Parents on government subsidy

[Judy Trickett]

I think it is easy to say "every man for himself" is best when you are born into privelege as I hazard to guess you have been. By privelege, I mean, white middle class English speaking etc. I agree that many immigrants here and in the US are much harder workers than anyone born here and that is why they can make something out of nothing and succeed. But how many people are falling through the cracks because they don't have the help when it is needed? What about those who have been laid off and have no insurance and then get sick...should we say "too bad...you should be working?" I do not disagree at all that many people are lazy and abuse the system...my point is that there are also many who really need help and helping them betters our society. Kids who have a good start in life with access to food, health care, education, grow up to be contributers to society instead of angry criminals. So, why should we pay for other people's poor decisions etc? Because the kids are our future and the more we invest in them, the brighter our future as a society is. I cannot believe anyone would say that the US way is better...crime is higher, poverty is higher, violence is higher and there are vast ghettos full of angry disillusioned youth. Is that better? Really? Well, I suppose as long as you are not living in the ghetto you can close your eyes to the problems and go about your rosy life, but I do not believe this will lead to a better future for anyone.

Born our of privilege? Ha! No, nothing could be further from the truth! I grew up with parents who bilked the system for all it was worth. There were many times I ate Peanut butter sandwiches for a week straight but you could be sure my parents still has their weekly carton of cigarettes.

Privilege? No, I don't think so!

I got where I am now by the sweat of my brow. And this is one of the reasons I have such animosity for those that use the system and don't really "need" it. I worked hard - had a job since I was 14 yrs old. EVERYTHING I have is because I worked for it. And there were times an adults that hubby and I were going to school and working so hard and could not even afford to eat more than macaroni (for real!) but you know what - not ONCE did we use the "system". We sucked it up, spent nothing on what WE could not afford on our own. We lived through it and I think it made us better people because of it. We take nothing for granted and we realize that those who "have" probably worked damn hard for it.

ETA: Anyway, this thread is getting off on an NON-daycare tangent. So, out of respect for this forum and its intent I am done posting on this thread. I think everyone's opinions have been voiced and I agree to disagree. I don't want to turn daycare.com into drama-fest.