McMusing: What Just Happened?
When Decisions Made by Those Who are Not Impacted by Them.
The following is a somewhat expanded version of a Facebook post on Wednesday. I also addressed this topic in September in the McMusing, Let’s Talk Policies.
Last night when the expected news arrived that over half of our nation's leaders decided to make cuts to the programs that serve the most vulnerable in our nation, I spent some time considering how government programs have helped members of my extended family and friends through difficult life circumstances. This is the intent of these programs.
I also know that there is waste and sometimes corruption—sometimes—and that all government agencies could do better. There is not a single human endeavor that could not be done better. In this situation, legislators have chosen to punish the vulnerable for their own lack of ability to work together to find solutions. When family budgets get out of control it is far better to sit down and work out solutions vs. cutting the food budget for the children.
I wondered if those legislators agreed that part of the solution to the nation's debt problem was to cut funds to Medicaid and SNAP (once known as food stamps) had ever needed them. Maybe so. Maybe not. They certainly are not currently dependent on these programs they voted to cut or they wouldn't have made that choice. To blame the poor for being poor requires a level of security in one's own financial situation. This primes the pump for judgment. Listening to stories is informative. The causes of poverty are complex and financial security can turn on a dime. This I understand.
Maybe not a good illustration of the feeling, but in my fifty years of employment when those who made the highest salaries worked on the budget and made "necessary" budget cuts, the choices rarely—maybe never—impacted them. They didn't lose their support staff, have hours cut, or take a cut in pay. They almost always made the life and work of those under them more difficult while not inconveniencing themselves.
This current situation is similar, and also strangely different, because the legislators from the states that have the highest use of these programs are the ones who voted against them. I am not in one of those states but if I were, this would feel like betrayal. The seeds of betrayal trauma are being tossed out across our nation and sadly for those who already believed no one cared about them, this belief is being confirmed.
So, what is a solution? We must accept that the solutions for the growing number of those living under the poverty line are not going to come out of D.C. in the foreseeable future. Nonprofits are going to need everyone to begin or increase their donations. Churches are going to need to ramp up their food pantries. Those who are able will need to roll up their sleeves, find someone who is being impacted, and do something to help them.
As Christians, to be who we claim to be in a hurting world, we will need to set aside the embedded bias that I have personally had to overcome. It is NOT TRUE that people are poor because of their bad choices and if they make better choices they wouldn't be poor anymore. So much judgment and harm in that belief. I was there for most of my life--regrettably.
I had to work hard to understand the impact of trauma and the systems that trap people in poverty. Many of the programs trying to help people disentangle themselves from generational poverty are being decimated. No one gets out of a deep pit without assistance. The solution is not to cut the assistance but to improve how that assistance is offered.
Finally, it is not up to us to decide who deserves help. It is up to us to provide help while being curious about why people need help in the first place. Then we can go upstream and solve those systemic problems that trap people in cycles of poverty. The answers are far more complex than I could have ever imagined.
“There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river.
We need to go upstream and find out why they’re falling in.”
—Desmond Tutu—
Also . . .
I honor Rep. Thomas Massie, R-KY, the lone Republican who did not vote in favor of the resolution. The courage it takes to do that is remarkable. This McMusing, How Power Works, addresses the following questions, “Why would someone risk everything they have worked hard to gain? Why would someone refuse to back down when power arrives at the door with a bulldozer?”
I also addressed power dynamics in the McMusing, The Misuse of Power.