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Updated: 8:30 AM Sep 5, 2008
Evacuations Raise Topic of Personal Responsibility
Meridian, Miss. The cost of evacuating for Hurricane Gustav has resulted in generosity, but also some ill feelings. Posted: 6:45 PM Sep 4, 2008Reporter: Lindsey Brown Email Address: lindsey.brown@wtok.com |
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I have the ability to shelter an Ike evacuee....
How many vehicles was really needed to get here? How many of these people above age 12 have a personal cell phone? When the TV station came by how many asked for short term job to pay their way back home? I would have gladly paid them $100.00 to cut my yard, about a two hour job,and more than it's worth. This would be my way of helping.
I FEEL SORRY,FOR THE NEEDY.I CAN'T IMAGINEHAVING TO LEAVE MY HOME.NOT KNOWING WHAT CONDITION-(OR IF IT WILL BE THERE WHEN I RETURN.I WORK IN TOWN.MY HUSBAND & I BOTH WORK FULL TIME JOBS,I SEAL WITH CUSTOMERS EVERY DAY THAT WANT SOMETHING FOR NOTHING.AND THEY KNOW HOW TO WORK EVERY SYSTEM.I ALSO DO NOT AGREE THAT WE SHOULD KEEP TAKING CARE OF WELFARE MOMS-AND THEY KEEP HAVING MORE KIDS FOR US TO TAKE CARE OF.I THINK THE GOVERMENT SHOULD LIMIT THOSE ON THE WELFARE RIDE TO 2 KIDS/HAVE THEM MANDORTORY-HAVE TUBES TIED.THAT WOULD COST LESS THEN THE WORKING FOLKS TAKING CARE OF 4 & 5 KIDS TILL THEY LIVE THE SAME WAY AS ADULTS.GET A JOB & A LIFE!!!HELP THE NEEDY-NOT THE GREEDY...
I am grateful that generous souls like Luther Gordon exist in our community. He loves the Lord and is trying to do His work. Praise God. He will be blessed. And I truly believe that if the recipients of this generosity did not have real need, then God Himself will take that money from them and much more, seventy times seven. If they had true need, this godly example of compassion should encourage them to work to change their circumstances.
God says I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion Ro. 9:15. With that said we should all be led by the Holy Spirit as to whom we should or shouldn't help and not be so quick to criticize. I know that when I saw this segment I wondered how much is spent on cell phones and if there are 20 members in this family how many of them that are able to work do so and if for three years you can't save enough for your own personal emegency fund why blame the goverment for not doing so. Maybe it is because people aren't being tought the commonsence way of living but have become dependent on the way of the world, either way ignorance is no excuse. I to have a hard time listening to stories such as this it makes it hard to sort out the truth but I know if I am led by the Lord He will show what is truth and what is not.
The posted comments haven't been done in hate at all. People are just tired of watching other abled bodied individuals take advantage of generosity w/ no accountability for making their OWN way. I've had to use bill money to cover costs associated w/ preparing for the storm and through extra work, I'm making up the diff now.I wouldn't call my life "comfy" as C. suggests below, but I know my limits and am a responsible adult.I don't use my money to go out to eat, get my hair or nails done, buy cigarettes, or deck out my car (and for that matter, I don't own an RV!!) instead of taking care of immediate needs for my family.When I see someone abusing govt programs that is in better health than I am, it is infuriating.What's even worse is when someone who barely works at all draws several thousand $ in Unearned income credit from taxes due to 5 kids!If these evacuees truely needed help, their first move should have been to thank those that had already cared for them thru food and shelter.
I think they need to take responsibilty for their families by preparing for these type situations. They know they are living in a place where hurricanes and floods can happen. It's not like it's the first storm to come through the area. They should try to set aside an emergency fund to cover the costs of evacuation such as; food, gas, shelter, and gas to return home. As far as community responsibility is concerned, I think evacuees from Katrina may have put a bad taste in their mouths. Some of those evacuees took shelter in very nice facilities accross the country such as; five star hotels, schools, and churches with nice family life centers. NOT ALL but some of these facilities had to actually remodel afterwards due to damage caused by these needy people. I am sure there are some very decent folks who were gracious to recieve help but the ones who PLAN to beg and then complain about it really ruin it for those "truly in need". Making the choice to try and help yourself is the best.
You know what.........there is no hatred here. I do feel bad for most that evacuated. What I do not feel bad for is those that choose to have 6 or more children while they are beating the system. Using the taxpayers HARD EARNED money to live off of. My taxes are paying for these people to stay on the system and have more children they have no business having. If you can't support 1 or 2 why have MORE??? I see this every day, even here in Meridian. Folks on welfare, diving nicer cars than we could ever dream of, and have RV's. I work my tail off to get what I have, not living off the system. I have only 2 children, and I have used bill money to eat or get gas. I just think that people should not take advantage of the system, because there are truly people out there that NEED the help, not just expect it.
This issue is not something new brought on by the hurricane. There are way too many people living off the system- expecting everything be given to them for free. One person wrote- do you really think an evacuee can get a job in less than 1 wk? Well, no probably not. But the point is- many of these people don't have jobs back at home either. They are used to getting everything for free and don't know the meaning of the word WORK. I've been a single mom working hard to make ends meet. Sometimes working 2 jobs. I have only 1 child (because I have enough sense to know I cannot afford to have more). It's time the local and federal govt stopped giving hand outs to people who make a living off having as many babies as possible and start making them work for the assistance they receive. Otherwise, there's no incentive for the "takers" out there to work for a living.
I AM MY BROTHERS KEEPER IS A GREAT PHILOSOPHY, ANOTHER IS "YOU DON'T WORK YOU DON'T EAT"
No, I do not expect the children to work, I am not cruel. I just think that if the adults used more common sense they could have done something to keep a little money to get home on. There was no need to go out to eat, the shelters provided food. There was no need to buy smokes, buy gas instead. As for work, I did not mean to get a full time job, duh. I simply meant that instead of complaining that they did not have money, they could have said, I will do odd jobs to earn my way back home. Meridian did not get a hard hit from this, they could have mowed yards, cleaned yards, anything, instead of expecting money to fall into their hands. I am sure there are a few people here that would have been happy to pay someone to do some odd jobs around the house. Get real people. Just a bunch of "GIMMES".
The raw hatred in some of these comments is terrifying, and the total lack of empathy is depressing and disgusting. Not everyone is able to have the same comfy lifestyle you do, you all should be ashamed of yourselves. Sickening.
Its obvious that the person that thinks that $40 is so easy to come by probaly never had to spend ther rent money or bill money to suvive.
Amen to what B stated. It's called common sense people!!They should have factored in gas money to get here & back, not act like it was a free vacation and now expect a free ride home.The people who had no transportation had buses, planes, and trains to get them back and forth. I guess they thought FEMA was going to issue credit cards like they did last time,well the greedy people who misused them took care of that. Personal responsibility....it ain't rocket science!!!
everyone is responsiable for their own actions. if these people had stayed in LA they would be fussing about the conditions there. i have realized with these types of people "there ain't no pleasing them" either give them money or they will whine and complain your ear off.