Not to make light of their economic situation, which you can read about in this NPR sob story about poor people in Ohio (no doubt meant to make the people of Ohio long for "hope" and "change"), but do they actually look like they have had a hard time obtaining food?
If you are going to write an article on the plight of the poor starving masses, try finding some to photograph who look more like "starving" than "masses."
I had to do some searching, but I finally found this photo that I first saw in a college course on communication through art:
What do you think of this picture? Does it shock you? It shocked the hell out of me. I heard the photographer later committed suicide, after winning a pulitzer prize. Would this child have loved to have had the chance to grow up in Ohio? We can never know (although, according the photographer, the girl was rescued... but her identity and final fate remain a mystery).
Just think about this next time someone tries to sell you a sob story about the hungry people in Ohio...
The math doesn't add up. With their income, the family would be getting about $200 each month in food stamps. Either they are not taking full advantage of existing programs, or they lied to the reporter about their finances, or the reporter is an idiot.
Possibly all three.
This story smells like it was concocted to evoke our pity rather than to report facts.
Posted by: I'm here to help you | Friday, 18 July 2008 at 12:21 PM
Well, it IS an NPR story...
Posted by: Gullyborg | Friday, 18 July 2008 at 12:27 PM
what the article fails to mention:
Ohio has been taken over by democrats in government. Ohio Democrat Governor Ted Strickland, who has been talked about as a top-tier running mate for Obama, is most to blame for current economic woes in Ohio.
Ohio's woes are closely tied to Michigan's, as Ohio has lost thousands of automotive sector jobs. Michigan's government, for many years in the power of the Democrats, has done NOTHING to help our "big 3" automakers make profits and keep union workers employed.
This is why McCain needs someone like MITT ROMNEY as his running mate. Romney can win over Michigan and Ohio by promising new economic reforms that keep our major industries thriving and blue collar workers earning living wages.
Nothing the Democrats have ever advocated has ever actually made jobs or created wealth.
THAT needs to THE message of the McCain-Romney ticket.
Posted by: Independent Thinker | Friday, 18 July 2008 at 12:44 PM
They can't afford the organic arugula! Somebody help them!!!
Posted by: Bob Mulroy | Friday, 18 July 2008 at 12:55 PM
I'd certainly be happy enough with Romney on the ticket. Not my first choice, but not a bad one and it would be a winning ticket in the electoral college. McCain/Romney could win Michigan and retain Ohio as red states. That would more than offset potential losses in places like New Mexico. Plus, Romney plays well in Colorado, another previously red state threatening to turn blue.
My short list would be Tom Ridge (wins Pennsylvania and plays well in Ohio and New Jersey), Rudy Giuliani (could really help in New York and California, forcing dems to waste money there instead of other swing states), Condi Rice (takes the "womyns" vote away from Obama unless Hillary is on the ticket - which would then rally the anti-Clinton conservative base), Fred Thompson (would REALLY rally the base), Mitt Romney, or...
if he would agree to run...
Colin Powell.
McCain/Powell would change the face of the two party system forever, would completely overshadow Obama as a "historic" candidate, would make ANYONE Obama brought on to shore up his national security/foreign policy credentials look like an amateur, would reinforce McCain's appeal as a wartime hero and leader, and would win over moderates and even some liberals. And, because Powell is another older candidate, there is no chance of his running for President in 2016. That means the conservative base has eight years to find better candidates and groom them. That means people like Jindal and Palin have time to build strong records as governors and then possibly gain a few years in the Senate or Cabinet posts.
None of this, of course, has ANYTHING to do with the starving people in Ohio. But, judging by the photo, no food for 8 years might do them some good.
Posted by: Gullyborg | Friday, 18 July 2008 at 12:57 PM
Gullyborg: That photo was stuck somewhere in my mind. When I saw it the light bulb clicked. It was a very emotional moment for me when I first saw it (I think I saw it...at least one similar).
Yes, you should see the poor folks here in "the hood." Air conditioning, two or three cars, cable TV, food stamps, "Section 8" vouchers...but not a lawnmower between them all. (sigh)
Shame on us all for allowing a fat, lazy (both physically and morally) class of people to sprout. Shame on them, and shame on us.
Posted by: Andy the Redneck | Friday, 18 July 2008 at 01:41 PM
Man, when she sits around the house, she sits AROUND the house!!
Posted by: Al Czervic | Friday, 18 July 2008 at 01:58 PM
Actually they look like some tenants I once had in my trailer park. They had two cars and three cell phones in a family of two adults and three kids. And none of them had ever worked a day in their lives.
On my blog I have often compared American "poverty" with the real poverty I saw living in Africa.
Posted by: Patrick Joubert Conlon | Friday, 18 July 2008 at 01:59 PM
Al: Ha Ha Ha! Yea, when she drives around town, she has to take the bypass.
Posted by: Andy the Redneck | Friday, 18 July 2008 at 03:51 PM
Al: Ha Ha Ha! Yea, when she drives around town, she has to take the bypass.
Posted by: Andy the Redneck | Friday, 18 July 2008 at 03:54 PM
Why is it that every time I see someone using food stamps at the grocery store they are FAT? Not just a few extra pounds, but FAT FAT FAT! (except for the obvious meth heads)
Posted by: Ted Kennedy's Liver | Friday, 18 July 2008 at 07:26 PM
The first image is rather amusing in my head. Imagine Stewie Griffin following them around with a tuba.
Posted by: Doktor X | Wednesday, 23 July 2008 at 10:04 PM
On a slightly more serious note: the system is wrecked. My crappy former neighbors were on foodstamps and their rent was subsidized (Section 8), yet they had a shiny new Mercedes SUV parked out front and hosted large parties with the regularity of Cesium decay. They had some tax-free business going on the side. Oddly enough, word seems to have reached someone that makes decisions as they've been given the boot. I'll miss the occasional gunfire most of all.
This stuff happens way too often. The system needs a swift kick from time to time.
Posted by: Doktor X | Wednesday, 23 July 2008 at 10:14 PM