The "poor" make their choice

Some exceptions, but most actively choose

Published on March 9, 2004 By Dynosoar In Politics

This is my observation after 15 years making a comfortable living off of the poor.

I have to confess, I am a "Affordable Housing Provider", with monies I made selling, financing, and repossessing cars, I bought Real Estate. Not fantastic mansions, but 800 to 1200 sq ft houses, a couple of duplexes, and 1 small apartment building ( 6 units). I do not participate in Title 8, or any other government subsidy program. Those programs provide me with plenty of people who do not qualify for anyone else, 'cept me. It's quite simple, and with the exception of houses that need major repairs ( due to tennent damage ) I keep my rentals full. This is a "high risk, high return" game.

My average tennent is unmarried, 2 children, and receives on average a net of $2000.00 per month in income !!! This income is derived from AFDC, SSI, Child Support. They are typically enrolled at Community Col, have free daycare, and have the nicest nails and hair you'd ever want to see. This doesn't include the windfall in the spring when "Tax Season" begins, our government has created the Earned Income Credit, (which I really believe is veiled reparations), if my renter has held any job and earned at least $2000.00 in the past year, the average refund of my renters has been $3500 !!!!!!!

This cash is what runs the economy of my area. Our chamber of commerce has stated that the 1st qtr of the year( tax time ), has
surpassed the Christmas season in spending....

So, my renters, to collect my rent is like pulling teeth, I have to personally vist every one every month. Then I get to see how much the boyfriends have torn up, I get to see the big screen TV's, stereos, Sat dishes, new furniture, and the bills stacked up in the kitchen. Oh, forgot to mention the cars with new tags in the yard.

The cars, heh, I used to tell my car customers at closing to always remember " you can sleep in the car, but you can't drive that house ", I'm eating those words now. Seems everything comes before the rent, Hair, Nails, CD's, rims, clothes, goodness, the clothes. I had a renter to skip out, we locked down the house so she couldn't return, and she never did ( tried to sue me, but never returned) The House was left in such a mess, it was a 3 bedroom but we threw out over 10 mattresses, a DUMPSTER full of clothes( no, none of this was fit to donate ) They had kindly burned holes with an iron into the carpet of every room....She was 3 months behind and had been in the house for only 4 months....oh well.

I rent a house to a family who had worked hard to buy a house, and then just gave it up. The maintanance was killing them, when the toilet clogged up there was no one to pay for the repair......No one to cut the grass, or paint the shutters.......I bought that house out of foreclosure for about half of the balance they owed, spent $2000 on repairs, and rented it back to them. They're happy now? I find that it is culturally ingrained in the "poor" of this area to work the system, it offers a comfortable life, without having to try hard at all.

They receive a fantastic education from their churches who teach accessing those benefits ( along with the need to tithe...), the social services assist them with everything but an enviroment for a Nuclear Family.
Women run this entire operation, "poor" men in this area are devalued to the extreme, if they are caught in the Housing Authority the woman can lose all of her benefits, they are constantly brought to court for child support, and subsequently locked up for non-payment ( but the mother of the baby has to keep having children to maintain her lifestyle ) We have over 9% unemployment in this area, there is no job out there, yet the men have to stay on the fringe of this culture for the survival of the mothers and children........Hey, I didn't create the system, I just live off of it.

Comments (Page 2)

Lunaticus Minimus

on Mar 09, 2004

Why are we so worried that Poor man A) might be offended because we call poor man

A complete total loser not worth the oxygen they steal from the atmosphere?

Please, Santa..for next chrismas, bring the world thicker skins.

Lunaticus Minimus

on Mar 09, 2004

Jeebus, all I did was press a freakin key and got a double post LMAO..ANyways, ahem..'cuse me.

Hey, dynosoar..You see the same kinda places that I do daily. Thumbs up for admitting things are screwed up..but working.

Dynosoar

on Mar 09, 2004

Jeb,
I comment on the majority in my little world here in Eastern NC, I opin that this area is no different than most, as demonstrated daily in every community.
I do not judge them. Hell, they're probably happier than I am.
That's all this country promises anyone, the pursuit of happiness, they just found theirs at taxpayer expense.
I often tell people the only government monies I'll ever get are from other people

messybuu

on Mar 09, 2004

It's ironic that poor people are happily screwing the system and screwing others yet there are individuals still out there acting as though they are the victims of the people they screw over.

Dynosoar

on Mar 09, 2004

Super,
Heh, I'm glad the system is there, I'm happy, they seem happy.
What bothers me is the folks that seem guilty over these "poor Folks" and their socio-economic situation.
It's where I see it as a cultural choice, or trap if some so deem to define, the people I have observed do not seem
to have a desire to leave this "good life", they're not stuck, opportunities abound, but it requires commitments and sacrifices
they're not willing to make.
Are we to subsidize that as well?

I'm totally against that because it would raise their incomes above my rental target, leaving me broke, possibly having to become a burden on society, requiring governmental assistance..........hmmmmm.....

Dynosoar

on Mar 09, 2004

Lun,
It's really a no lose situation all around.
Of course there are some that say "we" are artificially "holding these people down", I tend to believe "we're" actually artificially
"holding these people up", but I'm not complaining, just observing.
Hell, if it weren't for the various assistance programs out there I might have to actually work for a living !!!!

I'm seriously thinking about low income elder care, warehouses for old folk.....Soylent Green anyone?

Archer

on Mar 10, 2004

One phrase I get so sick of hearing is "The rich get richer, and the poor get poorer." I've heard it all my life, and it leads me to wonder just how much poorer the poor can get. I mean, they should be living in shantytowns by now.

No, wait. That's south of the river in Mexico. And the irony is that Mexico is a well-to-do nation compared to those in Central America. Get out of the country and see what real poverty is, folks.

I get so sick of hearing about poverty in America. As somebody who grew up hanging around a somewhat lower-class neighborhood, I can heartily attest to Dyno's statement.

I also did delivery to various ghetto areas in a nine-state region (I was on the Family Dollar stores account, and they always aim for the poorest part of town.) Lots of satellite dishes, lots of new cars, lots of irresponsibility. Are there people who get caught in the trap, good people? Sure. I know people I grew up with who never get that mindset out of their system. But they're the same ones who will complain about not having enough money to make ends meet, while sitting on the couch cycling through a hundred channels of cable. My sympathy is rather limited.

Truthfully, as somebody who used to work 120 hour work weeks only to have forty hours of that work week get siphoned straight away into federal coffers to support these parasites, my sympathy isn't just limited, it's nonexistant.

PoetPhilosopher

on Mar 10, 2004

It may be more accurate to say "The rich get richer and the poor get richer very, very slowly".

"as somebody who used to work 120 hour work weeks only to have forty hours of that work week get siphoned straight away into federal coffers"

Case in point. Unfortunately - politicians spout off about tax cuts and the extra $600 you get, all the while shifting the burden from the super-rich to the middle class. And for some inexplicable reason, "middle america" doesn't see through this. Possibly because they've been bamboozled into thinking it's an issue of entitlements for the poor, when in reality it's about the progressivity of the tax brackets. Well... economics is complex.

It's all about the downward / upward spiral, right ?

WiseFawn

on Mar 10, 2004

Well, this blog takes the cake, I'll give you that. I was not going to comment, but after looking in this morning, I'll not only comment, but I'll be writing about five more blogs, one dedicated to slumlords, one to elder care, and the rest to poverty.

You said in your blog.... "We have over 9% unemployment in this area, there is no job out there, yet the men have to stay on the fringe of this culture for the survival of the mothers and children........Hey, I didn't create the system, I just live off of it."
Then you said in your comment.... "It's where I see it as a cultural choice, or trap if some so deem to define, the people I have observed do not seem
to have a desire to leave this "good life", they're not stuck, opportunities abound, but it requires commitments and sacrifices
they're not willing to make.
You said in your blog...."I do not participate in Title 8, or any other government subsidy program."
Then you said later in your blog...."Women run this entire operation, "poor" men in this area are devalued to the extreme, if they are caught in the Housing Authority the woman can lose all of her benefit"
You said in blog...."My average tennent is unmarried, 2 children, and receives on average a net of $2000.00 per month in income !!! This income is derived from AFDC, SSI, Child Support"

NORTH CAROLINA 1998 Welfare-to-Work Formula Grant http://wtw.doleta.gov/formula/98formula/ncplan.asp
North Carolina's Welfare-to-Work (WtW) program will address work first clients who have up to one year remaining in their cash assistance program, non-custodial parents of children whose custodial parents meet the TANF/WtW criterion, work-first clients who are not engaged in intensive employment activities and two-parent families who have significant challenges to long-term employment.

Dynosoar

on Mar 10, 2004

Wisefawn,
I look forward to your post.
I have a cursory knowledge of the work first program, I believe that's why my renters are all enrolled in Community Col.,
( that and Pell Grant income ).
The system is being worked, it's a way of life, and I believe it is promoted within their own society, for the benefit of others.
Why ?
Preacher gotta have a nice car, bigger church...... Social Worker gotta have a client base to rationalize HER job, her supervisor
has to have more Social Workers to rationalize HER job.......
Too many people depend on these "poor" to be just that....myself included.

JillUser

on Mar 10, 2004

Dynosoar, I totally agree that the system is being worked. People like WiseFawn can name off all of the programs, criteria, etc they want but the fact is loop holes are found and taken advantage of immediately. Like you said, there are always exceptions but I believe the majority function as you have seen. I have seen it within my own family. They don't want to admit that their choices have anything to do with the way their life is playing out. It is just "poor me" and "other people are just luckier". Then they brag about how they are working the system.

Lunaticus, well said!

WiseFawn

on Mar 10, 2004

Dynosoar- hmm, perhaps I have misjudged your blog. But it still takes the cake!

Dynosoar

on Mar 10, 2004

Anyone want to make the case of entitlement programs as "veiled reparations" ?

I would not begin to try, but it sure seems on the surface.................

Paula

on Mar 10, 2004

"My average tennent is unmarried, 2 children"

Early parenthood and having children one cannot afford to support is the real problem, and the ultimate source of most poverty. Yet schools cannot teach sex education and provide condoms because the teenagers should "just say no" to having sex. I don't disagree with postponing sexual intimacy until one is mature enough to handle it emotionally and responsibly, but the fact is, teens have sex! They always have and they always will. What we really need is truly reversable sterilization. All girls are given "the shot" or whatever it is, when they are 12 and the shots continue until they are 21. Does anyone REALLY need to become a parent before 21?

Since this isn't even possible until we find a way to semi-permanently sterilize, pay the girls to get the birth control shot that works for 3 months. That's right - PAY THEM - and give them condoms, test them for STD's and remind them that the shot only prevents pregnancy. For the mothers that are already on welfare, pay they to get their tubes tied. It will save money in the long run and with fewer children, they will have a better chance at pulling themselves up out of poverty. You cannot tell me that paying young women to use birth control would cost more than the billions that are spent on AFDC, SSI, etc. I have no problem with paying welfare fathers to have vasectomies either. Fewer children growing up in poverty means fewer adults perpetuating the cycle.

Dynosoar

on Mar 10, 2004

Paula,
That's just it, if your suggestions were followed IT WOULD be an end to the cycle.

What Social worker in their right mind would suggest a program that would put her organization out of business?

NOBODY wants the cycle to end.

At least not me, and everyone at the Department of Social Services, the Dept of Health and Human Services,the
Dept of Education, Dept of Housing and Urban Dev., or ( fill in the blank of your favorite governmental offices )

It's all about the money, not the lack of it...............

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