If expecting someone to pay their bills makes me an ass spell my name with a capital "A."
Except, that's not what you said. Instead, you said some blanket statement about Detroit and then compared it to the entire "demise" of the US.
You can choose to look like an ass by making blanket statements and changing your tune. Or, you can actually discuss these issues like everyone else here has done, by adding some applicable views that don't flow to the tune of "HAR HAR DETROIT IS IN THE SHITTER AND THE US IS GUNNA BE JUST LIKE IT BECAUSE OF THOSE MOOCHIN POOR PEOPLE." ...
Your choice.
i haven't commented on this one because i am kind of torn. when you live in a city, you can't just go down to the crick to fetch some water. if you were born and raised there, chances are, you aren't moving... doubly so if you don't have a job that pays enough for you to make your water payment. i really do feel for these people because i know what it's like to have to either pay rent or electricity, electricity or water, water or food.
i do think water is a human right, but i also understand that it takes infrastructure and man power to bring it to the people. it does sound like a government problem to me. but i really don't know.
Thank you for your example of an intelligible response, ani.
I have a problem with calling water (service) being called a human right. If that were the case, then no one should be charged for it - like air. You can't have people going to the river to bucket their own water to avoid the service charge either, because then you're opening the door to disease, etc... Not to mention, when you live in a city, runnin down to the creek isnt an option.
The fault lies on both sides. The city should have enforced paying these bills on time, but sending notices and what not costs money in postage and man power. They went the cheap route because they didnt have the money. There was an unforeseen consequence... Because they did that, people fell behind and racked up bills beyond their means. With that being said, the water dept needs to advertise the payment assistance programs, and the people need to be actively pursuing them to settle their debts.
Protesting in the streets that water is a human right isn't helping anyone or doing anything to solve the problem.
Also:
Detroit's problems are in no way black and white, and go very very far back and get very complicated. It's not one mayors fault, it's not one races fault, it's not poor peoples fault, it's not the auto industries fault, it's not the criminals fault... Everything that has ever happened in this city was in some way connected to a consequence of another issue, from situations as simple as the general location of the city, and the freeways being laid and ripping apart the neighborhoods and smaller communities, causing housing values to decrease and people to move away decades ago. Life is a learning game, and unfortunately Detroit has just had a rougher life story than other big cities.
I'd be interested to see if some of these people who claim they can't pay their water bill, have no issues paying their cable and internet bills. I've seen people do that and it's annoying. Have no problems paying for internet, cable, getting manicures, hair done....and then whine about being too broke to pay the rent or electricity.
I've gone without cable and/or internet for months at a time, or even a year or two because after I paid the necessary bills (rent, electricity, gas, water, garbage, utilities) I didn't have any more money for the "extra" stuff.
Yeah, it's really easy to hate those people, but the fact of the matter is that they're a very small percentage compared to the big picture. The majority of these situations impact the elderly, as they're living on SS and fixed income, and they don't all have cable and internet.
i also try to be wary of hating on people for looking good or driving a nice car, having a fancy phone, etc.
it seems illogical that some people have these things, but i am reminded of a couple of stories that explain why: first, there is me. i was devastated when someone stole my iphone. i was having a hard time paying 400 bucks for a room at the time and even though i had long since cancelled my service, i used the iphone to access the internet and send emails whenever i was at a free wifi coffee shop. it was my lifeline since we had no internet at the house i lived in. it was the only thing of value i had, and i was not ready to sell it because i needed it and i knew that i would never get anything close to it's value for it. i was hoping that i could weather the storm and eventually restore service when i was back on my feet. never happened.
the second story comes from ron. he posted an article about 'statement items' and i really took it to heart. it was a story about a woman who learned from her mother that the only way to be taken seriously was to look and act the part. in a community where everyone spent so much energy trying to get things done, they all came to her because she knew how to work it... by dressing nice and speaking correctly. the outfit she wore every time she went out had cost her ungodly amounts of cash, but she got results whenever she wore it. poor people can have and should have some nice things. not only is it good for the spirit to look nice, but it also is an important way to show the world that you mean business.
very recently, i watched a video where a woman explains how hard it is for her to drive up to public assistance in a nice car because it shows the world how far she has fallen. she explained how the new climate in america is one where the poor aren't just people who were, are and always will be poor, but poverty is now comprised of people who were middle class at one point but have fallen on hard times. they have material possessions that will eventually break, be sold or just run their course and chances are they won't be replaced. i can easily identify with her.
http://on.aol.com/video/darlena-cunh...erty-518310808
here's the video.
Excellent, excellent, view on reality ani. Not everyone who's struggling now struggled their entire life. Life events make people broke. Divorce and cancer/illness are two common heavy hitters on modern families. That doesn't mean they have to sell their reliable car that gets them to work. Too many people just assume everyone makes this lavish career out of being poor.... not the case.
The Fox News crowd acts like life is Cinderella. The minute you get laid off, you're Prada bag turns into a burlap sack, your BMW turns into a Dodge Colt that only starts every other day, and your smart phone turns into a Nokia.
It's stupidity, and it's misdirected anger.
Hey, I'm not saying that people should trade in nice things, or that because they had money at one time and don't have as much now, means they have to look at act poor. I'm talking about the people who can't pay their $30 water bill but yet have the money to go on shopping sprees. The people who continually choose to use their money to buy things they don't need instead of their bills, month after month. There's nothing wrong with splurging and buying something expensive now and then.
I guess the person I have in mind when I think of this is the mother of one of my stepsons. She's constantly complaining how she is broke, yet she is always getting her nails done, her hair done at the salon.....her kids have clothes with holes in them or are too sizes too small because she "can't afford' to buy them clothes, yet she always shops for nice clothes for herself. She "borrows" her kids' birthday money for her own personal stuff if she doesn't have the cash herself and doesn't pay it back. Sorry, done venting about her lol.
Some people just don't know how to prioritize. I guess to me it seems simple....if you're struggling to make ends meet, pay the necessary things; rent and other bills, food, etc. THEN, if money is left over, get the cable and internet, etc. It shouldn't be the other way around...."pay my cable bill, buy a new TV I don't really need....ugh, now I don't have money for my water bill. Oh well." And I mean this as a monthly, constant thing. I mean, I would be lying if I said I never pushed a bill aside for a few weeks and paid it late so I could buy something I've been wanting to get for a while. But I don't do that every month.
I understand your frustration on that, but you can't relate one person you know to coloring the group. I think we all know at least one person who spends where they shouldn't, while we also know 10 others in real financial hardship - who don't deserve being beaten down because a few people set a bad example.
There are far, far more people in America who have an honest reason for having a hard time with their bills than there are people taking advantage of the system.
My mom is the one person I know who spends money she shouldn't. And I make her very aware of it. The problem is that she wasn't poor her entire life. She was used to a life of finer things and then she got divorced at 50 and for her, regressing into what "poor life" is has been really hard for her. She's not used to not being able to afford cable. She's not used to not being able to afford lots of groceries. ... I mean, it's way easier said than done. You live a life one way for 50yrs and then all of a sudden everything changes... I dare anyone to take that challenge on and then have the balls to criticize it.
I just watched Fox News for the first time
The tone at the start of this thread is now making depressing sense.
I worked in welfare for a decade & a half. Be careful people. How long will your savings last?
All it takes is one unexpected life event & suddenly you are one of the bludging parasites everyone's generalising about.
It's fucking disgusting.
I always wonder if the higher-ups over there think "Man, these rubes are really buying this, they're worse than we imagined" or if they think "they should be even worse than this by now."
I mean, I know they're laughing at these idiots, but I'm just wondering how far along their plan is at this point.
I know first hand of what y'all are talking about.
When my husband almost died, he ended up having to recuperate for 6 mths. It wiped out all our savings. It was rough.
I didn't sell my Coach purse tho.
I don't pay a water bill, but it wasn't to long ago our water well went out. We had NO water. It cost us 2500-in full right then.
We owe about 2000 in taxes. So we had to decide between the two. Taxes or Water. We paid the water. (yo, i had to bathe)
I'm not saying that all people who struggle spend money where they shouldn't. I just said it would be interesting to know if any of these people who are saying they can't afford their water bill, have cable and/or internet. Probably not half the people, but I'm betting there's more than one.
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