Nothing will force you to come to grips with what really matters to you and what doesn't like being told you have to leave your home quickly and can only take so much -- only what you truly can't live without -- and that you must accept that whatever you leave behind you may never see again. When I realized that my home fell within the dreaded New York City "Zone A," which meant I was under mandatory evacuation orders thanks to our friend Hurricane Irene, suddenly those prized Gucci pumps I was so proud of getting for 70 percent off didn't seem nearly as important as my laptops, irreplaceable documents and mementos, and my favorite pair of jeans. (The ones I've had so long and worn so much that they are on their second round of patchwork. They would be worthless to anyone else but are priceless to me.)
Despite worrying that I might return home to find a pond of floating furniture and broken glass where my bed used to be, I spent much of the weekend counting my blessings, because I knew that regardless of what happened, ultimately I would be okay. The reason? Because I am not one of the 43.6 million Americans living in poverty.
Most of us know that there are countless downsides to being poor, but as far as the day-to-day reality of what that actually means for people living in poverty, many of us are vague on the details and prefer to remain that way. For instance, when we see headlines that say that those living in poverty have shorter life expectancies than the rest of us, it's easier to sleep at night if we can assume that means they simply don't make the right choices, health or otherwise. That's a much more comforting alternative than going to bed each night and knowing that someone's life or death may be in our collective hands.
Then along comes a tragedy like Hurricane Katrina six years ago, and to a lesser extent Irene, to remind us that today, in the greatest country in the world, your class status can in fact be a matter of life or death. (Click here to see where the leaders criticized for failures during Katrina are today.) It's no coincidence that those devastated the most by Katrina, were those who had the least. Those with the fewest resources were the ones with the fewest options when it came time to evacuate. And yet I have lost count of how many people I know personally who said something like, "I have a tough time feeling sorry for people who were told to evacuate and chose not to."
But life, especially life in poverty, is not that simple.
When I first heard murmurs that I might have to evacuate my home, I began thinking about my options. I thought about whether I should take this as an opportunity to hop a plane or train and visit friends or family out of state, or spend close to the same amount (likely an arm and a leg) to stay close to home in a hotel for a bit. I calculated how much these options would cost me and for how long. (So as not to leave you in suspense, friends of mine in the tri-state area graciously stepped up to the plate, sparing my savings an unexpected hit.) But as I was doing these calculations I realized how easy it is for someone like me who is not rich by any means, but who has options, to weather an unexpected storm literally and figuratively. Easy for me in a way that it's not easy for someone who not only can't afford a hotel or plane ticket, but can't afford a taxi cab to get an elderly relative or multiple small children to an evacuation center or for someone who fears losing the job that's barely keeping his family afloat if he dares to defy the boss by heading home early to pack up his family and their belongings in time to evacuate.
I realize that we're incredibly lucky that Hurricane Irene did not cause the devastation of Katrina. For that I am grateful. But something I'm not grateful for? In the six years since Katrina the number of Americans living in poverty has increased by almost six million. That means that if any major American city did have "another Katrina," despite the absence of President Bush and "Brownie" there would still be unbelievable devastation, particularly for those residents in poverty. If six years from now, there are six million more of them, that will be a tragedy far greater than any natural disaster, because it will be a tragedy that is man made and none of us should be able to sleep soundly knowing that.
Keli Goff is the author of The GQ Candidate and a Contributing Editor to TheLoop21.com where this post originally appeared.
www.keligoff.com
Follow Keli Goff on Twitter: www.twitter.com/keligoff
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And to think these are only the ones who had to leave their homes and belonging's due to the destructive forces created by nature.
There are millions of others who had to leave their homes and belongings and have become homeless because of this man made economic disaster created by the selfish greed of men.
Do you believe that you and your husband were 'legitimate' recipients, but that most recipients do not deserve it and/or are abusing/defrauding it?
Are you self aggrandizing by believing you were special, and that's why you were able to get off it, without being turned into a welfare mom? Or are you so humble as to believe you are not special and therefore if you could get off it, then so should everyone else?
I mean it must be welfare making people lazy, that explains long term recipients. It can't be that the conditions that forced them into it in the first place never changed, even years, or generations latter. It can't be that the absence of healthcare for minimum wage employees keeps people on state assistance. It can't be that minimum wage is a joke. It can't be that some areas have no public transportation and you cannot afford a car because you can't get a job and you can't get a job because you can't afford a car. It can't be that those same areas have some of the worse education systems in the nation. It can't be that there is just NO work. No it must just be that being on welfare makes you lazy, well not you, or me, or your husband, but everyone else...
However, even as a so called have not....I am much better off than many.
I have a cement block house on higher ground (in hurricane prone Florida) and would probably be able to get back on my feet, even if slowly. (I am quite....er frugal and can really stretch a dollar.)
I look at all the little kids....who have never known any kind of security or economically stable home life.....just existing and barely making it along with their parents.
And then there are those who did everything right....from schooling to work to saving/investing....and now are left with nothing but poverty and suffering.
There are days when I hate the entitled and arrogant politicians....and that includes most of the Dems.
Okay, some people are lazy and worse.
However, unemployment and underemployment is growing and destroying the middle and working classes.
Some people have accidents, illnesses, outdated skills, old age.....to make them less desirable as workers. Some worked hard all their lives and now can NOT work.
Bad enough to be unemployed or underemployed, but to be called a loser and told you deserve it goes beyond cruel. It is adding insult to injury.
Even the "jokers" in the Obama administration are heavily into blame the victims and do everything possible to "obscure" the fact that banks, Wall Street, outsourcing, bad political decisions and deregulation did the damage.
For them, it's all about having the "right" beliefs. Not about loving others as you love yourself, not about doing what is just, loving mercy, and walking in a down-to-earth manner with your God (assuming you believe in one.) You either believe what they believe or you're going to he11! Sad.
Katherine Askew
www.ElderAuthority.com
www.TheNewElder.com
the levees broke (a fed. project that was underfunded for years)
the port is of national importance
-----and I do think the local gov. did not do a very good job---another reason for the fed to be involved (too bad Brownie was "in charge")
Just stipulating for a moment that this is true. Does it then alleviate your responsibility to your fellow citizen? Is saying a child should be fed by its parents a license for you to allow that child to starve?
Enough stipulating. Is it possible in your world that an event can be of a scale beyond the ability of a state's power to cope? ,,,especially a small, poor state like Louisiana? Of what value is being a citizen of a large, wealthy, powerful nation if we are left to our own devices in the most extreme circumstances?
Doesn't it ever occur to you people, who write such dismissive things about so-called "freeloaders," that there are people out here who fit your description, desperately trying not to be overwhelmed with hatred and self-loathing, because we really never wanted to "continually expect others to do for" us, either? What makes you think anyone WANTS to be needy and helpless? Do you think being in pain and medicated and bedridden constantly, is something I'm "getting away with"? Because let me tell you, being able to watch more movies than anyone I know, and having more time to write comments on the Internet, it's little consolation, for not having the chance to live a decent life. And every time I read a comment like yours, it feels like a kick in the face.
I'd love to know where all these leeches are you people are always talking about. Whenever you talk about freeloaders and people living off of others, I look around and see no one being accurately described, but myself, and my poor sickly mother.
Or maybe you are kicking self reliance and talent. As if Tiger Woods should feel guilty that all blacks are not talented in golf?
If you will check facts rather than fiction, you will find that conservatives are compassionate and give as much or more than liberals. It's tax deductible you know.
And it seems to be more common among the "pull yourselves up by your bootstraps" conservatives who whine and complain the most.
At least on HP....the nastier "it is your own fault" comments tend to be from the conservative Repugs. The same goes for Fox News comments. (Yes, I read both sides and in many places.)
BTW....some of the Christian conservative candidates have shown their tax returns (by law) and their giving to charity is often not much to non-existent in any one year.
Giving to charity depends on the person (and often the tax breaks) more than his party affiliation.
Interesting, it seems that what makes Sweden work so well are the very things the USA takes an opposite approach to. A 100 years of peace instead of endless war. Extensive welfare benefits. Not here, more like extensive schemes to steal or kill any social program.
I don't know if things will ever change in this country. With the current political climate, I don't have much hope.