I have "friends" that I have known for years. They know I've had troubles in my life. They know I broke my back, and had no insurance when it happened. They know I've had to ask for help. Yet they spew hate everywhere about people who live off of the government. The funny thing is, I have paid in to my taxes and everything all of my life. My husband continues still paying into the system. When I mention that I too have had to ask for help, and that I have paid into this system. That I went to college, and got a degree in Science so I could be self sufficient. That things happened beyond my control that put me in this situation, they look at me and say "Oh well... we didn't mean you." But when they speak, it does feel like they look down on me because I've had to ask for help. Their actions tell me they do.
I know that there are people who try to take advantage of the system. That is true of everything. There is always someone trying to get a free ride, but that doesn't mean we should trash the system.
I had to go through doctors, judges, and months of people looking at my situation to get what little help I've received. I really don't understand how someone would be able to abuse the system, unless they found crooked doctors and judges who passed them through. Social Security is something we all pay for. We all put money in that hat, hoping we won't need it. Sometimes things happen that causes a need that we never thought we would be a part of. It hurts when "friends" talk about the people who will never take responsibility for themselves, and are out looking for a handout. It's as if they see me in pain on a daily basis, and don't get the fact that I'm upset because I can't do the things I used to do. They see me cook dinner for my family, and have to recover from it, and can't understand that such a simple task makes me hurt so bad that I have to take horrible pain killers just to survive. That I live my life in constant turmoil because I'm not the person I used to be.
Yet they want to dismantle the programs that help me to be able to continue to have some kind of life.
Compassion has died in the Republican party. It's help yourself, and screw everyone else.