If It Isn't One Thing...

The water pump for the well has stopped again. This is the 4th time it has happened since we moved here. Days like these make me want to run away. I'd probably walk, because the tire is still flat. I hope we will be able to get that fixed today.
As frustrating as I find the state of events here, I don't really have a choice to just sit down and quit. There is just too much that still has to be done. I still have to keep trying to get that pump started, no matter how much animosity I have in my heart right now at the fact, that even though I have called time after time, there isn't anyone who will help.
I have always reached out to people that I knew were struggling. In fact I did it to the point of being broke myself so that others could have what they needed. Over and over again, and now I'm here and where is anybody I've helped out? Unavailable. This is just distressing.

Some Tuesday Math

The Consumer Price Index is out today. Sometimes I wonder why I pay attention to it.
To me, it is a gross misrepresentation of progress or growth. The machines control the parameters, and all the systems that are attached (every corporation that is publicly traded) respond to bring their numbers into alignment with the system guidelines.
But the system isn't being measured, our spending gets measured in comparison to the system, and that gets called growth. In fact, the index only takes into account 29% of the population, who have jobs and are making enough to be able to afford a little more than the middle class. It doesn't matter that we are starving out here, and that the percentages of increase means that there is less we have to spend on our needs. The machines label that growth. I label it disaster.
If you are paying attention, then you start to realize, that this isn't going to stop anytime soon, because there aren't any brakes to slow down the machines. Only systems of algorithms pushing it further and further ahead. If the production is 100%, it doesn't matter that they are selling half of what they were last year, because they have adjusted prices, and if you are really paying attention, they have also adjusted the sizes of what they are selling and switched to using less or inexpensive materials. This allows profits to remain steady.
I wonder many days, how long the system can stress? How long can they float these numbers over everyone's heads and keep making them all think that it will be okay? This system is siphoning money out of the lower classes at the same rates they are calling growth. Only they are using the rich people to skew the numbers lower so that it looks like everybody is only spending just a little bit more. That is such a bold faced, lying mask. But it's working. Nobody seems to have figured it out yet. People supporting political parties are marching out those numbers using them proof of a positive recovery. It is all lies and games. Only they know it.
They have been hoarding and stocking away resources all year. The people who know that this is a sham, they are preparing. The purchase orders are all over the web. Construction, ammunition, bulk food buyouts. They are preparing for the system to rupture and they are still telling us to our faces that it's good. Things are a little tough, but they'll get better.
Here is what I can't figure out, if their numbers keep going up, and ours don't, how long will it be before their numbers stop increasing?

Sunday kinda slow

Still haven't gotten that wheel fixed. Don't know how long this is going to take now. Being dependent on other people, means that nothing gets done when I want it to, but only when someone else comes along to help out. That's not as often as you think either.
I don't know why somebody would actually think that all of us want to be dependent on somebody else. While at the same time that person will say that the people who complain about the 1%, just want to be rich.
Now, if the only way for me to get to be dependent on someone (Uncle Sam in this case) is to be flat phukin broke, then how do you accuse me of just wanting to be rich? If those two scenarios are true simultaneously, then I am really bad at getting what I want. Of course, there are some people who want to live their lives in poverty. I am not one of them. I'm used to it, mind you, but I don't like it.
I saw this today, and I looked at it for a while. I was tempted to list a product from each brand that I regularly use, and add up to see how much each company is getting from me. What is the use though? It isn't like I buy a whole lot of those brands these days, I stick to generics and lower prices. Even that stuff is a rip off. I buy from a "discount" grocery store. I shop there because the food is less expensive for one, and I have to feed the whole family. The food is poorer quality though. "Fresh" vegetables are at the very end of their peak. If I buy something and it stays a day too long in the fridge, I wasted money. That is also the reason people who are poor in this country stick to pre-packaged foods. That takes me back to that list. If people who are poor are buying the brands that are controlled by only a few companies, and they are making huge profits, it is because of the poor people who purchase those things. So shove your argument about me being dependent on the "haves" for the lack that I do possess. The reason they are rich is because of us. They have marketed to us, addicted us, and then drained the life out of us. They are obviously, dependent on us, so No, I don't want to be rich.

It's The Little Things That Take Us Down

Sooo, we have a flat tire on our car. We don't even know how we got it. But, it is flat just the same. We live in a place where we don't know any people who live here. We have a little access to money, but now how do we get where we need to go? The nearest town is over 5 miles away, and the store to get a plug for it, is a few miles further.
You know, there was a time in my life when these problems would not have stopped me from doing anything, but today, this stopped me from doing everything. I was supposed to go shopping, and get food for the next week. We aren't out yet, because we did a couple "leftover" nights, so nothing will get critical for a few days. We are out of dog and cat food. But I can cook rice for them and add some leftovers to it, they'll love it.
A few years ago, if something like this happened I could call any of my friends and they would be right there. Since I just moved here, and haven't had the money to get out anywhere, I haven't met anybody, at all. No worries, I have facebook. Well that does fix the human conversational need, but the physical ones are glaring at me from the driveway right now.
We have been working to get a meeting together with some people to see about a some projects that could generate funding, and they finally were all able to get together tomorrow. Guess who asked for the meeting and can't get there now? I don't think they have skype, because I really did consider it. Now I had to embarrass myself because I can't get there, and had to expose the vulnerability of being helpless to people that I want to trust me and can show that I can handle things. I suppose I can take it as the universe trying to see how bad I want this, or stop me all together. All I know is not having access to resources makes life harder. We have to spend more energy finding solutions to otherwise pretty simple problems.
"Change the tire" you say? "Don't you have spare?"
Funny story, we did have a spare. We had a flat a few months back, when money started getting tight. A friend of ours cam and helped us change it because we didn't have a jack. I was all for putting the tire back underneath the truck. But dude was like "No, leave it out there and go get your tire fixed and then put it back on the car." And I was like "Oh your right, cuz I would forget it under there." We leaned the tire up against the wall of the house. Someone stole it.
I think that while there is an equal and opposite reaction to every action, we would be really naive to not understand that there are also a myriad of other responses to every stimulus.
I have some things to put together for a meeting I'm going to try and get to tomorrow. Wish me luck.

Why So Quiet?

Yesterday, I read this article here right after I had published my first post. I wondered a little at the synchronicity of it and figured at the very least there are other people out there who think the way I do.
Nobody really addresses the issues of poverty. Why not? It feels like others look at us as a disease that they'll catch if they stand too close.
I wonder how many more people will have to join the ranks of the poor before there are enough of us that we collectively announce our existence? There are already at least 46 million of us. Those are the official statistics, but since I know my family didn't even receive a census form, and neither did many others I know, I am sure the numbers are even higher.  See, they can only count people who can participate in the system and be recorded somehow. People who don't have any source of track-able income and don't receive any assistance aren't counted.
For instance in the "Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in The United States: 2011" report put out by the Census Bureau, there is a chart showing the levels of poverty in 1959. I find that a little laughable considering there was less of a population then than now, and so many people in this country who weren't counted, couldn't be, or were ignored, that the circumstances don't compare. That 23% poverty in 1959 works out to about 41 million people. There are 46 million poor in our economy today at a low 15%. I guess whatever angle tells your story.
Helping the poor isn't easy, but if people are going to believe lies about us, we aren't going to get anywhere.
When people do talk about the poor, it is very often to make fun of them and promote stereotypes that support political agendas. There have been a lot of social networking sites talking about things like supporting the Republican candidate if you are irritated by people with food stamps and iPhones, or tired of seeing people with food stamps with carts full of food and buying beer, or wearing nice clothes. You name it, people are vile over the issue of what they believe the proper place of poor people is in this society.
These same people are the ones who are also a paycheck away from my situation. 37% of the population lives paycheck to paycheck. That is over 100 million people. Twice as many as who are already poor. Something about glass houses?
Speaking of houses. I think it can only be seen as some sort of punishment, for not being able to participate in an economy that screwed us in the first place, to deny us the right to housing in this country. Every single last one of us. It is a lie that societies just should have homeless. The truth is, the control of every resource and shelter by other people has made it impossible to address the needs and responsibility of a society toward it's poor and homeless. There is always the issues of space and money and restrictions. There aren't proactive solutions to the problems, there are only negative defenses being offered. If a policy is made in a community that there should be shelter, then that would be a benefit for everyone there. The crime of breaking in somewhere just to be sheltered from the cold or dark or sun, would be down to very low levels. The would mean less cases in court, insurance claims and use of public officers to respond to calls and complaints. That is money bled out of people, that could be reduced by good community management.
In addition to providing housing, communities who provided land for gardens would reduce the need for expenditures on food stamps. People who are fed healthy food get sick less often. They are less of a burden on charity food sources who are reporting record turn outs lately.
My point is, there are solutions to these real issues out there, so, let's talk about them?

Breaking My Silence

We aren't supposed to bring it up in polite company, so I don't. But the people I hang out with, know all too well the intricacies of being poor. Not just, "I can't buy a new car," poor, but I can't fix the busted old piece of shit that I own, broke.  
Being poor in this country is largely misunderstood, over stereo-typed and generally ignored. If you are poor, the public seems to exhibit this stance that you somehow don't count. The sad part is that millions of us buy that, and we act like it too. 
I am willing to share my (our) story because, I do tons of reading about our world conditions, and I see how hard it is in my own home. I see how more each day, people are discovering that everything isn't okay, that they, like me, feel almost powerless to make any change. 
Our family has been without any formal, pay our taxes income, for almost 3 months and the jobs we had before that, didn't pay enough to meet half our bills. 
Our rent in our last residence was 1350 a month and the other bills were: water 65/mo, electric and gas 135/mo, cable, internet and phone 140/mo, car payment 200/mo, insurance 75/mo. That came to 1965, not too bad, but our payments were never due when our money came in. So all those bills also had late fees or reconnect fees with them. Those fees came to about 300 a month. We called and tried to make arrangements every time. They said no. Why would they say yes? They are making money off of my inability to get money by a certain date. All they had to do was let the clock go by and set my due date for a day that meant extra money for them every month. Our income was collectively 2900/mo. So, we had around 600 left for consumables. 
We eat a lot of vegetables and beans, and we grow our greens and root veggies. We cook most of our food from scratch and have found that buying ingredients for those meals is less expensive in the long run than buying fast food, or pre-made and frozen meals. After buying household essentials and gas, for the month we had around 400 for food. Some months we would buy a bunch of things at once and then keep back money for essentials, and some months we made smaller purchases every week. 
Now,we are out of work, and we are fortunate enough to live in a place where we are given room and board and electric. We are on food stamps for the two kids I have who are eligible. That's 660/mo. It is actually more than we had available for food before we moved, so with aware planning we can meet all our diet requirements.
The place has a well for water, with a finicky jet pump that drops pressure suddenly occasionally. It usually takes about 3 days to get that straightened around with everybody going around being really grumpy and unkempt. We don't have a hot water heater so all the showers are well-water cold. It's not bad yet, but I grew up with a well, and it isn't winter here yet. 
There is a propane tank for cooking fuel that is at about 25% and luckily we don't use too much gas.  
We are 3 months behind on the car payments. It has a bad mass air flow sensor and has a habit of stalling out when the tank is low. That happens constantly because the car gets 15mpg and gas is over 4 dollars per gallon. We don't go anywhere besides the grocery store and sometimes, the kids get a ride to or from the bus stop. 

There is a long evolution to where we are right now, and my aim at revealing all of it in this blog is to show others like me that it isn't their fault that they are where they are. They aren't powerless to help themselves, and more importantly that we can also help each other. 
I will be looking for and sharing information about poverty in this country, as well as around the world. I am an avid researcher for my own interests. I realized that if I wanted to understand a thing, I had to look at a large amount of information that related to it. May sound simple, but there is an abundance of bad and illogical information out there, and swimming through it take patience and a desire to figure it out. 
I hope that you find this blog entertaining and interesting. I have a critical view of our society today, and I like to look at alternative possibilities for solutions to our problems. 
I know I haven't figured it out yet, because I am writing a blog from the perspective of poverty. I know that some people will read this and think really judgmental things about stuff I say. That's cool, I don't mind. You're having your experience, and I am having mine, and I'm putting it out there, and I will never expect everyone to love it.