Here is a nice little side effect of not having health insurance: I use crutches to support myself and to get around as a result of an untreated left knee injury. When I participated in that Functional Capacity Evaluation (FCE) last week, I injured my right shoulder. So now, I cannot walk, because the shoulder of the right side, which carries more of the load when I use crutches, is injured. Without the ability to actually be treated for injuries, I am stuck unable to do anything. At least the doctor at the free clinic gave me a note so I could stay home for a few days instead of having to attend classes on how to get a job. Those classes never go over how to get a job when you can't walk or use your arm. The note protects my children, and thus they still get fresh fruit and vegetables, dairy, meat and grains.
Speaking of food, I've noticed those who wish to limit access to foods they deem unhealthy. Do I agree that soda is unhealthy? Of course I do. But try looking at it this way: when we were middle class we were able to go out once a week as a special family outing. Once we became poor, we could no longer take the family out to eat, so we switched to making those (fun, but labor intensive) meals at home. We try to recreate the enjoyment we had as a family eating a special meal. But does being poor mean that our kids should only be allowed to drink water? Does it mean that they can't enjoy soda with their homemade pizza? Does being poor mean that we have to take away all treats from our children so they fully know just what kind of failures their parents have become? "Sorry kids, not only can you not have dance lessons, or play baseball, or learn how to play the piano, but your great-uncle says that you don't deserve soda or popcorn during family movie night." Or should I have to explain to my kids, "My old neighbor from Jr. High wants to disallow you having cake for your birthday"?
When you say soda and treats shouldn't be bought with my taxpayer dollars (yes, mine. We've paid taxes for many years.), you are saying that knowledgeable parents who make too little money aren't capable of deciding that their kids can have a treat now and then. Are there people who think Cheetos are a valuable part of the food pyramid? Yes. There are people who don't read nutrition labels. There are people who consider Dr. Pepper to be a fruit juice. There are also people who don't plan their menus, making sure that they provide a healthy balanced option that is varied, cost effective, and suits the needs of their family over an average of 450 individual meals for the month. That's not a food stamp problem, that's an education problem. Getting upset that I buy soda for my kids to enjoy once in a while is silly. Get upset that we don't provide proper health and nutrition education. Get upset that we don't have heathcare for people who make $100 too much for medicaid and $1700 too little for ACA. But don't waste your heartbeats on worrying over poor people buying a soda. If you want to take it away from the people who chronically make poor choices, you'll be taking it away from those who use food treats sparingly and deliberately.
You notice poor decision makers more often then you notice the people who are being careful. We all notice that. Nobody wants to watch a reality tv show about people who make good decisions but get caught in a spiral of compounding difficulties. People watch reality tv about those who make poor decisions and do stupid things. Since you don't take the time to notice the people who are carefully choosing the best foods that fit their families' needs, you aren't making a fair or well-informed decision, and that makes you purposefully ignorant. How does wallowing in this ignorance while you yell to take soda away from the poor make you the better person?
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