Reply #30: Well, everybody deals with the situation they have. I am the first one to admit I am

[CTyankee]

fortunate to have what I have. But that still doesn't mean that you can't basically look at what you have coming in versus what you spend and that's all budgeting is. The reality of Americans who are bankrupted by medical bills is one of the reasons I am a liberal Democrat who wants to change things in this country. Anybody COULD be in that position; I know I could. That's why I post on DU.

My reference to "liberating" was meant this way: some people, including me for a long time, simply can't bear to look at their income vs. expenses. They are, as I was, afraid of what they'll find. But what I expected and what actually happened surprised me. I found places where I could exercise discretion and did so. If that is a crime, well, then I guess I'm guilty.

I don't excoriate the poor for being poor like Republicans do. The people I have worked with at Literacy Volunteers are almost all poor and they don't speak English. Financial literacy is a major part of our ESOL curriculum. We help new immigrants learn life skills such as opening a bank account, signing a lease, getting the government benefits they are entitled to, avoiding scams, etc. We are enthusiastic partners with an initiative in New Haven with municipal ID cards, enabling people who are in a cash economy (and thus at risk for robbery and/or assault) to have a mechanism most of us take for granted: opening a bank account. I believe such groundbreaking initiatives are enlightened, progressive efforts that will ultimately help the desperately poor who nonetheless work incredibly hard. One group I have worked with are refugees who have escaped some of the most godawful places in the world and I am stunned by the grace that they exhibit under terrible circumstances.

After I am fully recovered from a lengthy illness, I will again resume my work with LV, hopefully helping people with their citizenship test.

This is how I am trying to change things in my own community. And you?