US House of Representatives: Just Try Living on the Poverty Line

Last updated on: September 20, 2013 at 9:10 am by Christy Thomas

US House of Representatives: Just Try Living on the Poverty Line 2013-09-20T09:10:37-05:00 Christy Thomas

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This editorial calls what the House Representatives have done by cutting food stamps as “act of supreme indifference.” The comments on the article are breaking my heart. Over and over, the commentators equate Christianity with utter cruelty to the poor, mainly because so many who voted for this bill have labeled themselves the best of Christians.

Earlier this week, I was well into a beautifully-researched, cogently-argued, exquisitely-written article about how difficult it is to survive on the minimum wage. I had explained persuasively that we should get off the backs of those who receive assistance (SNAP: the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly food stamps), and try to feed ourselves on $31.50/week/family member for just one week, not using foods and supplies already on hand.

I laid out a plausible scenario for the necessity of SNAP, was celebrating my erudition when . . . my old wheezing computer went silent (possibly in awe over such brilliance?), froze and sent the entire thing to irrecoverable oblivion.

I ended up writing a different article, but the exercise is seeing what it is like to live that close to the margins has stuck with me. I had spent a couple of hours trying to make sense of the eligibility requirements for SNAP. For good reasons, people have to apply for that assistance in person. The requirements are confusing and full of “if/then” statements.

Since then, I have pondered even more deeply the issues facing the poor–and the kinds of responses available to those who are not poor, and who call themselves Christian.

Being poor, first of all, is awful. Here’s an article that talks about the behavioral aspects of those who live on the economic margin. Their conclusion: planning for the future is a luxury that the poor simply can’t afford. There is no slack in their lives. One illness, one more car repair, one more layoff, and their fragile economic well-being can be irretrievably shattered.

Poverty is not a noble state; it is not “living simply.” Frankly, “living simply” takes a lot of money. I know–I’m working on simplifying my life in preparation for my retirement, and am intrigued about how much it will cost to do this.

That kind of living is a luxury–and the poor can’t afford such luxuries. Living that close to the edge, or more generally already over the edge of deep despair, is a miserable existence.

As always, the children suffer the most. They are generally poorly nourished in every area of their lives: physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally and relationally. The underclass thus perpetuates itself.

And the overwhelmingly white, “Christian,” Republican US House of Representatives have collectively said, “We really don’t care about your suffering. Pull yourselves together.”

They can’t. That is like telling me, an old, uncoordinated, short and out of shape woman, “What do you mean you can’t play professional basketball? Just get up and practice more.”

It’s ridiculous, and it is also cruel. Especially if that statement is accompanied by, “And we are not going to feed you, clothe you, or offer you a coach until you have already proved that you can add value to the team.”

But that is what we are preparing to do as a nation. I’m appalled.

I’m with these who say, “If you think it is so easy to live on or near the poverty line, why don’t you give it a try? Give away (forever) everything you own, strip yourselves of any financial buffers, move into the worst of neighborhoods, see what it is like to work and live on minimum pay jobs and send your children, without time to hover over them, to the often dangerous and heart-breakingingly bad local schools and see how they do.”

“And one other thing: no health insurance. None. From now on, all your health care needs and those of your families must be met by any free clinics you can find and, lacking all else, at a nearby emergency room. Forget preventive dental care completely and too bad if your eyes go bad or your children can’t read at school because of uncorrected vision problems.”

This is the basic Christian line: we are called to treat others the way we ourselves wish to be treated, the basic Golden Rule. And that is where the “Christian” House of Representatives has failed. Miserably.

US House of Representatives

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