Entitlements Rob the Poor of their Dignity

Published on June 4, 2005 By Gideon MacLeish In Current Events

Over the years, I've decided I don't really mind being "poor" by US standards. There are too many more pressing things for me to spend my life in pursuit of the almighty dollar.

No, really.

But what I cannot stand is when someone looks at us, knowing we don't have a lot, and offers us a handout. I'm not talking about a gift, or hand me down clothing, but a bona fide handout.

You see, the message they're sending with their handout is patently offensive. The implicit message is: You're not good enough to be able to work to get this on your own. I'm sure that I have something I can offer just about anyone in return for their kindness, and I should be allowed to do so. It gives me a feeling of self worth, of dignity.

I'm a HUGE fan of barters. I bartered some bricks that a neighbor needed and that we have in surplus to someone for a 10 gallon electric water heater for our second bathroom (we only need it for showers) that stands to save us over $100 a year in water heating costs once it is installed. I swapped some household goods for a minivan with a blown transmission that we need to fix to have adequate transportation for our whole family. I have swapped labour for countless items over the years, and find it to be fulfilling.

You see, when you offer me work, even if it's makeshift work, for something you're giving, you give me the additional gift of dignity. I am able to rest comfortably knowing that I gave something to EARN the items and support my family. The same can be said for bartering.

Sure, if a tornado took out my house and you offered us assistance, I wouldn't turn you down. You're simply being neighborly. Emergency situations are just that, and they fall in a whole other category. But when we're talking about day to day needs, let me do something to EARN my way. It's a hell of a lot more ennobling.

Comments (Page 1)

bakerstreet

on Jun 04, 2005

"I'm a HUGE fan of barters. I bartered some bricks that a neighbor needed and that we have in surplus to someone for a 10 gallon electric water heater for our second bathroom (we only need it for showers) that stands to save us over $100 a year in water heating costs once it is installed. "

I got a used washer and dryer for $100. We generally spent $20 every couple of weeks at a laundrymat.

That in and of itself seemed a reasonable expense, until I walked past my neighbors house last winter and smelled fresh laundery. It struck me that while their furnace was running full blast, they were pumping all the hot air from the dryer outside.

Instead, I took the dryer hose on mine, put a generic closable vent in the nearby wall to my den. A $1 furnace filter will make enough dust filters for it to last a year.

Now, when it is cold, I close off the floor dryer vent, put the hose into the wall vent, and instead of pumping the hot air outside, I use it to supplement my heating cost. My gas bills were around 10% less last winter, and my electic bill was no higher.

It's all about waste, imho. On hot days I pump my dryer air outside, I don't use the oven, or I bake what I need the cooler night before so I don't cause my air conditioning to work harder. In the winter, I do the opposite.

Gideon MacLeish

on Jun 04, 2005

Exactly, baker. In the summer we rely more on the slow cooker and the toaster oven because they produce less heat than the larger oven and stovetop.

Eventually, I intend to put a stove out on the back porch. It makes more sense to cook outside than in in the summer.

Before winter, we plan to install a woodstove and make "logs" from our extra newspapers. It's free fuel for a paper carrier, and can be supplemented with pallet wood, that I can also obtain free. Beats the heck out of fifty dollars' worth of natural gas a month.

bakerstreet

on Jun 04, 2005

"Before winter, we plan to install a woodstove and make "logs" from our extra newspapers."

A friend of mine invested in a $99 dollar chainsaw, and then cruised town looking for people who had blow-downs and dangerously-leaning trees. He "removed them" for free, and hasn't had to buy wood for several years.

Every year we have a big freeze or storm that blows down trees and he cleans up for the elderly and lazy out of the goodness of his heart

. The other services in town not only charge you but keep the wood to sell.

Funny aside, I had a neighbor down the street that actually had one of the services come out and clear a tree, and then later he bought fireplace wood from a different service that did the same thing for other people. It was almost impossible to keep from lauging.

latour999

on Jun 04, 2005

He "removed them" for free, and hasn't had to buy wood for several years.

Any place that has old pallets lying around is also a good source of wood. They usually let you have them for free or charge you a pretty low price for a truckload (If they charge you, they will sometimes use a forklift and put it on your truck for you). Also, if the boards (especially the big pieces that all the little ones are nailed to) are still good, you can re-use them for other projects.

I work at Canadian Tire, and I have to keep myself from laughing whenever anyone buys firewood from there. $5.49 a bag plus tax (14%)? I don't know how anyone can buy that.

Hmm...what we need to do is make the official JU Value Handbook for people on welfare, working minumum wage, or just plain want to save money.

ParaTed2k

on Jun 04, 2005

I'll give you a great example of the dignity that comes from working in exchange for aid.

The other day I got a call from one of the boys in our church youth group, he is doing his "Eagle Project" for Boy Scouts (a huge part of our Young Men's youth group. Anyway, he was looking for volunteers to come out and help.

The project was coordinated with the State Parks Service. 300 dead trees had to be cleared out of on area of a local state park.

I manned a chainsaw today. Now, I only lasted about 3 hours and now my arms are shaking, my body aches and since I pushed myself a little more than I should have (ok, I fell asleep, sitting up, unsupported... but anyway), it will probably take me three days or so to fully recover from the labor.... However...

Tonight, I took a shower, not just to remove the stink, but to warm my work weary body. I ate a dinner tonight that I know I earned. It isn't as sweet as eating a meal we bought and paid for ourselves, but it is a close second.

Yes, allowing people to become dependant on aid, with no opportunity for them to 'earn' it does rob people of their dignity.

I've caught heat for saying it, but my muscles could use a little Icy Hot right now, so I'll say it again. Free governent aid allows those who should be helping the poor to become lazy in offering the private aid that should be expecteted of family, friends, churches and relief organizations. Worse yet, it allows the recipient to become lazy, going from appreciating what aid is received to expecting it, and finally demanding it as a "right".

cactoblasta

on Jun 05, 2005

Free governent aid allows those who should be helping the poor to become lazy in offering the private aid that should be expecteted of family, friends, churches and relief organizations.

Completely true. But the counter to that is people who are unwilling or unable to accept private aid (ie the proud, those afraid of potentially limitless obligation or those who are simply alone) would end up on the streets. Now admittedly it's possible that private aid alone would empty the streets of our current homeless population, but if it's replaced with a new batch it seems slightly counterproductive.

I'm in favour of government aid though because it's proven to be effective. Compare 19th century living wages (where aid was entirely private) amongst the poor to those today and you can really see a difference - and not just one created by a hundred years of trickle-down economics.

As for your article Gideon... I've never been in your situation, but I don't think I'd be too comfortable about being given something for nothing by people I know. The government's different - I know, and they know, that every penny they give me will be paid back with interest over the course of my life, so there can be no guilt there.

But on the other hand if I've got something I don't want, and think someone else could need it, should I think up some mindless busy-work for them to do so they don't feel so bad? I don't know; is that really more empowering? I'd rather they just accept it as a token of friendship, with of course the old 'favour' rider than make them earn it. But as I said I've never been on the receiving end so it was interesting to know what you think.

Sir Peter Maxwell

on Jun 05, 2005

I quite agree my dear boy. The poor have to realise they are poor not because chaps like myself are greedy, but because they are stupid and uncouth.

I never give money to any peasants, in the long run it is better for both parties.

Jolly good show.

kingbee

on Jun 05, 2005

Instead, I took the dryer hose on mine, put a generic closable vent in the nearby wall to my den. A $1 furnace filter will make enough dust filters for it to last a year.

Now, when it is cold, I close off the floor dryer vent, put the hose into the wall vent, and instead of pumping the hot air outside, I use it to supplement my heating cost. My gas bills were around 10% less last winter, and my electic bill was no higher.

if you have a gas dryer, you're risking a dangerous carbon monoxide buildup by venting the exhaust back into your house. if it's electric and your walls are made of anything combustible--particularly stud walls--and you arent able to filter out all the lint, things may get warmer than you anticpated. dryer exhaust has a high water content (for obvious reasons) which can also cause a lotta problems when it's pumped into an enclosed area. there are several reasons building codes call for outside ventilation.

bakerstreet

on Jun 05, 2005

Electric dryer. I built a box filter before it gets to the wall out of furnace filtering as I said above, and I haven't had a problem with moisture or extra dust. I have a natural gas central heating unit, and we basically need a humidifier anyway.

I have never seen any condensation on the windows, even when it is below freezing outside. The moisture coming out of it seems to be far less than what would come out of a pot of boiling water on my stove.

kingbee

on Jun 05, 2005

cool. (or warm). i was concerned you might not be familiar with the risks associated with dryer exhaust (based on some of the venting solutions i've run across, a lotta people don't seem to give it much thought).

bakerstreet

on Jun 05, 2005

Thanks. Honestly it isn't the best fix, I'm sure it could be done more professionally by putting an actual out/in step to vent the air down under the house temporarily into a 'trap', like on plumbing. That would probably enable you to better trap almost all the moisture and dust/lint.

It seems a lot of the secondary 'heat' that is produced in a house could be re-used to heat it, since it obviously becomes a detriment in the summer when you have to cool it. I mean, the unwanted heat we gripe about becomes supplemental heat in the winter when we need it.

ParaTed2k

on Jun 05, 2005

It seems a lot of the secondary 'heat' that is produced in a house could be re-used to heat it, since it obviously becomes a detriment in the summer when you have to cool it. I mean, the unwanted heat we gripe about becomes supplemental heat in the winter when we need it.

True. The way our place is designed there is no heat in the basement. Yet, as cold as Wisconsin winters get, it usually isn't that cold down there, because of the dryer.

joeKnowledge

on Jun 05, 2005

Dignity is key.

Being looked down upon can be a real... downer. After a while you think you should be looked down upon.

This is why I like... no LOVE the new workfare system where you work while getting public assistance. Clean parks, subway trains, work in nursing homes.; generally do public works that everyone benefits from.

If you show that you’re a good worker, some of the places you put to ork at actually might hire you. This happens a lot with HRA and the MTA (New York City agencies).

I couldn't find a job on my own, even with a degree and after some incidents with my former employer; I ended up on public assistance. Now I am working for as little as 100 dollars a week but I am working for a company that has show to give people a chance (and opportunity if your will) to move upward if they show a good work ethic.

I have been hurt by boxes, sprained (or dislocated... not sure yet) my arm, I have a gash on my head for hitting an overhang, my body is tired, my joints hurt and now my hand bothers me (I have a growth on my hand that wasn't a problem until I started moving 1100 boxes an hour for 3.2 hours a day).

I am not asking for a hand out. All I am asking for is an opportunity to make it. I am willing to work hard to pay my own way and not be a burden to anyone. I am ashamed to use my benefit card to buy food. I want to buy food with my own money; money that I earned legally and fairly.

I do not want to be the child of a rich family who gets 100,000 dollars a month just because I exist. I don't want to be on Medicare. I want to earn my own way. I am glad that I am getting the opportunity to do so, otherwise I would be dead, literally.

Dr Guy

on Jun 06, 2005

What you are talking about is beholden. And I guess it is the way one is raised. Poor by any standards growing up, my mother would never think of taking any kind of assistance. And she instilled that into us.

So I refuse to as well, and it works out.

dharmagrl

on Jun 06, 2005

This is a wonderful article, Gid, but I see one flaw in your thinking: you assume that everyone who recieves welfare has dignity. There are some people who see no shame in government handouts and assistance. They see themselves as being entitled to what they get, and they don't want to work. They're perfectly happy to be on welfare and see it as a way of life rather than a temporary stop-gap. Working for their handouts would be almost sacreligious to them.
Yes, I have seen people such as these.

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