Forwarding Thoughtless Emails

(I'm not advocating this story--but the moral the writer is trying to impose on me is intriguing. If low-income people are like trapped pigs, just waiting for the gate to close on them since the government has conditioned them to expect more and more, how can those on the outside of the gate cast blame on those inside?

It seems to me that once the expectations for pigs are so low that only the government can help, the pigs in the story are stuck (no keys, no gatekeeper, no allies, no opposable thumbs)-—and the government isn’t going to let them out because they need the public to believe that they are doing something good for the down-trodden (think about the cliff effect).

And apparently those on the outside with the key to the gate are hesitant to have to take responsibility for the ones that the government has been providing for (think about the not-in-my-backyard mentality). It's also easier to put "pigs" into a caste system that doesn't hurt you where others are vulnerable. But what if this would have been written about Social Security? Medicare? Medical research? Or any of a number of other government funded , perceived as handouts, opportunities that are available for more protected demographic groups--specifically the elderly, the ill, the intelligent?

So where are the pigs supposed to go? And why did the writer use pigs for this analogy? Shouldn’t we all be offended instead of just forwarding this without thinking about which farm animal will represent our socio-economic class's decisions when another wounded soldier from some unknown war wants to tell us what's wrong with the country he came to after fighting for the "freedom" of his country? Why didn't he stay in the imaginary utopia the author forgot about in his rush to condemn the social programs in this country?

Definitely more than was necessary for a single, thoughtless email. But it makes me sad that so many of these are forwarded without any thought about how they impact the subconscious minds of the very communities who could rally around those who are drawn to government programs in the first place.

Just food for thought. The email that set me off is included below.)

This kind of makes you think about the

current state of affairs in this country. Interesting story.......

There was a Chemistry professor in a large college that had some

exchange students in the class. One day while the class was in the lab

the Prof noticed one young man (exchange student) who kept rubbing his

back, and stretching as if his back hurt.

The professor asked the young man what was the matter. The student told

him he had a bullet lodged in his back. He had been shot while fighting

communists in his native country who were trying to overthrow his

country's government and install a new communist government.

In the midst of his story he looked at the professor and asked a

strange question. He asked, 'Do you know how to catch wild pigs?'

The professor thought it was a joke and asked for the punch line. The

young man said this was no joke. 'You catch wild pigs by finding a

suitable place in the woods and putting corn on the ground. The pigs

find it and begin to come everyday to eat the free corn. When they are

used to coming every day, you put a fence down one side of the place

where they are used to coming. When they get used to the fence, they

begin to eat the corn again and you put up another side of the fence.

They get used to that and start to eat again. You continue until you

have all four sides of the fence up with a gate in The last side. The

pigs, who are used to the free corn, start to come through the gate to

eat, you slam the gate on them and catch the whole herd.

Suddenly the wild pigs have lost their freedom. They run around and

around inside the fence, but they are caught. Soon they go back to

eating the free corn. They are so used to it that they have forgotten

how to forage in the woods for themselves, so they accept their

captivity.

The young man then told the professor that is exactly what he sees

happening toAmerica . The government keeps pushing us toward socialism

and keeps spreading the free corn out in the form of programs such as

supplemental income, tax credit for unearned income, tobacco subsidies,

dairy subsidies, payments not to plant crops (CRP), welfare, medicine,

drugs, etc. , while we continually lose our freedoms - just a little

at a time.

One should always remember: There is no such thing as a free Lunch!

Also, a politician will never provide a service for you cheaper than you

can do it yourself.

Also, if you see that all of this wonderful government 'help' is a

problem confronting the future of democracy in America , you might want

to send this on to your friends. If you think the free ride is essential

to your way of life then you will probably delete this email, but God

help you when the gate slams shut!

In this "very important" election year, listen closely to what the

candidates are promising you - just maybe you will be able to tell who

is about to slam the gate on America.

"A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough

to take away everything you have." Thomas Jefferson

EITC, FInancial Literacy and Nebraska Families

With the strength of nine Community Action Agencies, the ability of our working families to claim the Earned Income and other tax credits has been increasing exponentially over the past several years. Our network has partnered with other organizations to make sure that more families are aware of the tax credits and have better access to volunteer preparers.

Yesterday, the State EITC coalition met in Grand Island to begin to talk about a regional coalition for the Hastings, Kearney and Grand Island area. The keynote speaker at this luncheon, State Treasurer Scott Osborn, provided his support for this work, and has agreed to serve as the State Coalition's spokesperson next year.

As part of his presentation, he noted that he believed financial literacy for all individuals in the state was the goal of his office. He supported that with his belief that no matter what the economy does, the people who feel declines worst are always end consumers (and we know that if end consumers were already struggling, adding recessional impacts will only more deeply affect how they can cope with additional expenses).

Beyond financial literacy, he supported the concept of asset building, noting that we will be working to assist households to save by $10s and $20s, but that their savings plan require more discipline than many middle and upper income savings plans.

This new partnership, in addition to the concerted effort of the frontline staff and volunteers community action already has in place to assist working families, will help more families with additional resources-- not to mention a growing community awareness for the conditions of poverty in our State.

Welcome

Welcome to a new feature from the association office for Community Action in Nebraska. We are pleased to offer another way for computer savvy advocates for low-income families in the state to talk to each other and to build partnerships to share best practices and methods for moving families out of poverty.