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Hello, all.<br>
<br>
Thought you might be interested in my response to the email below,
which has being circulated widely the past couple weeks. Please scroll
down and read the original message, then scroll up and read my response.<br>
<br>
Best,<br>
<br>
Paul<br>
<br>
-------- Original Message --------
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<th align="right" nowrap="nowrap" valign="baseline">Subject: </th>
<td>Re: AMEN!!!!!!!</td>
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<th align="right" nowrap="nowrap" valign="baseline">Date: </th>
<td>Mon, 15 Mar 2010 10:21:11 -0400</td>
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<th align="right" nowrap="nowrap" valign="baseline">From: </th>
<td>Paul C. Gorski <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:gorski@edchange.org"><gorski@edchange.org></a></td>
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<th align="right" nowrap="nowrap" valign="baseline">To: </th>
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<th align="right" nowrap="nowrap" valign="baseline">CC: </th>
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<th align="right" nowrap="nowrap" valign="baseline">References: </th>
<td><a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:723da9e31003150644n128e17d1t6fc97e83c7784c53@mail.gmail.com"><723da9e31003150644n128e17d1t6fc97e83c7784c53@mail.gmail.com></a></td>
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Hmm...<br>
<br>
Problem is, a vast, vast majority of poor people who are on welfare do
not and never have done drugs. Drugs and alcohol are a much, much
bigger issue among wealthy people than among poor peole. This sort of
argument is part of a larger process of demonizing poor people, as if
they are the problem rather than the victims of the problem: lack of
access to healthcare, lack of access to equitable educational
opportunities, lack of access to safe and affordable housing, and
perhaps most importantly, lack of access to living wage jobs. These are
the kinds of non-contoured stories we tell so that we always set
ourselves up as morally and ethically superior, despite the fact that
we live in the wealthiest country in the world and still have people
who aren't paid a fair wage, who don't have access to healthcare, who
are homeless and hungry. We do this because we're trained always to
look down the socioeconomic hierarchy to explain society's problems
rather than up it, because the easiest targets are those who are most
powerless to respond. <br>
<br>
A majority of my relatives on my mom's side of my family grew up
extremely poor in Appalachia, in the Maryland mountains where Maryland
and West Virginia meet. The men, for generations, had two options: the
coal mines, where they were nearly certain to die of black lung after
working 12 hour shifts for awful wages, or the military. Their schools
were terrible. Their public services were terrible. They were paying
taxes, just like people in urban and suburban areas of Maryland, even
while they did not have indoor plumbing and other basic services people
just an hour away from them took for granted. So I learned from a young
age that meritocracy is a myth. These relatives of mine worked harder
in a day than most people with college degrees work in an average week.
And what did they get for it? Outhouses, poor schooling, unpaved roads,
and horrible health care.<br>
<br>
No, I do not think they should be given a urine test. I think all the
people who ever got electricity using the coal that they mined ought to
have to spend a week in those mines, coughing up soot. I think their
kids should have to spend five years in those under-funded and
dilapidated schools, then see how they do on the SAT test. <br>
<br>
And if we're going to test, let's test all the wealthy bankers who have
helped to screw up the US economy, for alcohol and drug use. Let's put
a moral measuring stick against their lives and careers. After all,
their immoral behavior costs the US, and each of us, way, way, <i>way </i>more
than what the U.S. spends on welfare programs. <br>
<br>
Paul<br>
<br>
Heather Silver wrote:
<blockquote
cite="mid:723da9e31003150644n128e17d1t6fc97e83c7784c53@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">
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<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Courier New" size="4"><span
style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'Courier New';"> This makes so
much f'ing sense...!!!!! This is something I would lobby on. </span></font></p>
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style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></font></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><strong><b><font face="Times New Roman"
size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">LIFE IS NOT A DRESS REHEARSAL.</span></font></b></strong></p>
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</span></font><strong><b><font color="black"
face="Tahoma" size="2"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; font-family: Tahoma;">THIS IS
THE BEST IDEA I HAVE HEARD IN A LONG TIME!!!!!</span></font></b></strong><br>
<font face="Arial"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br>
</span></font></p>
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<p
class="MsoNormal"><b><font face="Arial" size="2"><span
style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">Like
most folks in this country, I have a job. I </span></font></b><font
size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><img
alt="cid:3CD5E9E35B0741E8BD50845AEF2FCC61@hsz7y81"
src="cid:part1.00090301.09030905@edchange.org" height="135" width="132"></span></font><b><font
face="Arial" size="2"><span
style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">work,
they pay me.</span></font></b></p>
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style="margin-bottom: 12pt;">
<p
class="MsoNormal"><b><font face="Arial" size="2"><span
style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;"> </span></font></b><font
size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><img
alt="cid:983ED2969DCD4E6A804C2D8D679AA798@hsz7y81"
src="cid:part2.03050909.00030604@edchange.org" height="70" width="40"></span></font><b><font
face="Arial" size="2"><span
style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">I pay
my taxes & the government distributes my taxes </span></font></b><font
size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><img
alt="cid:7BF1523EDF1C4ADFAA83406A80266DA8@hsz7y81"
src="cid:part3.04090308.04060802@edchange.org" height="182" width="130"></span></font><b><font
face="Arial" size="2"><span
style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">as it
sees </span></font></b><font size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><img
alt="cid:CEC7AF54970A4C4B89E9AC02CD04E2D4@hsz7y81"
src="cid:part4.08020002.03030300@edchange.org" height="50" width="100"></span></font><b><font
face="Arial" size="2"><span
style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">fit. </span></font></b><font
size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><br>
<br>
</span></font><b><font
face="Arial" size="2"><span
style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">In
order to get that paycheck, in my case, I am required to pass a random
urine </span></font></b><font size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><img
alt="cid:D6E19B1794D14DBFA938BE5451E794D8@hsz7y81"
src="cid:part1.00090301.09030905@edchange.org" height="85" width="110"></span></font><b><font
face="Arial" size="2"><span
style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">test
(with which I have no problem). </span></font></b><font size="2"><span
style="font-size: 10pt;"><img
alt="cid:E4DF4C92B0054B7CA9B672668C79E1F2@hsz7y81"
src="cid:part2.03050909.00030604@edchange.org" height="32" width="32"></span></font></p>
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style="margin-bottom: 12pt;">
<p
class="MsoNormal"><b><font face="Arial" size="2"><span
style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">What I
do have a problem with is the distribution of my taxes to people who
don't have to pass a urine test. </span></font></b></p>
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<p
class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span
style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></font></p>
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</div>
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style="margin-bottom: 12pt;">
<p
class="MsoNormal"><b><font face="Arial" size="2"><span
style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">So,
here is my question: Shouldn't one have to pass a urine test to get a
welfare check because I have to pass one to earn it for them? </span></font></b></p>
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<p
class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span
style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></font></p>
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style="margin-bottom: 12pt;">
<p
class="MsoNormal"><b><font face="Arial" size="2"><span
style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">Please
understand, I have no problem with helping people get back on their
feet. I do, on the other hand, have a problem with helping someone
sitting on their BUTT----doing drugs </span></font></b><font size="2"><span
style="font-size: 10pt;"><img
alt="cid:92DF77361CE24455A0E98282E7694791@hsz7y81"
src="cid:part3.04090308.04060802@edchange.org" height="100" width="50"></span></font><b><font
face="Arial" size="2"><span
style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">while
I work. </span></font></b></p>
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<p
class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span
style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></font></p>
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<div
style="margin-bottom: 12pt;">
<p
class="MsoNormal"><b><font face="Arial" size="2"><span
style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">Can
you imagine how much money </span></font></b><font size="2"><span
style="font-size: 10pt;"><img
alt="cid:EBF7780FC63D4A81B8560740FCE0CAF5@hsz7y81"
src="cid:part4.08020002.03030300@edchange.org" height="89" width="150"></span></font><b><font
face="Arial" size="2"><span
style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">each
state would save if people had to pass a urine test to get a public
assistance check? </span></font></b></p>
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class="MsoNormal"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span
style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></font></p>
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<p
class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><b><font face="Arial"
size="2"><span
style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">I
guess we could call the program <font color="red"><span
style="color: red;">"URINE OR YOU'RE OUT"!</span></font><font
color="#804040"><span style="color: rgb(128, 64, 64);"> </span></font></span></font></b></p>
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<p
class="MsoNormal"><b><font face="Arial" size="2"><span
style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">Pass
this along if you agree or simply delete if you don't. Hope you all
will pass it along, though. Something has to change in this country -
AND SOON! </span></font></b><font size="2"><span
style="font-size: 10pt;"><br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
</span></font><b><font
face="Arial" size="2"><span
style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">P.S.
Just a thought, all politicians </span></font></b><font size="2"><span
style="font-size: 10pt;"><img
alt="cid:3E750DC01B6047C6A31FC8A3F1E383D9@hsz7y81"
src="cid:part9.07000008.04000406@edchange.org" height="142" width="139"></span></font><b><font
face="Arial" size="2"><span
style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial;">should
have to pass a urine test too!</span></font></b><font size="2"><span
style="font-size: 10pt;"> </span></font></p>
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