Why should I support someone else?
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| Sat, 12-30-2006 - 1:24pm |
Let me start by saying that I"m new here so this may have already been discussed, but this has come up in my office several times and I wanted to get some other views of this.
I do payroll for a rather small company so I know most of the workers and their wives (most of the workers are men due to the nature of our business). There are two in particular who's wives SAH. These two are up to their eyeballs in debt. I have bill collectors constantly calling for them. That part is really their business, it is annoying but I enjoy being rude back to the bill collectors, lol.
The part that bothers me is that both wives have been in the office wanting copies of X amount of check stubs so that they can go and get public assistance (I know because they told me that is what it is for)! Why should my tax money go so that these women can SAH? I know that not all families that one parent stays at home are like this, but I know lots that are. Heck, growing up we were always broke because my mother refused to work, but we weren't on any public assistance.
So, why should I pay for a woman to SAH? Why can't she go and get a job to support her family just like anyone else?


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I don't get the concept of buying more because we make more. Rampant comsumerism is part of the reason we are all worried about climate change. It also doesn't mean we are eating ramen noodles. I prefer to "splurge" on food and buy as much high quality whole and organic and fairly traded foods as possible.
Here are some links that better explain it for me.
http://www.simpleliving.net/main/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_living
Living More with Less by Doris Longacre was the first book I read on it.
Living sioply doesn't mean being a luddite or living frugally. It means making mindful choices. I means thinking about the impact of your buying decision - not only on yourself, but on the people that made it and are selling it and its impact onthe earth. It meanslooking a need versus want and owning your decision based on want.
Edited 2/1/2007 9:07 am ET by janetlynn_64
I've never seen a thrift store that sells used underwear. I'm pretty sure they use their profits to buy new packages of underwear that they sell cheaply. At least I vaguely recall seeing packages of underwear in Goodwill.
Jessica
Have your or Ikatarama seen the "What Happened to the Electric Car?" documentary? If you haven't, I'd highly recommend it.
Jessica
I think it is against the law - sort of like selling used matresses.
I know the homelss shelters to which we donate ask for gentrly used clothes but specifically say only new in package underwear.
Unfortunately, you're in the minority.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070201/ap_on_bi_go_ec_fi/economy
While I don't agree w/it, the spend, spend, spend theory she advocates is all too common. Few things frustrate DH like a call from a couple in their 40s or 50s who suddenly realize that retirement in coming in a decade and they have nothing to retire on. The above
It is pretty terrible-- it's "Who killed the electric car?" not "what happened to the electric car."
Jessica
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