Argument Essay Final Draft
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English 101
Argument Essay Final Draft 7/23/2020
Imagine being the odd kid out because ninety percent of the families in your little town have a substantial amount of money but your family is one of a select few that relies on food stamps. Some of us know this feeling all too well. People look down on the poor as if they choose to be poor, which, is not always the case. People that receive food stamps or any of the other many government benefits that are in place to aid the poor are required to either work or volunteer for them, however, Americans today tend to believe that they’re free handouts just because some people do abuse the
system. Yes, in some aspects the system is flawed, but it’s not there to just hand money out it’s there to help people that genuinely need a hand up. The majority of food stamp recipients are hard-working individuals, and are not criminals working the system, in spite of the judgement that they receive due to cultural stereotypes that label them as lazy. To begin with, the biggest problem with food stamps among other people are that many people assume that food stamp recipients are lazy, however, the majority of them do work. In most cases there are certain stipulations that must be met in order to qualify for the food stamp program. In a fact sheet from the Social Security Administration it claims
that there is a work requirement for most people that are able: “
Most able-bodied people between the ages of 18 and 60 must register for work to qualify for food stamps. Many people may be required to participate in an employment or training program. Some college students also may be eligible” (page 1). Even though
this is a stipulation of receiving food stamps most people don’t see it that way because they’ve never had to receive them or they know people that didn’t have to meet the requirements due to some reason.
Nobody wants to be put in a position of living in poverty but things happen and sometimes it is out of our control especially when the economy is bad. Paying the bills when money is tight is always a concern. In “Hillbilly Elergy” by J. D. Vance, he talks about how Mamaw would get frustrated and angry and rant against people in the grocery store: “I can’t understand why people who’ve worked all their lives scrape by while these deadbeats buy liquor and cell phone coverage with our tax money” (533). Receiving food stamps or any government assistance in general doesn’t mean that people are lazy or don’t deserve things.
Mamaw is mistaken because she overlooks the fact that these people could have worked and are now laid off, or maybe they’re going to school to make a better life for themselves or their families and just needs a little extra help.
We don’t know the situations that people are in at any given moment so we have no right to judge one another.
Another claim
about the food stamp program is that people that are on them are
able to afford luxuries that the working class can’t afford. This is simply not true. Yes, some people have nice things, however, a lot of these things were bought before these people went on welfare. Most people don’t expect to need government help but they wind up needing food stamps. In an article in the Duluth News-Tribune, Ronnie McHugh who was being interviewed at the time shared how she “would give a million dollars if she could find a job” then proceeds to inform her audience about what put her in her
situation: "I would like them to sit in my shoes, I would tell them I had a husband who made $150,000 a year, I had a good salary. We were both laid off at the same time by the same company, and I've never been able to rally from that" (page 1). This one piece of her story explains exactly why this woman is on food stamps and why she may have nice things.
She didn’t scam the system to get nice things, she and her husband worked for them.
We as a whole look at the smaller picture instead of looking at why so many people need government assistance and how we can help them get to a place in life where they are able to afford to live without assistance. Furthermore, people complain
that food stamp recipients buy too much junk food. This complaint is valid, however, the reason for this is that junk food is cheaper than healthy foods and food stamp recipients do not receive the food education or guidance that a WIC recipient receives. We could walk into a store right now and grab a one dollar bag of chips to go with our hot dogs whereas in order to make healthier choices we could look at getting a two dollar bag of salad and the vegetables that go with it for a steeper price. To some this may not look like much of a difference but looking at it from a food stamp recipients view point it’s a big difference. In an article written by Mattea Kramer, she explains the high cost of healthy eating and also talks about the fact that people on food stamps are unable to afford the healthier foods: “A researcher at the University of Washington found that an income level that qualifies a family for food stamp assistance makes it nearly impossible to put healthy and balanced meals on the table.” This little bit of research tells us how unfair it is to food stamp recipients to judge them based on what you see from the outside looking in.
In order to
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receive food stamps a household of three generally will have to be at or below 130 percent of the poverty level or $2,252 a month. This amount is way less than anyone can live off of and a lot of jobs do not pay that starting out
, especially to people that do not have a college education. We have no clue what these people go through or the struggles they deal with in their daily lives, yet, we judge them because our minds are programmed to think that way. In closing, even though there are some aspects of the food stamp program that could be improved upon it is a great program because it does help low income families put food on their tables. So should we punish everyone that needs help because some people misuse the system?
Absolutely not. There is no way to completely combat fraud in every aspect of life. There is way more fraud going on in this world than just food stamps and even though we fight against it unfortunately it will always be there.
People will find new and better or easier ways to get what they want, it’s a never-ending cycle. However, I think our tax dollars are going to the best possible place when they are being
used to help the less fortunate. We’ve all been in a situation where we’ve needed a hand up in one way or another whether that hand was our parents, spouse, friends, or the government. I just think it’d be unjust and wrong to fight against such a wonderful program and potentially stop a lot of needy families from getting much needed help.
Works Cited
Food Stamp Facts. , 2004
. sirsissuesresearcher
, https://explore-proquest-com.library.ncmissouri.edu/sirsissuesresearcher/document/
2250591085?accountid=67797
.
Kramer, Mattea. "Obesity's Hidden Factor: High Cost of Healthy Meals."
Christian Science Monitor
, 07 Apr 2011
. sirsissuesresearcher
, https://explore-proquest-com.library.ncmissouri.edu/sirsissuesresearcher/document/
2263102424?accountid=67797
.
Vance, J.D. “Hillbilly Elergy.” 2016. Acting Out Culture, Compiled by James S. Miller, 4
th
Edition, Bedford/St. Martins, 2018, pp 531-535.
Washington, Jesse. "Food Stamp Families to Critics: Walk in our Shoes."
Duluth News-Tribune
, 19 Jan 2012
. sirsissuesresearcher
,
https://explore-proquest-com.library.ncmissouri.edu/
sirsissuesresearcher/document/2264334219?accountid=67797
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