Wealthiest Americans say the poor have it easy

[RobinA]

96. I Think It Is Ignorance

I have worked with people receiving government benefits for years, as I am a social worker. The average person really doesn't know what the score is when it comes to welfare benefits. I encounter the most ridiculous beliefs, even among my family. I have had people argue with me - A PERSON WHO WORKS WITH GOVERNMENT BENFITS FOR A LIVING - and insist things that are flat untrue. They won't take "that doesn't happen" for an answer. One person insists that poor people get government provided cable TV. Now, maybe there is a state out there who provides this (I doubt it) but this is NOT the case in the state where we both live. Then there's the issue made when somebody poor has a cell phone. I try to explain that they don't have a landline, that they buy minutes when they can, and that you can't get a job without a phone. I also point out that they have a cheap-ass flip phone.

Worst is the insistence that the government provides gold plated health benefits. No. Just...NO. Those stories always involve - "My friend's brother..." or "My friend's sister's cousin..." Kinda like the person somebody knows who knows somebody who never worked a day, but retired to the Cote d'Azure on SS disability. It doesn't happen, people!