Maybe I’m just feeling particularly crabby today, but I’m thinking this:

If it’s ok to tell people who *need* healthcare, but are unable to work that there are “no handouts”, why don’t we start culling the flock sooner?

Kid is born with birth defects, won’t be able to work? Eh. Get rid of ‘em. Same goes for old people, they’re not contributing anymore. Their time has passed. Move on.

Had a shit year and lost your benefits? Broke a leg? Better get those Popsicle sticks out and duct-tape ‘em on, we aren’t paying. Kid broke their leg? Shoot ‘em, just like a lame horse, because we won’t pay to get it fixed, and they won’t be able to walk again so…

I don’t think that ANYONE is saying, lets all stay home and let the rich people work for our benefits. I’m pretty damn sure that what we’re saying is, life has got to be more than “I got mine”. If it’s not, when what exactly is the point? If we can’t help the less fortunate…the people who are having a rough time, who don’t have the capacity (or just the sheer luck!) to have decent health care (or housing, or food) when we aren’t human anymore.

And more than that: If you are the one saying, “no handouts!” keep this in mind: It goes both ways. If something happens in your life that causes you to need help, don’t go looking for it. You can eat that foot you shoved in your mouth when you were being selfish, money-grubbing jerks.

I’ve been fighting the urge to quote NIN “Head Like a Hole” for weeks now. But I won’t, I already feel like I’m talking to myself here. The people who agree with me will still agree, the people who don’t…won’t. Nothing I say will change that. Including this.

I could attach a picture of my nephew, who probably had more surgeries in his first year than most of us will have in our lives. Show you this and say, he will likely take more out of the system than put in. What shall we do about it?

But that’s going for the sympathy vote.

Doesn’t matter. It’s easy to say, when you are already benefiting from the status quo, “Let’s not change it to benefit anyone else”. Because “humans” are selfish animals.

Remember when you were a kid, and your mom worked two jobs and was a drunk besides, so sometimes you were stuck at home with your older sister and younger brother eating #10 cans of beans and weenies for days on end, because there wasn’t anything else in the house to eat? Having cheap boxed mac&cheese made with water because you were out of butter and milk? Having a life sturgeon in the bathtub because they have to keep it alive until just before they fillet it (or whatever you call it when the fish weights as much as a small horse)?

Remember that? No? Yes?

Well, I just had it reminded to me, when I realized that I’ve spent more of my tax return stuffing the cupboards/freezer to the gills. As [god] as my witness, I will never go hungry again. And neither will anyone else in my house. I got 2 spare 50lb bags of chicken food, 2 spare 20lb bags of cat food. Enough school snacks to make sure my kid never has to skip a meal because she’s staying late for a play. Probably enough for the rest of the school year, in fact. Frozen veggies (those new steam-in-the-bag ones are really good, actually), divied up family sized packages of chicken, pork and beef. Ice cream, frozen lasagna, bread, cheese, crackers, cookies, bisquick, cereal, canned tomatoes and beans, canned and add-water soup bowls. Fish sticks, tater sticks, fig bars, Japanese rice crackers. Sushi rice, glutenous rice, brown jasmine rice, white rice. Yukon potatoes, red potatoes, russets. 8 bottles of that V8 juice that says it’s got 2 servings of fruits/veggies in them. Spare coffee, creamer, sugar. Even got sweetened condensed milk to go with the Trung Nguyen. Udon noodles, rice noodles, elbow noodles, egg noodles, penne and farfalle.

I bought a pantry cupboard thing, it’s 80″ x 36″ x 22″. It’s full. So is the upright freezer in the garage. And the fridge, and the kitchen cupboards.

We got home today with the latest haul and just stood staring, blank-eyed, trying to figure out where to put it.

But dammit, we will NOT go hungry, or live on #10 cans of anything. As [god] as my witness