The "poor can work their way out of poverty" meme is a lie.

[joshcryer]

There may be some examples of such but they are extreme examples, they are not by any means the reality. This is why people are making fun of someone talking about a poor experience, a potentially unique one, and dismissing the overall message, because in the context of the message it is about "working out of poverty."

Joni Ernst's "bread bag" story is a set up for a larger context of working ones way out of poverty. This is why Ernst believes in abolishing the minimum wage, because like some deranged Libertarian-types, the minimum wage is holding those poor folks down. This is why Ernst is against choice for women and wants to defund Plan Parenthood and other choice related health care, because, you know, an unplanned teen pregnancy is just oh so good to help you get out of poverty.

Don't fall for the trap.

[JaneyVee]

1. Not in this generation.

[world wide wally]

37. All they have to do is pull themselves up by their bread bags

[Art_from_Ark]

49. I tried that once

but the generic brand bread bags ripped to shreds almost immediately. Perhaps name brand bread bags are stronger.

[blkmusclmachine]

2. Christian dominionism

[marym625]

3. exactly

That and using something that many people did, in all classes except rich, is hardly a "I was poor and worked my way out" story. It's a reach and ridiculous.

[Ken Burch]

11. It always reminds me of THIS:

[joshcryer]

12. I'm reminded of the Republican 2012 primaries, actually.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/30/gop-candidates-2012-poor_n_1176306.html

It's just as funny. Oh, and totally, 100%, real.

[marym625]

70. Perfect!

I love that. Thanks for sharing it!

[JDPriestly]

4. Thanks. Making fun of people who put breadbags on their feet may feel good.

But the real issue is what policies we should adopt to respond to the economic injustice that is threatening the fabric of our society.

[ND-Dem]

10. please link me to the posts making fun of anyone but joni ernst, the woman who'd like to cut

all aid to the poor and end the minimum wage. all while pretending she understands their pain when she was born on third base.

[Cha]

5. Not with people in Congress stomping on them like Joni Ernst, they can't. Oh, and nobody's making

fun of poor people.

thanks josh

[ND-Dem]

8. I'm fucking poor right now and I agree with Josh. not to mention i just saw you welcoming

Last edited Wed Jan 21, 2015, 05:02 AM - Edit history (1)

the poster who says poor people are all lazy scum. a friend of yours?

[joshcryer]

14. I'm doing OK, but my mom is still bottom 5%.

I try to help her out as best I can, but it's still an excruciating existence, and there's really no escape. I grew up in a bottom 1% family of 6. But the embarrassing point for me wasn't wearing bread bags in my shoes over my socks. It was taking them off at school and stuffing them into my shoes before 3rd grade class started to questioning looks. And reusing the same bags for much of the winter.

Put it this way, escape is nearly impossible especially this day and age. The idea that you can "work your way out" is a pure lie and the only way is with good government assistance and programs and trust.

[Glengoolie]

29. Except when it happens...

Which obviously isn't as often as one would like...

[joshcryer]

9. Oh, tell me how it is.

All because I don't get the "nuance" of a Republican lying shill using a story to push an anti-poor agenda.

I should be totally embarrassed because I actually get what the Republicans are trying to do.

92 million unemployed under Obama, don't you know?

[ND-Dem]

15. Not making fun of ernst the liar shows class solidarity? this is total bullshit and spin.

whose interest are you protecting?

Poverty NEEDS to be politicized.

[joshcryer]

16. I do not see it problematic to point out they are liars.

It is to show that they are not part of the solution.

If you actually believe Ernst's propaganda is part of some "solution" I'd like to see how we get there. There is absolutely no merit in giving Ernst's message any platform, because it is a lie.

[joshcryer]

18. I don't get it. What's embarrassing then?

That, oh, I dunno, a liar got caught and it just so happened that perhaps her experience was something someone may have experienced and we should pity it?

[ND-Dem]

36. says the person who gave a hearty welcome to the guy who says the poor are lazy scum.

yeah, I buy your act.

[ND-Dem]

52. feeling is mutual and now your friend is gone

[joshcryer]

62. Yeah, I was responding to your post #6.

Just because people latched on to that one thing doesn't magically mean that the Republicans are immune from criticism. It could've been anything. The point is she was using it as a talking point to back herself up. I posted up thread how the Republicans played the "worked hard, poor upbringing" card. It's ludicrous when they do it because they don't want to help anyone.

The reason they pull that card is that they act like they want to help people, but they don't.

[joshcryer]

69. If you take out the bread bags, you'd be see "pig testicles" trending.

It was unfortunate that someone did have that experience and was upset people were mocking it.

But people don't have pig testicles laying around and can easily make a picture of bread bags on their feet for a joke.

I don't think the genuinely poor are upset by that. Even those who did have to do it.

In retrospect I do recall attending Church with Food Lion grocery bags on our shoes when it was really muddy or rainy or snowing but we were kids and dress shoes were expensive as hell. It was not embarrassing or a "poor thing" to do, it was just parents in our situation making sure we didn't screw up our expensive shoes.

If anything I think mocking the statement by her is allowing people to vent and is allowing the discussion to have more exposure. Jokes go a long way in public discourse, for better or worse.

[ND-Dem]

34. well, i just saw you agreeing with someone who thinks poor people are poor because they're

lazy scum, so....

[Skittles]

42. that gal is a repuke tool

she does NOTHING to help the poor - NOTHING

[Hubert Flottz]

61. The GOPers need to put those bread bags over their heads and

fight for air!

[ND-Dem]

66. and thanks for your nasty little email to me: i prefer to keep things public so i've blocked your

mail and posted the email. cause there's something stalkerish about your methods.

1000words

Prediction:

Mail Message

You won't make it to half of my present post count.

(Don't bother responding, I have you on ignore.)

[ND-Dem]

7. K&R and thank you.

[Fumesucker]

21. Welcome to DU!

This is not your father's economy and hasn't been for quite some time.

[Fumesucker]

27. Eh, I have family that were making $100K+ fifteen years ago and are now struggling to make $20K

If they hadn't paid their house off when they had the money they would be out on the street.

I did a thread some time back on DU about what your first job was and how much you made and then included a link to an inflation calculator so people could figure out what that would be in dollars today, my own first job was in 1969 and in today's dollars I made over $20 an hour.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022734785

[Fumesucker]

55. I don't think I have $200 in my entire wardrobe, all of which is high quality brand name stuff

The $300 black leather jacket for instance I got for $5 at a yard sale and I paid $2 for the Aspen Sports insulated boots I'm wearing at the moment, I haven't looked them up but they are probably close to $200 if you buy them at retail.

One of the up sides to a throwaway consumer culture is that used goods, often indistinguishable from new, are inexpensive.

My parents were adults during the Depression and knew how to squeeze a penny until Abe shrieked so I grew up getting my clothes from the Nearly New store. It was a habit the family I married into frowned on so I dropped it for many years but now I have them asking me how to make old Abe cry themselves.

My point being that just because someone is wearing "$200 shoes" does not mean they paid anything like $200 for them.

[ND-Dem]

38. what a load

[JI7]

22. why were you in poverty in the first place ? lazy all that time ?

[JI7]

28. that doesn't make sense as there are many people who do drugs and still make money

just because you were irresponsbile doesn't mean others are.

why blame drugs for your incompetence ?

[JI7]

35. you are the one who blamed drugs for your being incompetent

[wysi]

44. I think this is not the forum you are looking for

Google "Free Republic", you'll find that more to your liking

[JI7]

46. why don't you work harder if you want nice cars , nice tvs etc ? why do you complain about others

and blame drugs and other things for your own failures ?

[ND-Dem]

30. go back to the rock you came out from under. and take the list of right wing talking points with

you.

[ND-Dem]

39. indeed 1000words. birds of a feather and all that

[Skittles]

43. "we on the left"

what's next - "our party"?

[ND-Dem]

53. he's gone but his friends remain

[Behind the Aegis]

54. Nothing is next for that "poster"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=profile&uid=320312&sub=trans

[Skittles]

57. disappointing how lame the late-night trolls are becoming

wealthy Jews run America, poor people are lazy.....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[Behind the Aegis]

58. And to say nothing of the lazy Jews.....what are they doing to America!?!

[Skittles]

60. WOOT!!

[TeamPooka]

26. The GOP is boosting the orphanage and workhouse industries like the Dickens. nt

[indivisibleman]

31. I know a number of people that have lost their job

and ended up taking jobs for much less pay and yes even minimum wage for some. They take it because they say, "I have to because it is all I can find." How I wish they would just say, "no way! I will not work for that." Imagine if minimum wage was removed. These same people would say the same thing. "it's all I can find."

[Hubert Flottz]

33. I think where the GOP got that idea, was on an iron gate somewhere.

"Arbeit macht frei"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arbeit_macht_frei

I doubt if any republican in Washington, has ever dug a lump of coal, or planted a family garden out of necessity. Or crawled under barbed wire in the mud, with bullets flying around their heads.

[ND-Dem]

40. "Arbeit macht frei"

sounds like a couple of people on this thread

[Hubert Flottz]

51. No Scheisse!

Welcome to DU...I hope!

[SoapBox]

47. Ernst, Pukes and Baggers will USE the poor as a TOOL.

For those saying that DUer's are picking on the poor, I'm sorry, i don't see that.

But what I see and it's a tried and true Puke trick, is to be the "compassionate conservative". Express all sorts of sadness for the lower percentage of Americans...but just screw them over even worse.

I can hardly believe that people still fall for this old ploy.

[Hubert Flottz]

59. I have seen people in this area putting bread bags on their babies butts for diapers

and making their children's clothes out of print feed sacks. I have heard children cry for something to eat, or because they were cold in winter. I saw Jack Kennedy and LBJ make things better for the poor around here. But I can't remember ever seeing the GOP ever doing anything around here but robbing the poor to give to the rich. I can't for the life of me understand, why the state of West Virginia has gone red? I'm inclined to believe that there is one of two reasons or perhaps both. 1. The people here have all become total idiots. 2. The electronic voting machines that flip votes and crooked vote tabulation are where the major "election fraud" truly lies.

I do believe that this state is headed back to the days of owing the company store, if the GOP is allowed to turn back the clock.

[joshcryer]

63. No denying that, look at their largest voting bloc.

The poorest states. And they pull that "welfare is the cause of all ills" crap. And that's really what Joni Ernst was getting at. She repeats this same meme that if the state was smaller and wasn't "meddling" then people would get out of poverty magically all on their own.

[ND-Dem]

64. +100

[merrily]

56. The latest crop of Republicans makes Boehner look like a keeper. Horrifying. nt.

[BootinUp]

65. +1

[AngryOldDem]

68. Not if the 1% keeps them down.

And GOD, am I sick and tired of hearing how any raise in the minimum wage, or making anything at all easier for the American worker, will cost jobs and drive down profitability, and therefore, is not a good idea.

The ruling class wants a slave class. That is it in a nutshell.