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    DanCopelandHamilton Nolan
    5/05/15 3:18pm

    I know it’s been pointed out endlessly, but it bears repeating: pulling oneself up by one’s bootstraps is literally about accomplishing an impossible task.

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      The Gray AdderDanCopeland
      5/05/15 3:50pm

      Especially when the powers that be decide that monies spent on bootstrap programs (yes, these did exist at one time) would be better spent elsewhere, like giving the “job creators” another tax cut.

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      serendous sDanCopeland
      5/05/15 4:52pm

      Made more impossible by the fact that, for all this blathering about bootstraps, pols are more likely to push bills to cut funding and ‘punish’ people for being poor rather than funding real job and educational programs or restructuring the benefits system so that it’s easier to gradually come off of benefits.

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    paradocsHamilton Nolan
    5/05/15 3:23pm

    The people who should read these stories are the people who simply don’t give a fuck, and won’t ever read them. They completely lack empathy.

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      idk, my bff roseparadocs
      5/05/15 4:36pm

      My favorite is when they justify being heartless assholes because they (or their parents or grandparents or second cousin) have a motivational “worked my ass off” personal anecdote. like, good for you, but that doesn’t negate the real struggles of everyone else.

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    Laura Ingalls Gone WilderHamilton Nolan
    5/05/15 3:29pm

    Parents of disabled children have it so hard. There are so many expenses related to disabilities, but often parents need to stay under a certain income bracket to qualify for public benefits. It’s absolutely unacceptable that there isn’t better policy to serve these families. Plus, a lot of the policies that do exist don’t account for the fact that disabled children turn into disabled adults, who often continue living with their parents after age 18.

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      filmgirlHamilton Nolan
      5/05/15 3:41pm

      So much for the “American Dream”, these stories are just depressing.

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        BurrrrrrrrrrnHamilton Nolan
        5/05/15 3:27pm

        I don’t see how this can change without violence. Someone explain to me how the people running a system totally controlled by wealth would ever voluntarily give up power? The people who need help can never, ever change things. They are voiceless forever as long as the people who don’t need help control everything.

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