According to Salon.com, there is a new trend burgeoning in the wake of massive unemployment and layoffs in America. Among young, hip, unemployed professional types, the use of SNAP(formerly food stamps) to sustain their very chic, urban “foodie” lifestyles has become an acceptable way of life. The argument goes that buying organic, fresh produce and free range meat is much healthier and therefore less costly in the long run than the processed government subsidized garbage you find on most grocery store shelves. Eating this way is a great way to reduce overall health care costs. It's true. In fact, I think that anyone using the SNAP program should be required to buy fresh, organic food whenever it's available and cook from scratch.
What I have a problem with is that a lot of these “foodies” aren't just buying healthy. They are buying chic, trendy, expensive food. That's right, I said trendy food. It's a whole new style statement. Instead of just shopping in the organic section of the local supermarket, they continue to frequent specialty shops that sell things like artisan breads and gourmet cheeses. I love those stores as well. I think they are wonderful places to shop and they always smell great. But I would never ask other people who are struggling themselves to give me money for groceries and then spend it at places like that, when I could get perfectly good, healthy food for less somewhere else.
Truly, the comments I have read on blogs regarding this topic are astounding. Many people, like me, are incensed at the selfish attitudes of people abusing this program. But others justify it in various ways. Generally the comments ended up falling into the sniveling category of “Don't you judge me!” which is just another way of saying, “yeah, I know I shouldn't be doing it, but I waaant to, and the alternative is too haaard, so I'm going to make you look like a big fat meanie to divert attention from my selfish behavior.”
Obviously, sometimes there is no alternative and people need assistance. Unemployment is incredibly high right now and these government aid programs we have are designed to get people through those rough spots. But they are to be used as a safety net when all other alternatives have been exhausted. And when these programs are used, they are to be used sparingly and with careful consideration so as not to place more of a burden than necessary upon the people who are assisting you. One of the problems that I see is that many of the participants in these programs do not equate the assistance they are receiving with those who are giving it. In their minds, it just comes from a big government entity that has no face or name. In reality, every dime that goes toward the SNAP program and others like it is a dime that comes out of the pockets of hardworking people with families of their own to feed.
Last year was the first time in 15 years of marriage that my husband and I did not qualify for government assistance programs. We finally made enough money for the government to consider us able to care for ourselves with out any help. Whew! We were so relieved! Out of those 15 years (and let me tell you, there were some lean years), do you know how many times we utilized those programs? Zero. Zilch. Nada. And let me tell you why. When we were newlyweds and contemplating our future, we made some decisions about what we wanted to do with our lives and how we wanted to live them. Those choices included graduate school, a large family, and me being a stay-at-home mom. One of the consequences of those choices was (at least for a while) poverty. There were many times when we struggled just to put food on the table and keep our kids in shoes. We lived in crummy little rentals and drove beat-up old cars and grew a garden. Our family vacations consisted of driving seven hours to visit relatives (this was when gas was very cheap), staying gratefully in their home for the duration of the visit, and then driving seven hours home. My kids almost always wore hand-me-downs and I can count on one hand the number of times I have bought clothing for myself at an actual retail clothing store and not at a second-hand store like Goodwill or The Salvation Army(and let me tell you, that was a challenge because I love beautiful, good quality clothes). The thought of getting my nails done, having lunch with friends, or getting an expensive, high quality haircut was just ridiculous. Any books or movies we wanted, we checked out of the public library.
For a long time we lived on my husband's tiny graduate stipend. When we realized that it wasn't going to pay the bills, we didn't get government assistance, but took out student loans which we knew we would have to pay off later. Then there were times when the combination of the stipend and the student loans still wasn't cutting it, so instead of increasing our loans or getting government assistance, my husband took a job over the summer installing air conditioning systems. This was nasty, hot, dirty work involving insulation and backbreaking labor. It was hard, but he did it. There were times when our parents helped us pay for health or car insurance, or when they loaned us money when our beat up old car finally died for good and we needed to buy another beat-up old car to get us around. We used whatever help they gave us gratefully and sparingly and paid back every loan as soon as we could.
Here's the point of this story: At ANY TIME during this long stretch of hardship, had it been too much for us, we could have changed course. In fact, we considered it many times. My husband could have dropped out of Grad school and taken a full time job. I could have gone back to work. We could have limited our procreative choices to one or even two children(we have four). But NEVER would we have expected others, complete strangers no less, to financially support us when we weren't willing to do EVERYTHING in our power to take care of ourselves. This attitude shouldn't be the exception, it should be the rule. This was the attitude of my parents, my grandparents, and my great-parents during the Great Depression. People during that time were actually starving to death, not just being forced to give up brand name clothing and organic roast rabbit with chutney and cranberry sauce.
And lest you think I am blowing this concept of entitlement way out of proportion to prove my point, let me just share a few personal, true-life stories based on real people I have known. A few years ago, when my husband was finally out of school and teaching at a university, we knew several young couples in grad school with small children. One couple was receiving government benefits in the form of WIC, food stamps and reduced housing. They did this so that they wouldn't have to take out student loans and be in debt when they got out of school. Apparently, the taxes being taken out of my husband's already meager paycheck were just the thing to keep them out of debt. Another couple was receiving WIC, food stamps and Medicare. This couple was having as many babies as they could, as fast as they could, because when they were done with school (he was in law school at the time) they would be making far too much money for them to qualify for Medicare and the babies would no longer be “free”. I contemplated this as I gave birth to my fourth child and then payed the doctor for her services. Again, good thing everyone else was paying taxes, or they would have had to wait and pay for their own babies. Both of these couples were friends of ours, and we loved them dearly. But it infuriated me that with our still very limited financial means, we, along with many other hardworking families, were financing these two couples' educations after struggling for so long to be responsible for our own choices.
More recently I was talking with a friend who told me that even though on Medicare, she was having trouble paying for some of her children's health care needs that Medicare doesn't cover. Furthermore, she was complaining about it. She felt that Medicare should be more comprehensive in its coverage. This friend lives in a beautiful new home, drives a very nice SUV, wears clothing that I can't afford, and is currently planning a family vacation that will cost (on the low end) at least $1,500. Also, they are in the process of finishing the basement of their home – not a cheap remodeling project.
My husband and I are also planning to remodel our basement. However, we will have to wait until we have the funds to pay for it. Currently, most of our money is going toward groceries, doctor visits, dental care and other expenses – all paid by us, coincidentally.
These are just people I know personally. But here are some other opinions from various people who feel that living high on government assistance is nothing short of noble and shouldn't be criticized by those of us who are paying for it.
From the Salon.com article titled “Hipsters on Food Stamps”:
"Faced with lingering unemployment, 20- and 30- somethings with college degrees and foodie standards are shaking off the old taboos about who should get government assistance and discovering that government benefits can indeed be used for just about anything edible, including wild-caught fish, organic asparagus and triple-crème cheese."
Well, isn't it great that these young, up and coming, educated professionals are shaking off the old, worn-out taboos surrounding laziness, selfishness, and living off other people's hard work. Good for them!
And here is a comment by a woman who's blog brags about her ability to throw dinner parties (complete with expensive wine), employ a part-time nanny, and buy an Armani jacket on Ebay – at a reduced price, of course – all while using food stamps and WIC. She defends herself against a torrent of criticism by saying the following:
"going on the 'dole' is not a choice. If I had it my way, I would still be making $75K and my husband $150K. But we don't. We make $405 a week for a family of 5. we don't like to eat crap and we happen to like cafe bustelo ($2.99) over folgers ($2.49). we buy blueberries for our kids and freeze them for their pancakes and desserts. We buy quality products because we think long term. We don't milk the system, we thank the system. If you have not been laid off yet, you would not understand."
Again, no problems with the blueberries for the kiddies, but if you are so broke that other people have to support you, don't you think you need to let the nanny go and forgo clothing purchases for a while?
Somehow, our culture has gone from one of hard work, sacrifice, and responsibility to one of handouts, bailouts and entitlement. And it seems to have happened in only a few generations. I would love to hear what my now deceased grandmother (a woman who raised 8 kids on a tiny military salary in an 800 square foot home) would say about people using food stamps to buy Perrier and artisan breads. Most likely it would contain some pretty foul language.
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