was considering how to answer this thread, and you hit the nail right on the head. 

I find it disturbing that we now have to feed most of the nation's school children both breakfast and lunch, and that when they are out for the summer or a crisis like this one, we need to find alternate ways to keep them fed. 

I think jobs and economic stimulus to increase wages/jobs is the more permanent way to cure some of these ills in society. 

We have to get past giving a man a fish, and more about teaching him how to fish. 

We are spending a ton of money on band aid fixes for terminal illness.

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@Mominohio And I find this to be one of most disturbing paragraphs I've read recently. If the government can't help its must vulnerable, it doesn't deserve being called a government at all. It would be just a Darwinian exercise of survival of the fittest.