#than to acknowledge that it's impossible to budget your way out of poverty

[smute]

whenever i see "poor people shouldn't have [thing]" discourse i always think back to about ten years ago when i had just been fired from my shitty airport job and i was waiting for my unemployment benefits to be processed and couldn't pay the rent.

because i was desperate, proud, and stuck in that same "if you're poor you cant have nice things" mind prison, i made the very difficult decision to give up my favorite hobby and sold my dslr and camera gear for i believe 700 or 800€ (under value of course since i was in a bad position to negotiate). my camera was the most (the only) valuable item in my possession, so in that moment of crisis it was a no-brainer to get rid of it. could i have asked my friends and family for help? of course. not that any one of them would have been able to pay my full rent, but with combined efforts im sure i could have made it through that month somehow. but because i was desperate and proud and needlessly judgmental of myself, i sold my stuff to a very nice guy (im sure he was ecstatic about having made the deal of a lifetime).

now. 800€ is a lot of money. of course it was a big help. i could finally pay my rent and i was able to get my bank account out of the red. but the thing is... in the end, it was just barely enough. the following month my unemployment money came in and i found a new job soon after that, but ultimately, the sacrifice of giving up something that had been such a big part of my life, something that had brought me so much joy, was out of all proportion to the financial relief it brought me. it literally bought me another month with a roof over my head, and i guess the comfort of being able to tell myself that i'd "tried everything" before asking anyone for help. and thats it. just one month later i was back to square one – job, apartment, just enough money to make ends meet – only with one less thing to do in my free time.

#so when people judge others for idk #spending money on seemingly frivolous things #this is what they really want #sacrifice #they want you to suffer #not because they're evil #but because they want to believe that #were they ever in the same position #they would do everything in their power to get out of their misery #they want to believe that poverty is a n individual failing #not a structural problem #it's much easier to pretend that poor people are bad at budgeting #than to acknowledge that it's impossible to budget your way out of poverty #&

[ophidahlia]

Like a lot of people, I feel like a different person after the pandemic and not for the better, but maybe in a different way than many folks, I dunno.

The pandemic itself wasn't really a source of stress for me, being disabled and chronically ill with multiple comorbidities it actually felt like the rest of the world kinda shifted to my everyday reality; don't misunderstand me I still very much felt empathy and concern for everyone and angry at how the pandemic was mishandled, it's just that it felt like a situation I was already familiar with and it didn't really change my everyday life very much. A lot of chronically ill people felt this way; it felt bizarrely normal.

However, I was one of the many many people stuck in a toxic domestic situation during lockdown, there was a secondary epidemic of domestic violence within the covid pandemic as people were stuck inside with their abusers and those abusers often increased the severity & frequency of mistreatment by taking out their pandemic-related stress & anxiety on their victims. I'd like to see more focus on long-term effects on folks in my situation, especially disabled, poor & inadequately housed, or chronically ill/ immunocompromised individuals who were most especially isolated & vulnerable. I'm a power wheelchair user with a chronic illness and poverty-level finances, and all that played a major role in the DV. It's very hard to leave when you can't physically enter most rental units and the ones that are accessible are above your budget, but the pandemic, lockdown, & related housing shortage made it downright impossible to leave an abusive situation. It's a very common story.

At my best I was really outgoing before all this and making new friends was easy; I was that annoying perky rando who strikes up small talk with strangers in the elevator; on my good days I was high-energy, enthusiastic, engaged with a lot of different interests, and was very goal and growth oriented. Now my illness is more severe than before because of the effects of the stress; my pain & my health are worse, my functionality is lower, I don't really talk to friends anymore (I miss them but trying to reach out triggers my PTSD from the DV) or socialize, engaging in things I enjoy at home is very hard, as is working on my goals or even just going outside to the park down the street. I'm in therapy for it, but I lost a big part of myself in the pandemic and I'm not sure how to get it back. I think there's many people who had a similar experience to me and many of us never stopped quietly isolating ourselves because our subjective experience of the world got just so much more hostile and dangerous a and the dysfunctional social climate of the pandemic seems like its formed the backdrop of our new normal, so it's kind of this big invisible psychic wound across a large portion of society that I don't think we've collectively acknowledged much less began to address.

#Covid #domestic violence #Domestic abuse #Pandemic #Ptsd

[babbushka]

I’m confused, I was always taught that Reagan was one of the best and most progressive presidents we ever had, granted I went to a Catholic school way back when, what did Ronny do? (In a not accusatory or snippy way)

Hello my dear anon! Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to talk about this, because while I am firmly a believer that everyone can have their own political opinions, objectively, Raegan literally ruined the country through something called Raeganomics -- and that's not just an exaggeration.

Here are some of his biggest lasting legacies that make people remember him in a negative light:

Purposeful inaction on HIV/AIDs

Purposefully widened income inequality through 'trickle-down' economics

Suppression of unions

Slashing of public assistance

Excessive corporate influence on government

Explanations under the cut (with links to articles for further reading, if you're so inclined)!

Purposeful inaction on HIV/AIDs

One of the most notable things that Raegan was responsible for was his failed response to addressing the HIV/AIDs crisis. The first case was recorded in 1981, but one of the first nationally pieces of recognition, the New York Times, posting an article about it in 1982. This was when it was first called GRID, or Gay-Related Immune Deficiency. Because it was affecting primarily gay men, the general public, and the government itself, did not feel any need to stop the disease from spreading. Literally, because it was the gay disease, the overall perception was that this was God sending a cure for the country.

Raegan said and did nothing, not about the disease, or about the deaths, or about the hate crimes that were growing more and more prevalent against queer people. So despite YEARS of begging and marching and millions of people dead -- it's not until 1985 when he even publicly acknowledges the disease that had thousands of Americans dropping dead on his watch. It's not until 1987 when the administration finally forms a committee to look into trying to cull the disease. 47,000 Americans are estimated to have been affected by AIDs by then. It's not until Ryan White, a straight white young man who contracts AIDs and dies when he is only 18 in 1990, that the disease becomes a matter of importance for the rest of the country, because suddenly they understood that disease does not discriminate. HIV/AIDs is still a disease that we deal with today, with over 1.1 million people living with AIDs today in the united states.

Purposefully widened income inequality

It is no secret that associated with the Raegan administration is something called 'Raeganomics', which, while being a very complicated economic theory, ultimately boils down to establishing a "trickle-down" economy. Where, in theory, those at the very top who hold the majority of wealth in the nation, allow that wealth to move down through the middle and lower classes by either investing it or spending it in communities.

And of course, as is well evident, that just, didn't happen. The wealthiest of the nation received large tax cuts in order to hold onto their wealth to trickle down, but instead of actually spending it, they put their money into off-shore banks and then asked for more. I could get into the why's or how's of economics, but just know this -- the tax rate used to be anywhere from 71 and 94% for the highest tax bracket, money that was used to fund this nation's infrastructure, roads and schools, maintain a healthy economy, provide public services and budgets for progressive programs.

Raegan slashed it down to 28%, and in doing so widened the income inequality gap almost immediately, something that we're still seeing today. The reason why you and your family pay more money in taxes than billionaires like Bezos and Musk is directly because of Raeganomics.

Suppression of unions

The backbone of this nation has always been fought by the Unions, which are organized groups of laborers who fight for better working conditions, safer working conditions, and good pay. The reason you have a weekend is thanks to the unions. The reason why we don't have child labor is thanks to the unions. And in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, unions were an incredibly powerful part of working society, because they ensured that workers would not and could not be exploited by the CEOs who want so desperately to exploit them. Well, thanks to Raeganomics and the tax cuts, CEOs were starting to play a much larger role in the The Raegan administration, and ultimately, Raegan sided with them to effectively put measures in place that slashed the importance or power of unions.

It first started with dismantling the Air Traffic Controller's union, then followed up with slashing taxes for the elite rich who employed the union workers. Then it continued when the recession that the tax cuts caused laid off workers in the auto industry, and still declined when he appointed a "management-sided" man named Donald Dotson to chair the National Labor Relations Board.

But what really put the nail in the coffin, was his push for something called the Right To Work law, which mean that state governments have the option to not fund or support unions, removed protections for unions, and that employees do not have to join unions if they don't want to. What happened as a result, is that companies began firing employees who threatened to unionize, turning the unions from having great PR, to being a thing of fear.

This is directly related to why minimum wage has been so low for so long. Thank Raegan for that.

Slashing of public assistance

Because of the enormous tax cuts for the ultra rich, the country fell into a deep recession, and as a result many programs were cut for the poorest of the nation. Food Stamps, the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act, Federal guaranteed loan programs for higher education, Legal Assistance, etc., all took a big hit.

The reason your student loans are through the roof? Raegan. The reason unemployment benefits are near impossible to navigate? Raegan. Directly his fault.

Excessive corporate influence on government

I think one of the things that's very important to understand is that Raegan was a film actor before he went into politics and became president (sound like someone else we know?) and he was actually neither a Democrat nor a Republican -- he was a Libertarian. And what Libertarians do, is look at America like a business. Which is exactly what Raegan did, and exactly why his presidency fucked up our nation. He thought that the president was like the CEO, and that the people were employees, which, is fundamentally not how that works.

So it's with no surprise that he allowed SUPER-PACs to completely take over political parties in accepting money donated heavily by them to write the policies that shape this country. The reason why so many politicians, particularly Republicans, are in their seats of power is because of the millions or sometimes billions of dollars that CEOs fund them, to write the laws they want. That's entirely Raegan's fault, and at his encouragement.

So, from these 6 major things alone, we have a country that has been ravaged by disease, thrown into poverty and recession, killed the middle class, boosted the wealthy 1%, accrued enormous amounts of debt, and prevented economic mobility for anyone to hope to climb out of it. And that's not even mentioning his war on drugs and increase of mass incarceration for privatized prisons, his insane military budget leading a larger budget deficit, the Iran-Contra scandal, among many many other things.

As I said earlier, people are allowed to think he's a great president if they want, but factually, his actions (and inactions) have fundamentally and irreparably broken the economic landscape of our nation for the poor, working classes.

I encourage you to research further into this, if you so desire. There's a lot more than I mentioned here, I only picked what I thought to be the most famous of his failures as a president.

#<333 #sorry this got long he just #really fucked up so much of our country #lol #i could really continue on and on

[robert-c]

How Common Business Practices Contribute to the Perpetuation of Poverty and Racism

Over the last century a number of laws were passed to ensure that employees would not be cheated by their employers. It began with ensuring that they were paid for all the hours an employer required them to be on the job. More followed: safe procedures for certain jobs, guarantees that promised retirement benefits would be there, that group medical plans sponsored by employers could not permanently exclude pre-existing conditions. It was only fair since the company’s cost of these benefits could be deducted from the company’s taxable income. Some employers simply violate the laws, counting on the fact that most employees don’t know their rights.

Even without directly violating the law, ever clever businesses have been finding ways around these protections: claiming that employees who should be covered under overtime pay rules are in positions exempt from those provisions; recasting employees as “contractors”, so they are not covered by employee regulations; utilizing part time employees so that they can be excluded from benefits, like healthcare and 401k’s. Their excuse, as always, is to limit expenses and therefor keep the cost of their goods or services low for the ultimate consumer. A closer examination of that argument usually falls apart when it becomes impossible to trace the line between these expense reductions and lower prices to the consumer.

However, there is a small point in their favor in that consumers usually do simply go for the cheaper product. Then again, if there really was a big connection between these cost saving measures and the final cost of goods and services there are things the companies could do. Their massive advertising budgets could be used to educate consumers about the reasons their product costs a little more than competitors, they do it all the time with claims of value and quality. It might be something like “Quality and community responsibility cost a little more, but it’s our neighbors who are earning a decent living providing you these goods and services. And we think they’re worth it.”

They don’t because it’s easy to get away with these practices when virtually everyone else is doing the same thing.

The large segment of the workforce that is excluded from company provided benefits (either because of schemes like above or because the employer is too small to provide them to anyone) is reason enough to scrap the idea of a completely “free market” healthcare system.

After more than half a century of propaganda about how wonderful and good the profit motive is, it’s about time that we acknowledge that it can do just as much harm as good.

Here’s another move that works for both part time and full time employees. When they have the potential to earn more, fire them, or drastically cut their hours (in the case of part time) so that they’ll have to quit. This keeps turnover high for the low paid jobs, but these are typically the jobs that don’t take much training to do, so turnover isn’t so costly, especially in high unemployment times. It is also a backhanded way of claiming to give raises to the more experienced people, while weeding them out at the same time.

You might think that part-timers could just get other jobs to supplement their income loss but then you’d run afoul of the next “dirty trick” of employers.

This works especially well with part-timers; continually change the schedule. Employers can make up any number of bullshit reasons why this “makes sense”, “is necessary” etc. but the net effect (and likely real purpose) is to keep part-timers from looking for, let alone accepting, other work. If you don’t know until days before what your schedule is going to be it’s pretty hard to plan interviews, let alone schedule other work, especially since the other employer is probably doing the same thing with their schedules. This essentially makes part-time employees the virtual slaves of their employer, an easy and enviable position for the company, not so much for the employee.

Their only way out is to have enough savings to do without income for a period of time to look for better work (let alone the money to get the training for higher paying full time jobs). But then, those earning even twice minimum wage for only 20 to 30 hours a week aren’t likely to have much left over for savings. That’s roughly $15,000 to $22,600 a year BEFORE taxes. The middle (or median) rent in the 50 largest cities in the US for a one bedroom is about $1,235 a month with an additional $147 for utilities (data from businessinsider.com). That’s $16,584 a year! The rents are lower in places with fewer jobs and higher where there are many job opportunities. A real double bind choice, since the wages aren’t generally higher in the same proportion as the rents in the higher job opportunity locales.

In fact, the free market essentially works against these people. As more people come to these high employment cities, the limited availability of apartments causes the rents to rise, while at the same time, the abundance of job seekers keeps the wages lower. It’s a perfect arrangement for landlords and employers alike, and a perfect storm of shit for those at the bottom of the economic ladder.

And since it cheats the rest of us, not just the employees, we should also mention that when people don’t earn enough to meet basic living expenses (and are essentially barred from being able to earn more through alternative or additional jobs) the welfare and public assistance they require is paid for by the rest of us. All thanks to the for profit businesses managing to find ways to pay as little as possible, all the while bragging about the number of jobs they’ve brought to the community, while others pick up their slack. To add insult to injury, these are often the same business owners who constantly prattle about “responsibility”, “self-reliance” etc.

Now, let’s get down to the hardest core facts about this and admit that people of color make up a disproportionate share of the folks struggling at this level. True, some people manage to rise above this, but it takes extraordinary effort beyond just being talented. It takes so much more that I seriously doubt many (if any) of us born to privilege could have done so ourselves.

Using a few people who manage to succeed despite their original circumstances does not excuse the artificial obstacles placed in their way. Instead of focusing on the “feel good” story of someone succeeding against the odds, we should be looking at why the deck was stacked against them in the first place. Failing to look at the system that holds people back and justifying it as fair because a few do overcome the obstacles is the same as defending the slavery of the pre-Civil War south because a few managed to escape it.

This “Pollyanna” view of our economic system plays well into the myths we want to believe; i.e. that there are no major problems with our system, and that it is fair and “anyone” can succeed. That attitude will not help us address inequities and injustices, and the problems that continue to arise because they remain unresolved.

Most whites imagine that they are not racists as long as they don’t support the white supremacists. Not seeing that the economic practices above create and maintain poverty, and that poverty is overwhelmingly people of color, is a form of racism. It isn’t as obvious, and it’s easy to pass off as all about ambition and determination. Nevertheless, it plays its part as surely as police and justice system presumptions that suspects of color are generally violent.

Please note this last, as it will be ignored by those who are quick to condemn me as some sort of “socialist” or “communist” simply because I don’t “drink the Kool-Aid” that any and everything a business does must be good and proper because it was done in pursuit of the sacred goal of profit. My first inclination IS NOT simply more law or regulation. I see those as last resort measures.

I would rather that some prominent businesses would openly acknowledge and then disavow these practices, and set an example for others. Failing that perhaps there are ways to set up incentives to do the right thing and as a last resort more expansive legislation and regulation.

Imagining that some great political affirmation of the “good old days” can keep things the way they are (or were) is the same sort of folly that allowed French aristocrats to imagine that there could never be a revolution. I don’t want a revolution, but we’ve had almost two and a half centuries to solve this situation and the progress has been incredibly slow.

Now that more and more whites are falling into this poverty trap they should be allying with people of color to change things. Perpetuating racism benefits only the rich, white, upper class. Poor white supremacists are being played for fools the same way their ancestors were when they died in the Civil War attempting to protect the rich plantation owners, most of whom conveniently bought their way out of service in the military.

But I don’t expect any of them to figure that out. I’m sure that they’ll just use it to justify their baseless complaints that they have been deprived of something they think they deserved.

#racism #poverty #capitalism

[lettersfromthepandemic]

Letter One - Of Pandemic Times; May 25th 2020

Dear Future Generations,

Chances are you are searching through our Digital archive to learn about the Pandemic of 2020 for a history report. I’ll bet your text books paint a perfectly hind-sighted picture of what truly happened on earth when Covid 19 swept across it. 

From where I sit now, things are not so clear. It’s been two months since we’ve entered lockdown and the best we know is that a vaccine will bring this to and end. Realistically, it will be years before the world is safe to visit human beings again and the reality is that for many of us, it will never be the same.

My first letter is a long one. I thought of this while I was dancing in the rain after a thunderstorm. You see, no one walks outside when it rains. I found my freedom in the dripping of water from the clouds. My neighbors think I am nuts. But I laugh it off. The warm summer rain forces everyone inside and I can walk the streets in peace, barefoot and wet without coming across a soul.

I live in America, in a large city. This pandemic has been terrifying. For all the reasons I loved living here before this started; they are now the reasons it is scary. I’ve lost everything I love about being here. I’ve never questioned my choices of city living. Without all the culture, education and entertainment options open. With my industry completely shut down and without work - there is no reason for me to be here. Take that all away and Covid times have got me thinking of buying a house in a small town in the middle of nowhere and starting over.

There is no escape from people. We are packed in too tightly. The sidewalks are too small for walks without bumping into someone. There is no way to control your neighbor and everyone deals with the fear and preparations of keeping safe differently. There is no space to breathe without someone walking through it. A large part of the population won’t wear masks.

You’ll learn as you read different perspectives, how different the experience is for each person living through this time in history.

That’s exactly why I am writing to you today. I want you to know what the journalists, governments and history books won’t tell you. What the social media feeds will fail to demonstrate. I want you to know how it feels to be here. Now, in this time. In hopes that this message in a bottle finds you in a better world.

In America, it’s a politically divisive time. While it’s worth mentioning that I am a feminist that believes in social justice and equality. I can tell you that the fall out from our politics has divided us sharply. The last big fight for equal rights is happening as we evolve and the disenfranchised voice is becoming louder. Still, it is not fast enough. In my lifetime I went from reading and watching mostly cis, white, heterosexual male stories to seeing America begin to more fully represent its peoples. There are more women in Congress now than there ever was. We have a shot at seeing a female president in my life time.

This is no where near the representation we’d like to see, but it's a start. This movement has unearthed the underbelly of racist, sexist, privileged people who are rising up in opposition. They require sharp education, myself included, at reconciling and acknowledging privilege to undo the hurt of our beginnings. These peoples think they are starting to be “oppressed,’ as they become the minority. But they use that word and don’t understand what it means. It’s a time of reckoning for our countries beginnings. Progress has been too slow for the mistakes we made directly keeping down slaves, indigenous peoples and immigrants that didn’t come from a white European country. Colonization and the effects thereof are everlasting. Even hundreds of years later.

That tension feeds our media. They, the media, stoke the fires into great sweeping rage and dissension for the price of advertising dollars. Social media has allowed one to curate information that suits a point of view. There is no longer debate. Academics are pitted against “common sense.” Pick a side and draw a line in the sand. Choose your battle ground.

This backdrop, is the stage to which this pandemic is played out in America. The division is not helpful when in crisis we need unity. Our Covid numbers continue to rise sharply. American capitalism fails when the lower class can’t or won’t work. So they are putting us back to work, knowing that we will be sacrificing lives.

This truth is sharply debated by many but I believe history will show it to be true. We know this virus will spread easily until we have a vaccine and yet we are sending people back to work with bandaids on gaping wounds. We are scared. We are fighting over why a person should wear a mask. We are uncertain of our futures and we are watching our structures crumble underneath us.

That said, it’s been a hundred years since the last pandemic swept the earth. Our advances have allowed us to work from home and digitally connect. Technology, I have no doubt saves many lives.

I wonder what will save your life in the next hundred years. Studying history, it seems we have a new virus or plague that rotates through the populations within that time. You’d think we would have been better prepared. It will come to light that our government knew this risk was imminent. Perhaps you are writing your report on that very thing. We knew. We did nothing. I wish I could report to you that we prepared all we could but it is not the truth. We chose to ignore that risk and carry on. Our experts have been warning us for years. I live in a time where we question our experts and don’t believe them. All that enlightenment and learning and still, our people fight science.  

Granted, planning for every scenario of apocalyptic doom would be impossible. But I believe us to be smart intelligent creatures capable of evolving ourselves and therefore think the greater of us. Most of us were busy building our lives distracted. We elected leaders to prepare and protect society. They did not. While blame is not useful to move forward. I hope that from where you sit, society feels more responsibility for each other. At this time in humanity, our populations are booming. Our “media,” only reports the bad stuff but the truth is we were, up until this point, living in the most peaceful time in human history. You wouldn’t know it by reading one of our newspapers. We haven’t evolved past our fascination with the darker parts of life on this rock. Blood, discord, disaster and fear sell advertising and products.

Even for all our faults, we are making progress as a species. Its a lovely optimism to adopt. But alas, I am also a realist. Our dark sides are ever present at work too.

The pandemic of 2020 has heightened our inequalities. They existed before this, but today they are even more present. In America, we are calling our essential workers “heroes.” In reality, they are only called that because we are sacrificing them to the virus for the “good of society.” Our food producers, housing and healthcare professions are under a great deal of strain.

Our meat production plants are currently struggling to operate as many factories and plants that have been in operation since this began are now having large parts of the population become sick. In America, our poverty stricken populations are often the ones on the front lines serving others and at the highest risk.

I can tell you that I feel powerless to stop this machine but I want to. I’d like to find ways to fight this injustice and demand better for our people. Before all this, I was lobbying for universal healthcare in our country and free college education for everyone. This pandemic has only confirmed the need to work together and provide for one another. Though we fight over what that looks like. I know in our hearts, we want to do better.

I’ve only spoken to three humans in person from a distance, once in 78 days. Everything else is digital. Currently, I have enough budget to have all my essentials delivered. That privilege affords me other luxuries too. I can control who I see and who I don’t. This control is something that I do not take for granted. Though quarantine is hard, I’m not forced to interact with others at the moment. I’ve adapted my work to this new reality and am working at every angle to keep dollars coming in the door.

Even so. Emotionally, we are a mess. It’s a wild ride of feelings from one moment to the next. The quiet safety of our homes lulls us into a dull reality. We limit our news. We limit reading about the virus. It has forced us to live more in the moment and focus on the tasks in front of us rather than too far ahead. With so much uncertainty, that has helped with the stress.

I recite these things to myself to soothe my weary soul: We are smart. We are capable. We have survived this before. We can solve our own issues. We can do better. We will do better. I am smart. I am capable. I have survived hard times. I can solve my own issues. I can do better. I will do better. It is my daily prayer. It doesn’t always help.

I wonder what life is like for others as I stare out my window every day. I miss the outside and bird watch more than I ever have. Digital life is helpful for survival but often feels empty. As excited as I get for interaction, I often close the laptop after a meeting and feel sad. This reality has me questioning everything.

I hope from your position in the future, we figured this out. That my faith is humans has merit. For now, it all feels so uncertain. The numbers are still climbing. While we have people recovering there are many that are suffering terribly.

I don’t understand why our country isn’t in mourning. Perhaps the numbers are too big to fathom. I cry almost every day reading the death tolls. The news hurts. I mourn each addition without knowing them but only for the few seconds I can allow before dusting myself off and getting back to my own work. I worry about the stacking of issues we’ve ignored as climate change heats us up. In a pandemic the natural disasters make life even harder and we are seeing that play out already. Floods, tornados, fires, storms and drought all adding up to challenge our lives. We too chose to ignore them.

I vote for reform on climate change at every chance I get. I’d like you to know that many of us are trying. We also know it’s a problem and that if we don’t invest in the future of our planet, that it will become your problem too. This issue hasn’t hit its match point. Too many people are still worried about day to day living. That keeps us from being able to plan ahead. A theme of our demise. 

It’s the privileged who have the time and resources to work on prevention. These are the hearts and minds we need to work on changing. They are the hardest to change. Once a person has more than they need, I think the fear of loosing it forces them to ignore others. At least, that is how I summarize the issue.

Myself, I came from humble roots and spent many of my formative years in poverty. I understand what it means to have nothing. I also have the peace of knowing that even in my poverty, I had happiness. Perhaps this has kept me sane during the pandemic. Knowing I can survive.

As the summer heats us up in America, I worry what lies ahead. We are itching for a release and I fear Covid will spread faster come fall. I write to you in hope. That you are reading this from a place that is safe. Where we survived and we did it with less loss than the previous pandemic.

What follows will be a collection of letters. Stories. Tales from the times. It is all the more important to make sure that the voice of our past is human. In my time, the text books didn’t teach that. We send you this time capsule. Please learn what we didn’t. I trust you will.

#lettersfromthepandemic #pandemic2020 #2020 #2020timecapsule #dearfuturegenerations

[dawnfelagund]

Am I crazy for wanting to become a teacher? I'm taking classes for teaching certification right now, but I saw the post about ADHD and the anger there really shook me. Any words of wisdom for a young aspiring educator?

The short answer is, no, I don’t think you’re crazy. :) I adore my job and there is nothing else I’d rather do. I have so much fun with my students; laughter and joy are part of my everyday work. I’m on summer break now, and the other day, I found myself scrolling through pictures on my phone that I’d taken throughout the school year and reminiscing about the last school year and laughing anew at the things we got up to and missing my kiddos badly.

But–you probably knew there was going to be a but :)–I would be lying if I didn’t say my job is extremely hard. Teachers are notoriously bad at work-life balance. (One of my professional goals for next year is to improve on work-life balance because the year I had last year is not sustainable long-term.) I think new teachers should go into their work with eyes open to the challenges we face in our profession right now; they are not insurmountable challenges, but they are significant and tend (in my experience) to be glossed over by teacher-prep programs and school districts desperate to solve teacher shortages by harping on the “Make a Difference!!” message at the expense of acknowledging what the day-to-day reality of new teachers will actually look like.

As I said in my original post, expectations and working conditions vary widely by district in the U.S. Contrary to conservative myth, the federal government does not control or mandate curriculum (Common Core is standards, not curriculum, and also not adopted by every state)–and ironically, the biggest federal education mandate, the unfunded No Child Left Behind law, was a Republican policy–and this is controlled at the state or local level, so my experiences in the two states where I’ve taught (Maryland and Vermont) may not reflect what your experiences would be where you live.

In general, though, teachers are on the front lines of a society where people are increasingly finding it difficult to meet their basic needs and where the social safety net has been systematically dismantled. Unless you end up in a very privileged school–which is near-impossible for a new teacher–this absolutely impacts the kids you will see in your classroom every day. It most often manifests in behavior problems, either because kids in families stretched thin by poverty haven’t been taught behavioral expectations for school or because kids are acting out due to trauma and other psychoemotional problems that they are unprepared to cope with. In my experience, teacher-prep programs have done little to nothing to prepare new teachers for how to manage a classroom where kids are daily trying to cope with such challenges. (For the record, the first five years of my career were spent in a special-ed school in Baltimore for boys with emotional disabilities, so I know what extreme behavior looks like … and my teacher-prep program spent one week in one class addressing classroom management, never addressing significant behavior issues that you most likely will encounter in the classroom. While my first school had major shortcomings, I am extremely grateful that it did offer me the training I needed to be effective with the most challenged and challenging kids. I hope your program serves you better than mine did but if not, I’m happy to share resources.)

Again, the impact this would have on your as a professional depends on your district. I am lucky to work in a district that prioritizes education, so even though my school had the highest eligibility for free and reduced meals in the state last year, you would not know it from looking at my school, which does a commendable job of extending the same opportunities to our students as would a school serving a middle-class community. Most of the enrichment and social services we provide is funded through our school budget or grant money. Sadly, this is not the case for most schools in the U.S. that serve low-income populations, which is why you often hear of teachers coming out of their pockets not only for their classroom supplies but for food and clothing for their students who would otherwise go without.

Part of my anger is because of this: because how have we failed as a nation if we cannot protect the basic needs and safety of children? Yet I have had children in my care for every moment of my career who have faced hardships that would have been the end of me.

And some of the anger you sensed is because one of the other realities of our profession that no one talks about in your teacher-prep classes is how despised our profession has become–and routinely and casually so–due to right-wing slander against educators. And for whatever reason, this rhetoric has been picked up by people across the political spectrum. This is Tumblr, so I’d be willing to wager that most of the people in the original thread I was responding to would identify with the left politically, yet are fully comfortable making claims that public educators medicate kids because they’re too lazy to deal with developmentally normal behaviors. Likewise, I have had progressive friends make disparaging comments about educators directly to me, thinking nothing of it because it’s become so commonplace to assume that teachers are stupid, incompetent, and lazy that they don’t even stop to think about what they’re saying long enough to consider their audience. (To wit, the saying “If you can’t do, teach,” which an online friend–again, an outspoken progressive–actually wrote to me when congratulating me for completing my certification, apparently never stopping to consider that I might find that sentiment insulting.) But, as I noted in my post last night, we are one of the only professions remaining with strong union membership, and this makes us a threat to big-money interests that would like to skim out of our pockets in the same way they have the U.S. people as a whole and are fighting with every ounce of their being to privatize and profit from the public right to a free and appropriate education for every child in the U.S. In addition, as I noted in the tags, we are the ones teaching kids inconvenient facts about their legal rights and democratic ideals and some of the less-rosy chapters of our nation’s history, which makes us a threat to certain groups who would far prefer an ignorant, frightened populace.

Anyway, as I noted at the beginning, I would not choose to do any other work, despite the frustrations and challenges. At the core of what I believe is the potential of all human beings to influence our world for the better, no matter the color of their skin or their gender identity or the amount of money in their parents’ bank accounts when they’re born, and so I feel compelled to do this work, to put my talents and energy to offering a leg up to kids who might otherwise slip through the cracks.

If I could offer advice to a teacher-in-training, it would be this: First of all, be aware and evaluative of the amount of training your are receiving in classroom management. I can’t speak for every teacher-prep program, but the ones I’m familiar with spend very little time on this even though classroom management is the top concern of new teachers and, in my experience, the biggest reason why new teachers leave the field. Although I know that adding one more thing is probably like adding gasoline to a wildfire at this point in your career, it really is worth pursuing information on this on your own, if your program is not meeting your needs. It will make your first job so much easier (and make you so much more confident to be able to handle the challenges I described–and projecting confidence is itself a good classroom management strategy, especially if you work with older kids). As I said, I’m happy to share resources. If you have a mentor, they can help here as well.

If at all possible, student-teach in a school that is similar to the schools where you think you’ll eventually work. Another shortcoming I find with the teacher-prep programs I’m familiar with is that they stick their student teachers into the cushiest, easiest middle-class schools before casting them into a job market where they will likely start in a low-income, high-need school with significant challenges.

Talk to teachers in districts and schools where you’re considering working and find out what the strengths and challenges are. What support do they offer new teachers? (Ideally, you’ll get a mentor for at least your first year.) How much support do they offer their teachers in general? Does the administration have your back, or are they going to abandon you the moment the going gets tough? How much control will you retain over what and how you teach? Classroom management? You should be able to make adjustments to meet your students’ needs and interests; this is best practice, and if a district or school is doing otherwise, run. Does the school/district favor a positive or punitive approach to classroom management? What does the district/school see as their priorities? (Growing the whole child or raising test scores? Relationships or rigor?) How much pressure is put on teachers around test scores? How will you be evaluated and what is the philosophy around evaluation? (Assuming everyone can always grow and improve or using evaluations to punish shortcomings and mistakes?) How supportive is the administration in terms of maintaining a healthy work-life balance? What resources will you be given? Will you have a budget for supplies? How much? Are the books, resources, and technology up to date? (Is there even technology? What is the ratio of students to devices actually available to use?) What opportunities are available in the school day for the arts? Do students have access to unstructured play and social time during the day? What resources does the school offer for kids and families in need of additional social services? Are there meals available for food-insecure kids? Counseling and mental health services? After-school programs? Or will you be buying breakfast every day for your homeroom rather than imagining them struggling through their morning on empty stomachs? Asking teachers and not administrators will help get some honest answers to these questions.

And please feel free to reach out to me at any time (and this goes for anyone thinking about or starting a teaching career!). I’m a mentor in my district and so trained to coach new teachers, and if I can offer any tips or resources then I’m happy to do so.

#teaching #education

[aworldwithroses]

This Week I Watched: “Black Panther”

After spending weeks in anticipation, I've finally got around to seeing Marvel's Black Panther, an innovative and fresh take on a tiring formula that's being pushed out by Marvel Studios. The film is a juggernaut at 700m at the time of editing this so you've probably already seen this film twice, statistically speaking. For those that haven’t though, or those interested in a review I want to take a look at why you should watch it if you haven't seen it yet.

              UPFRONT FEELINGS AND BIAS DISCLAIMER

As a mild disclaimer to emphasize where I am at emotionally and mentally walking into this movie, I should warn you all that I don't much care for superhero movies. I tend to watch them very passively and I don't really engage with the content beyond superficial thrills. Marvel’s films have a spectacular way of holding up on repeat viewings, but the fatigue in the over saturation of the genre might be a factor of my waning interest. That said, I am not one of those sticklers who can't acknowledge a good movie when I see one, just because it was a blockbuster.

              RYAN COOGLER AND RACHEL MORRISON 

Another point of personal bias but the one that I am most excited to talk about is director Ryan Coogler and his Director of Photography Rachel Morrison A.S.C. For those out of the know, this is Ryan Coogler's third feature and the biggest budgeted film the duo has handled. Ryan became known for his work on Fruitvale Station - also lensed by Morrison - and Creed, which earned Sylvester Stallone his first Oscar victory for his acting as the famous Rocky Balboa. Morrison herself is currently nominated for an Oscar at the time of writing this, for Mudbound - the first female cinematographer to be recognized in this category (which was long overdue, in my opinion).

As someone who is actively trying to make a sustainable living in the industry, there is an unspoken but beautiful thing that happens between a director and the DP. Ryan Coogler's most remarkable trait as a person and as a director is that he routinely hires crews he trusts for any size project. In a podcast, Rachel Morrison has mentioned that she never tackled a movie this size and there are a lot of skills she needed to learn as she went. Many directors tend to get locked in by studios and forced to work with unfamiliar crews to appease the production studios' concerns. Here, in a 200 million dollar film, Ryan Coogler was given an enormous amount of free reign in building his core team and I think it really shows as together, he and Morrison have crafted a visually distinct, wonderfully lensed, and compelling narrative for Marvel Studios and will go down in the upper echelon of catalogue Marvel has put out so far. Kudos to everyone and it's beautiful that Ryan Coogler seems to believe in the idea that a rising tide should lift all ships.

                                        Wakanda Forever!

The story, on top of being directed by him, is also co-written by Coogler. He's no stranger to co-writers but his influence is felt very strongly in many areas of the characterization and dialogue. Many of the scenes feel organic and while the limitations put forth by the fact that Black Panther must function as a cog in a giant narrative machine, he still manages to present many wonderful ideas, themes, and character traits. It's almost concerning to see these characters return in a future film that would be penned by someone else because Ryan Coogler seems to understand everyone so well.

Black Panther himself is a refreshing hero that is actually allowed to make mistakes. Without giving away too much, what makes him unique is not actually just his powers but the fact that he is in power of the most powerful and technologically advanced nation on Planet Earth. Ryan tackles themes of responsibility for people weaker than you in an exciting and inventive way, but also doesn't shy away from more inaccessible and difficult topics which have factored in various degrees of his previous work such as racism, classism, crafting one's own legacy away from the mistakes of parenthood, legacy, the importance of fatherhood and how detrimental that absence can be to a youth, as well as issues of poverty. He handles these themes with incredibly deftness and compassion, and remarkably, even manages to make a statement and represent opposing points of views in a way that feels human and non-condescending.

These themes really pick up after a light-hearted first act with the introduction of Erik Killmonger - a mercenary of mysterious origin with a serious bone to pick with T'Challa. Even when the movie has it's marvel-isms, such as a giant CGI action set piece toward the end, Black Panther once again manages to set itself aside once again by baking the thematic conflict deep into the narrative so even as we consume spectacle, we are interested and invested in the outcome in what is ultimately a battle of ideologies.

Perhaps most audaciously (since these films are about capturing the widest audience possible) Ryan Coogler manages to draw political parallels to all sorts of real issues being hotly debated. Issues such as isolationism, whether powerful nations have a responsibility to accept other countries' refugees, foreign policy, and race-centric ideologies such as Black Lives Matter and the actual Black Panther Movement. Coogler manages to make a statement that seems to emphasize the importance of compromise and compassion over debate and heated argument. It's amazing that in this political climate, Black Panther seems to have different readings depending on who you ask. The alt-right seems to believe that Black Panther is in support of their movement, while left-leaning people seem to think that it's a critique of the failure of right-wing policies. Either side believes that the film represents them against the other, and whether or not it does, it is an absolute testament to the sensitivity and thoughtfulness Ryan Coogler has for his entry into that debate. That is some serious skill as a writer and as a director and it's incredibly impressive that a message that could easily be divisive in lesser hands has become one of the most accessible superhero films.

                                                 Final Thoughts

Ryan really struts his stuff and while he and his relatively inexperienced core crew are faced with the daunting task of an incredibly large scale film in a juggernaut franchise, he manages to stand a cut above the rest in my opinion and remains a director to look out for whether his budget is 2 Hundred Thousand or 2 Hundred Million.

In an age where Superhero movies are a dime a dozen and it's virtually impossible to go to the movies without seeing advertisements for at least 3, Black Panther manages to be a shining gem in a fairly dull market. If you're already pre-disposed to the superhero genre, this will stand as an excellent entry into it. For those of you not into the genre, this film is still really worth your time. The worst it can be is entertaining and the best it could be is a profound meditation on interesting issues presented on a large scale. Even if it doesn't have the time to delve into those issues with depth, it gives it enough due diligence to be thought-provoking and interesting.

#Black Panther #Movie #Marvel #Studios #Comics #T'Challa #Ryan Coogler #Rachel Morrison #Beautiful #Review #Film #aworldwithroses #Themes #Storytelling #Cinematography #Directing #Filmmaking

[galleywinter]

Since you asked for anonymous comments, can I just say I was more disappointed than I thought I would be to see you support Rand Paul? Yikes. I want to be open minded (& am trying to understand because you seem pretty cool) but how can you support someone who is anti-choice & thinks that the Dept. of Ed should be eliminated? I personally like the idea of having gov't be less involved (like bathrooms AND weed, hello!) but it also has a role to play in protecting its less fortunate citizens.

Hey, Nonny! I’m going to assume this was actually sent in good faith (despite the “yikes!”) and that you’re really curious what I find politically attractive about Rand Paul’s stances. This got more than a little long, so there’s a cut. It may not show up on mobile since that’s been seriously weird with Read Mores on asks lately.

If you want the brief versions of some of his stances - which I do urge you to read regardless - here are some choice quotes on different issues.

Rand Paul on the War on DrugsRand Paul on CrimeRand Paul on Government ReformRand Paul on Education

The short answer to all of this is: He’s the candidate I agree with the most closely and the most often. That doesn’t mean he’s perfect or that we’re in total agreement on everything, but it does mean that I think he would have taken our country in a better direction with less federal oversight and more true equality for all of its citizens. (Also, since this is the topic that started the whole kerfluffle, you should check out his idea for healthcare reform that he was espousing back in January. It’s brilliant. I agree we need something done because everyone deserves to be healthy, but I don’t think the way Obamacare was implemented was the right way to go, and I certainly don’t think the GOP’s “reforms” were right - or moral - either. Also: FUN FACT - the GOP blocked Rand Paul from even seeing the reform bill as they were working on it.)

For the long, involved answer, let’s start with Rand’s opposition to the War on Drugs.

He has long been a very vocal opponent of the War on Drugs, citing reasons that actually address the fact that the War on Drugs has done nothing but assault the less fortunate. He’s on record as being against it because of disproportionate punishments for minorities:

“There is at least one prominent example of someone who says they smoked pot in high school, and yet the people going to jail for this are poor people, often African-Americans and often Hispanics, and yet the rich kids who use drugs aren’t. I think thewar on drugs has had a racial outcome, and really has been something that has damaged our inner cities. Not only do the drugs damage them, we damage them again by incarcerating them and then preventing them from getting employment over time.” (from the CNN Two-Tier 2015 GOP primary debate. Sourced from here along with other quotes from him on the issue.)

He’s on record as being against it because it isn’t working:

This is a video of him addressing Congress regarding the issue (it’s five minutes long, but well worth it). He does delve into the racial inequality of the outcome of the War on Drugs here as well.

That’s just two examples out of many. And when you consider he’s only been a Senator since 2010, the fact that the video above is from 2013 says a lot about how vocal he’s been against it and why.

And even Obama backs him on this and has called him out as a consistent supporter of minorities in this regard:

“As Republican senator and presidential candidate Rand Paul has said, to his credit he has been consistent on this issue, ‘imprisoning large numbers of non-violent drug offenders for long periods of time costs the taxpayers money without making them any safer.” From Obama’s address to the 106th NAACP National Convention in Philadelphia. source - video timestamped to start at the remark

Personally, I don’t smoke. Anything (nope, not even cigarettes). I’ve never had a desire to. I personally think a lot of drugs are actually super dangerous and have no desire to try any of them ever. So I have no dog in the hunt when it comes to “Yay weed!”. But the War on Drugs doesn’t work. It hasn’t worked. It won’t work. And I think we can all agree it’s been proven that both the War on Drugs and the criminal penalties associated with it have unfairly targeted minorities for far too long. Plus, when you have such strict criminal penalties in place for possession, it makes it hard, if not impossible, for anyone who wants to get clean to feel safe doing so. So I’m going to be behind a candidate who sees this, acknowledges that it’s broken and why, and then tries to fix it and, as you so aptly put it, “protects the less fortunate”.

Let’s piggyback from here to his support of minorities in their relations with police (as well as his stance on prison reform).

He helped author the REDEEM Act that would have completely overhauled the way the court dealt with non-violent juvenile offenders.

Rand Paul was a supporter of programs requiring police officers to wear body cameras in the wake of Ferguson.

He spoke out against the civil injustices in Ferguson even apart from the issues with the police force:

“I’ve supported legislation to allow body cameras. I’ve been to Ferguson. I’ve been trying to look for solutions to our criminal justice problem. One thing I discovered in Ferguson was that a third of the budget for the city was reaped by civil fines. People who were just being fined to death. Now, you and I, and many people in this audience, we get a hundred dollar fine, we can survive it. If you’re living on the edge of poverty, you get a hundred dollar fine or your car towed, a lot of times you lose your job.” source

He wants to do something about the higher rates of minority incarceration:

“There’s a racial outcome to this. I don’t think there’s a racial intention. But I tell people that I think they’re not looking if they don’t think that the incarceration problem in our country is not skewed towards one race. I don’t think it’s purposeful but I do think it is actual and it is real and we should do something about it.” source - (It’s a 30 minute talk, but worth it - he speaks against civil forfeiture and “mandatory minimums” for sentencing as well.)

Let’s piggy-back from here to the Department of Education issue. My mother is a former high school teacher and, frankly, the DoE is a hot mess. It’s thanks to the DoE that we have standardized testing and all the problems it has wrought. It’s thanks to the DoE that our schools are failing as hard as they are. The only answer the DoE has is to demand more money to be poured into schools. The problem is that that’s like putting a band-aid on an amputated limb (and it has been proven time and again that more money doesn’t actually fix the problems - even the DoE itself has admitted this). The DoE has, in fact, caused many of the issues that lead to minorities having poorer schools and a more difficult time getting quality education. The DoE may have started with good intentions, but it’s honestly become a cancer. I have a really hard time finding fault with the idea it needs to be dismantled.

I also want to talk about his strict defense of our privacy laws. Like his filibuster against the Patriot Act during the middle of the Presidential Campaign that he left the campaign trail to stage.

As for his being “anti-choice” - I’m going to lay it on the table for you, Nonny, and it’s about to get potentially very sticky: I’m pro-life, so his being pro-life isn’t a deal-breaker for me. That doesn’t mean I think Planned Parenthood should be shut down. I realize they perform lots of very vital health services for women, and I also realize abortion is legal, and I want any woman who has one to be safe. However, I don’t know that funding them on a governmental level is the best thing solely from a monetary perspective (stay with me, Nonny, I’m not going where you think I am). We’re already ridiculously in a fiscal hole, and a lot of the services PP provides are also available from sliding-scale county health clinics (and I’ve had to use those more than once myself), but they aren’t apparently as widely available everywhere else as they are in Texas? I’m not claiming to have the only answer on this one, but it’s also one that I’m a little more unsure of from a strict fiscal perspective. I want people to be safe and healthy, but I also want for my future grandkids to be raised without crippling national debt.

Also? He’s a good guy. He suspended his presidential campaign to go on his Doctors Without Borders trip, did so with no press announcement and no publicity, and does so regularly. He also regularly provides pro-bono optical surgery to people in the States.

#Galley gets political #The only post I'm making on the matter beause I'm going back to your regularly scheduled fandom trash and personal posts #Galley answers stuff #Anon of the Greyface

[omcik-blog]

New Post has been published on OmCik

New Post has been published on http://omcik.com/welfare-and-food-stamps-helped-this-homeless-single-mom-get-back-on-her-feet/

Welfare and food stamps helped this homeless single mom get back on her feet

by Ryan Prior   @CNNMoney May 5, 2017: 12:26 PM ET

Stephanie Land had next to nothing when she checked into a Port Townsend, Washington, homeless shelter with her baby daughter Mia almost nine years ago. Fleeing an abusive relationship, she had no family to turn to, no job and only about $200 to her name.

Over the next several years, Land relied on a system of federal benefits and tax credits, as well as assistance from non-profits and churches to build a new life. The patchwork of programs helped her pay for food, rent, child care, health care and eventually tuition — when she decided to pursue a bachelor’s degree at the University of Montana.

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“Without these programs,” Land said, “I would have probably lost custody of my daughter or would have been forced to live in a car somewhere.”

Related: CNNMoney readers save man from homelessness

A few months after checking into the homeless shelter, Land began taking online college courses. She paid for the courses using Pell Grants, student loans and the Women’s Independence Scholarship, which offers scholarships to survivors of domestic violence.

A couple of years later, she and her daughter moved into low-income housing in Missoula, Montana, where the University of Montana’s creative writing community seemed like a dream. But first, she had to take a year off school to establish residency so she could qualify for the cheaper in-state tuition.

To get by, Land cleaned houses. Her pay started at $8 an hour and gradually she earned a little more. “It is unaffordable to work for minimum wage. I spent so much time working for so little,” she said.

After paying for cleaning supplies and transportation to clients’ houses, Land would bring home $300 to $400 a month. She also had about $1,000 a month from her student loans. About $875 of that went toward rent for the two-bedroom apartment she and her daughter had moved into. Her other expenses — Internet, car insurance, cell phone service, gas and credit card debts — ate up much of the rest.

“We really didn’t have money for food at all,” Land said. So she turned to food stamps and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, known as WIC, to help buy the groceries each month.

For her, it was one of the most humiliating parts of being in poverty. “Everyone on welfare says buying groceries is horrible,” Land said. “You’re always being watched.”

The WIC checks she used were large and obvious so she often bought groceries late at night. “Even the cashier would grumble, and hated doing a WIC checkout,” she said.

Related: From shelter to startup: One Egyptian immigrant’s success story

The checkout process took much longer, leaving many disgruntled customers waiting behind her. “You’re welcome,” she recalled more than one customer snarling at her, as though they had personally paid for her family’s groceries.

The cost of childcare — at $650 a month — would have easily eclipsed her entire budget, but grants from the Child Care and Development Fund helped cushion the blow.

At times, she said, “it got really, really bad.” Desperate for even the smallest amount of aid to help pay a heating bill, she’d call every number she could. “You get really good at scrambling, relentless at finding programs.”

Even an unexpected bill for $10 could send her “over the edge,” she said.

So could taking a heavy course load at school.

Related: Once a boy from the Bronx, he now creates supersonic passenger planes

At one point, Land was taking a fairly full load of 15 credit hours per semester and her work hours dropped below the 20 hours per week required to qualify for food stamps.

“I lost my food benefits when I desperately needed them,” she said. “You make progress and then get pushed back, as though you are being put ‘in your place.'”

She felt the system made it nearly impossible to transition off welfare. Once one advanced toward the cusp of the poverty line, “you could gain $100 in income, and lose $500 in grants.”

This, she said, is where the perception of welfare recipients being lazy comes from. Leaders from across the political spectrum have also acknowledged this stigma, including President Obama, who said in a 2011 town hall, “I’ve seen it, where people weren’t encouraged to work, weren’t encouraged to upgrade their skills, were just getting a check, and over time their motivation started to diminish.”

Land said she wished her school credit hours could have been put toward welfare’s work requirement so that she could have still “earned” her benefits. In her eyes, getting a college education was helping her to become self-sufficient.

After six years of classes and struggling to get by, Land finally graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English in 2014. Her second daughter was born a month later. And she started writing. Her articles and essays have since appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, The Guardian and several other publications. Last year, an article she wrote for Vox about her time cleaning houses went viral. It later resulted in a book deal with Hachette Books.

The money she has earned enabled her to stop relying food stamps. At the time, she posted on Facebook: “I did it, guys. I wrote my way out of poverty.”

Land now brings in a steady income as a writer and can support herself and her children independently. She recently got married for the first time. And, she said, she and her husband are now looking to buy a home.

CNNMoney (New York) First published May 5, 2017: 12:26 PM ET

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