I love when people think it's because they're disabled, a certain race, lgbtq, etc. that they're being made fun of and not because of who they are as a person. Being disabled isn't a personality trait. People aren't going to feel bad for someone who hoards animals only to neglect them physically and medically. People aren't going to feel bad for someone who begs for food money only to turn around and buy soda of all things. People aren't going to feel bad for someone who begs for expensive coloring books and journals when those are items that can be found elsewhere for a fraction of the cost. People are especially not going to bad for someone who spreads conspiracy and misinformation about chemicals and vaccines.
I'm going to go on a limb here and say that most people don't hate poor people. In fact. Most of us probably struggled one way or a other at some point. Some of us are probably disabled one way or another.
I agree. I've seen plenty of people here on the Farms mention that they're poor and/or disabled, and nobody hates on them for it.
Being poor sucks. Everything is harder and more stressful than it ought to be, even when you're relatively smart, scrupulous about budgeting, take advantage of every social program and charity available to you, and are actively looking for ways to reduce your expenses and get what you need at low/no cost.
But being poor is a hell of a lot harder when you're stupid—when you blow your food stamps budget on soda and pre-made deathchow that just makes you sicker; when you have a house full of animals you can't afford to feed or provide vet care for; when you drive without a license and get a traffic citation you can't pay; when you can't differentiate between wants and needs; when you're a choosy beggar and constantly ungrateful for the things you do get; and when you spend your days demanding that somebody else rescue you from your self-created problems, and blaming everybody but your own damned self for the mess you're in.
I only have Polissa and Josh's respective Twitter accounts to go by, but god damn, they're
stupid. A solid 80% of their problems can be chalked up to pure fuckwittedness; they are their own worst enemies, and can't even see it. Combined with arrogance, entitlement, and ingratitude, it's that dogged stupidity that makes them deserving of ridicule.
Over the last 20 years or so, it's become increasingly difficult to talk about the real challenges of poverty, and the differences between people who manage to
just make it on very little income vs. people like the Campbells. I remember getting screeched at back in 2005-'07 for "perpetuating ideas about the 'deserving' and 'undeserving' poor," for suggesting that poor people who blow their money on stupid shit and live in a constant state of financial chaos might benefit from learning better strategies. Some poor people are really easy to help in substantial and life-changing ways, while others are just bottomless pits for time, money, and resources, and when I'm going to help somebody, guess who I'm going to pick?
I also got screeched at and accused of "bootstrapping," for talking about strategies that had worked for me while I was poor, and eventually helped me turn my life around. Because apparently, poor people are all supposed to be passive victims of whatever forces made them poor, and to suggest they can be active agents capable of leading lives of dignity and value, and eventually doing better for themselves, is classist and oppressive.
But what we're not doing is begging every single day to have strangers fund our lifestyles. Polissa, your rent is $300. For an entire fucking house. People are living in 1 bedroom apartments for $400+ in your area. Outside of your area rent is exponentially more expensive.
She's on disability, but she's got cheap Section 8 rent, EBT, Medicare, access to a food bank (and probably a pet food bank as well), a car that runs, a family who give her regular handouts, and a husband who, when it behooves him, can dig and plant a garden and go get a job. That they're always short of food and money isn't because they don't have enough resources, it's because they're stupid and wasteful with what they get, and have a million aggrieved excuses why they can't possibly do things any differently.
If there's a class of "undeserving poor," they're not the worst examples of it by far, but they're bottomless pits, both of them, and no way am I tossing any money their way because it won't make any damned difference.