Posted by alexandra_k on August 5, 2013, at 0:10:10
In reply to Re: this community, posted by alexandra_k on August 3, 2013, at 23:27:49
i wrote a letter. to the ministry of social development. telling them about the 3 occasions this year i woke up to find a payment i'd been anticipating not having been deposited into my account. requesting that reasonable effort be taken to inform students (living off loan living payments) and beneficiaries (living off government payments generally) of cessation of payments in advance to payments ceasing.
i asked them how they would feel if they got one of those green cards they loaded money on to so you could buy food from evil supermarkets that sell over priced poison sprayed cold stored out of season sh*t. or trans-fats to meet ones calorie requirements. rather than being able to buy local produce from local farmers in the local farmers markets. i asked them how they would feel if their payment didn't come through and they needed to produce a letter from their landlord saying that they hadn't paid their rent. i asked them when the last time was that a government worker tried to live (honestly) off a welfare payment.
i think a minister did once. but maybe this is made up rumor distortion... i can't be bothered to look it up... he lasted a couple days. then his kid got sick. and he realized he couldn't afford to take her to the doctor. and he realized he wouldn't want her seeing that doctor anyway. so he cheated. that might have been part of the campaign to get free doctors for children under 5...
probably it will just bite me on the *ss. i said f*ck a lot. near the end. when i was asking them how they would feel. when i said that i appreciated it wasn't any of the particular peoples fault that i was talking to in my efforts to try and sort this out... but how frustrated and angry and desperate i felt... to not be able to meet basic needs of food. that bus drivers won't accept food cards. that i needed to bus to the library and the gym.
i just want to collapse. go to hospital and let some other bastard sort this out for me. but there isn't anyone. there isn't any sorting this out.
the people here... the people i'm living with... they would help me if i let 'em. but i won't let 'em. because then they will have power over me, you see. that is meant to be the thing about welfare... it is centralized. you don't have welfare at the discretion of individuals and their individual whims. you have centralization such that there can be prioritization and mechanisms in play for fairness and such. i thought things were supposed to be... in this country... such that you didn't have to stay with a partner who turned out to be physically or emotionally abusive. you could leave and know that you could still put healthy food on the table and have a physically and psychologically safe housing. you didn't have to be controlled by others. like... well... like people used to have to be. like most women are in fact all around the world.
but most people have ties. friends who will carry them when there are gaps (i've got myself a 3 week one though i don't know how studylink will be able to justify 1 of those weeks when pressured). but even if you have friends who WILL carry you... the point is that they shouldn't f*ck*ng have to. this is why we pay taxes for f*cks sake.
i need to get into the city... i can't rely on government payments so i need to max out the amount they will contribute for weeks in advance and bond so i have a little security with respect to eviction. hard to find a place that will take you on... since they know that work and income tends to do this and work and income requires a quote so it is impossible for you to rent without your landlord knowing you are with work and income (in which case typically the flat turns out to be taken).
this is a b*llsh*t system.
b*llsh*t.
i worry that i'm going to go spastic and f*ck*ng thump someone.
poster:alexandra_k
thread:1045365
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20130612/msgs/1048301.html