This is another very personal diary today. I suppose most of what I know has come from direct experience. I always try to research whatever subject I deside to discuss, but you won't find much space dedicated to the lives of quiet desperation that so many Americans live now.
Jack London wrote a short novel called "People of The Abyss." It examined life in London at the turn of the 19th century, and the destructive social programs that served to make the lives of the poor more difficult. I recognized the same attitude in this novel as we see in the Republican Party today.
The deep seated belief that the poor are somehow inferior to the wealthy seems to be the popular culture of today's Republican Party. They preach "personal responsibility," while they have their hands shoved deep into our pockets. They fund pork before people.
We have a portion of our citizens who can not afford to live in the society we have created. They live on the fringes, their heads down, hoping to avoid being noticed. Think of the items that a normal household must pay on a montly basis. Health insurance, auto insurance, renters or homeowners insurance, rent or a mortgage, electricity, internet, cable or sattelite, home phone, multiple cell phones, property tax, car loan, car maintence, food, water, and clothing. We used to have monthly pest control, HOA fees, monthly water delivery, lawn service, vet bills, dog food, and a maid twice a month. Then car tags every year, and drivers license every so often. It boggles my mind the thousands of dollars that my husband and I spent monthly. My current income is less than a tenth of what our combined incomes used to be. Any unexpected expense means I won't be able to pay for basic living expenses.
I watch the other people who live here. Each guest has their own story. On Sunday night one of our neighbors commited suicide. We heard the gun discharge and reported it to the night time manager. We did not hear about the death until yesterday. The man's business failed, his wife left him, and his uunemployment ran out last week. He no longer had any income, and couldn't face the prospect of living on the street. He had been well off his entire life until recently. He had never had the opportunity to develop the resiliency needed to recover from such a failure.
My husband and I were dirt poor for many years. We worked very hard, very long hours, with no vacations for thirty years before we achieved success. I remember how to be poor. It is not the same deep shock for me as it was for someone who had been raised in luxury.
I watch as people go to the state, hat in hand, begging for help. For most there is no help. The Republicans have gutted our public assistance programs. Right now there are a dozen famlies with children living here. The children are not allowed to play outside, they must play quietly inside. I can't imagine trying to live with two adults and three children in one tiny room. I have seen famlies tossed out because their children were too noisy. Children need to run and shout and play.
These families are poised on the edge of a razor. One tiny mishap and Social Service will take the children. How sad that we won't find these famlies homes and jobs and daycare, but we will stick the children into foster care. That ensures another generation of adults crippled by a terrible childhood.
These are the musings of a cynical old woman fed up with a system that treats people like a disposable commodity. Used and abused and thrown away is what our neighbor's epitaph should be. He was a nice man, and I am going to miss him.