Several years ago our church had a family come and ask for help because their gas was going to be shut off for not paying the bill. This was cold weather the last of December and I was the one that was dealing with them. I asked and found out that they were both working. I asked if they received any Christmas bonus at work and they had. I asked them what had became of that money. They told me they had bought a big screen TV set. That was in the day that those sets were very expensive into the thousands. They had a big screen TV even if they didn't have any heat. You can't fix stupid.
Dying Poor
- Thread starter somarco
- Start date
- 15,041
Not that I wish ill upon anyone, but I hope the church refused to help with the gas bill.
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Years ago I worked as a front desk clerk for a motel that accepted general assistance vouchers essentially for free rent. We had 2 classes of people, those that got up and walked to work every day at a low paying job and the other type was a couple families with cars, nice cell phones, video game systems that would leave for "work" once a week to do the rounds of general assistance, as well as a couple of churches they would hit up to provide money for laundery and other items.
I have no problems helping someone down on their luck trying to get back on their feet. I have an issue with people that game the system spend their money on items I choose not to buy because they are luxeries and I have to live within my means.
I have no problems helping someone down on their luck trying to get back on their feet. I have an issue with people that game the system spend their money on items I choose not to buy because they are luxeries and I have to live within my means.
It has been so many years that I don't remember the resolution for sure. I don't think we helped them but referred them elsewhere. During that same time period there was another lady we had helped on different occasions that came into several hundred dollars and I swear that 6 weeks later she was back seeking help and flat broke. You can't fix some things with money. You can't legislate poverty out of existence. Jesus said,
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The true argument to have is
"what is the proper role and scope of the FEDERAL government?"
Once we understand that it was intended to not be a centralized dictatorship removed from the people they were supposedly representing, but something that is left up to the individual states.
THAT is the way, leave it up to the states. It has a fail-safe mechanism that allows states to experiment with the laws they want to implement whether it takes the form of abortion, lax drug laws, universal healthcare etc. and allows the rest of the country to stand back and watch the effects of tinkering. This provides a learning experience for the rest of the country to learn from.
I hope I didn't get this thread kicked to the political forum...
"what is the proper role and scope of the FEDERAL government?"
Once we understand that it was intended to not be a centralized dictatorship removed from the people they were supposedly representing, but something that is left up to the individual states.
THAT is the way, leave it up to the states. It has a fail-safe mechanism that allows states to experiment with the laws they want to implement whether it takes the form of abortion, lax drug laws, universal healthcare etc. and allows the rest of the country to stand back and watch the effects of tinkering. This provides a learning experience for the rest of the country to learn from.
I hope I didn't get this thread kicked to the political forum...
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