Who gives a damn about the poor, the sick, the hungry and the needy? According to Pastor John Pavlovitz, it is not the Republicans who voted unanimously on a budget to cut 2 Trillion dollars from aid programs for the needy. It is not the Evangelicals who Pastor John says put altar calls and prayer ahead of any direct aid to the “marginalized.” It is also not the many Conservative Christians who say that the Government should not be responsible for the poor and needy but who have yet to devote any money to help those in need, unless of course they be friends or family members.
Pastor John writes, “We’re not witnessing an overwhelming outpouring of compassion from Conservative church folk who have declared that they’re going to repair the homes and make the lunches and pay for the surgeries and watch the children for the tens of millions about to be kicked to the curb by this Conservative leadership—and we shouldn’t be holding our breath.” — “The Christians Mocking Jesus and Defunding the Least of These” — John Pavlovitz, 2-25-25
Tribalism reigns supreme among Conservatives. My first responsibility according to VP Vance is to take care of my family, then my friends and then my immediate social network. To hell with the needy who I do not know or who do not live in my social circle. It is out of sight, than out of mind.
You might argue that we cannot afford all of these social causes. That is a lie. It is a matter of priority. Consider that our military budget is greater than the next highest nine military budgets in the world. Consider that we have given billions in foreign aid to the Ukraine and Israel to arm themselves with guns and bombs. Consider that our tax breaks for the rich have resulted in a situation where the rich are worth hundreds and sometimes thousands of times what even the average middle-class American is worth.
Average Wealth: The mean household wealth for the top 0.1% is more than $158.6 million.
The Average American Family: The mean income for all American families is $136.000
Top 1% Wealth: The top 1% (including the top 0.1%) holds a staggering $49.2 trillion of wealth. That is 31% of the total wealth of America.
The Bottom 50% of American Families, own just 1% of the wealth in the U.S., with 13.4 million of these families having a negative net worth.
But who gives a damn about income inequality. These people are losers. They are lazy or stupid. Too many of them sit home all day expecting a handout. All they need is motivation. A good kick in the ass would get them going. No one gave me anything! All I ever needed was a hand-up not a hand-out! Why should I have to take care of them. Some of these people make a fortune on government handouts. Let them win the lottery. I have a hard enough time paying my own bills.
I walk down a typical American street. Today I pass by an old woman dressed in the latest “unfashion.” She is not carrying a Gucci handbag. In fact, she does not even have a handbag. She is pushing a shopping cart. Everything she owns is in a shopping cart. It is not a Mercedes shopping cart either. She is moving from one side of town to another so that she can find a new place to set up for the coming evening. She has learned not to stay in one place too long or the police will move her out.
Yesterday, I passed a homeless Veteran on the streetcorner carrying a sign that reads, “Veteran needs money for food.” I volunteer a few days each month at our local Veterans center. I am there to help Vets that come in with problems. Recently, I spent three days trying to help an 80 percent disabled Vietnam veteran get some state assistance under a mobility grant so that he could afford a walk-in shower. We never got to complete the online form required by the grant. Every other page had some type of document required to complete the form.
Joe (the Vet) has been asked to provide Proof of Service, Proof of Home Ownership, Proof of Homeowners Insurance and several other proofs. He has had to come back three times to the center. Each time he wonders why they just did not state all the forms needed before we started. A question that I have no answer to. I have to scan all these forms in as Joe does not have a computer at home. As I write this, we still have not completed all the paperwork. He has not returned yet with the remainder of the forms needed.
We can send Israel 3.5 billion dollars a year, but we can’t make it simple for a disabled war veteran to obtain a walk-in shower. For the amount of money we send to Israel each year we could build 350,000 walk in showers. But who gives a damn about the poor and needy. And now some idiot with a chainsaw is going to cut thousands of jobs in Social Security, The VA and other government organizations to improve efficiency. I worked for fifteen years with Dr. W. E. Deming, and other quality greats. Dr. Deming always said you improve a process with a scalpel not with a meat cleaver. When you use a cleaver you cut the muscle and bone along with the fat. This is no way to improve the efficiency of any process or organization.
By the way, I am not against aid programs to other countries in need. However, the aid we send to Israel does not help the sick and needy. Mostly it is used to build guns and bombs or buy guns and bombs. But our President stops aid to countries where people are starving so he will have more money to give to his rich supporters.
Losers and more losers. How come so many people need a handout?
A few years ago, I happened to catch a glimpse of a popular TV show called Bridezillas. The prospective bride was shopping for a $20,000 bridal gown and screaming, “It’s all about me! It’s all about me!” I suppose many people watched this program and enjoyed seeing the little spoiled brat ranting and ranting. This is a “reality” show. The real reality is that fifty percent of Americans today are this little spoiled brat. How many people ranting about Immigration have ever been molested by an immigrant? How many people wanting to build a border wall have ever lost their jobs to an immigrant? How many people complaining about illegal immigrants want to do the hard menial work that I see so many immigrants doing all over the USA. From Arizona to Michigan to Rhode Island to Wisconsin, I have seen dozens of migrant workers doing work that Americans feel is beneath them or does not pay enough.
We complain about poverty and people taking handouts, but our kids are not willing to work anymore because they are too busy playing video games. We complain about taxes, but we can buy designer clothes, designer shoes, designer weddings and designer handbags. We complain about inflation, but it does not stop us from eating out at expensive restaurants. We complain about the price of eggs and gasoline, but we drive $85,000 gas guzzling pickup trucks so that we can be cool.
I inquired of a few people I met recently “How could you vote for a man who is vindictive, unethical, lies like crazy and loves to humiliate other people.” I was told the same thing by each person I asked, “I don’t care about his personality as long as he gets rid of the immigrants and lowers my taxes.” Who are the selfish greedy spoiled brats in America? As Pogo said, “ We have met the enemy, and he is us.”
The Conservative Evangelicals have bumper stickers and wear t-shirts that read, “What Would Jesus Do.” I don’t claim to be a Christian and I don’t claim to be a very religious person, but I don’t think Jesus would kick the immigrants out, kick people out of their jobs and stop aid for the people in America and the world who are most in need of help. The pastor at our church always says, “Give me Jesus, they can have all the rest.” I don’t think he would want a Jesus who said, “It’s all about me! I want my taxes lowered and these lazy poor people put to work right after we get rid of the immigrants”
I repeat my question: “Who gives a damn about the poor, the sick, the hungry and the needy?” Are you proud to say that you are not your brothers keeper?
“The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of the evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and goodwill, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper, and the finder of lost children.” — Ezekiel 25:17
Aging Capriciously 