LINK: travel diversion
With the government shutdown looming, flying feels like a bad idea—specially with the uncertainty around having any air traffic controllers manning the towers. The whole situation sounds like a cluster fuck and aside from not trusting that the flights will take off on time, I’m also afraid of planes colliding. So I’ve decided not to go on holiday Halloween weekend. It’s just not safe.
Instead, my friends and I are doing something different this year. We’re giving out food—canned goods and boxed items—along with candy to the trick-or-treaters. Why food? Because SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, AKA food stamps) is set to end at the end of the month due to the government shutdown. Over 5.5 million Californians depend on that support to eat.
Studies have shown that for every $1 invested in SNAP, it generates about $1.50 back into the economy. It helps people stay employed, stay fed, stay afloat. Without it, so many families will be forced to choose between rent and groceries, medication and meals.
I don’t know what’s going to happen once it ends, but it’s hard not to feel frustrated and helpless. People shouldn’t have to suffer because Congress can’t get their shit together. No one should go hungry in a country that has more than enough to feed everyone.
Side bar: SNAP, Medicaid, and Social Security are called handouts… but somehow tax breaks for oil companies, corporations get rescued, farmers get billions in subsidies, and bank bailouts are fine. People are all up in arms about feeding children, but giving airlines billions after they blew through profits is fine. Where the poor get lectured about “personal responsibility,” but the wealthy get a safety net woven out of government checks.
America has a double standard. We shame the poor for needing help but quietly accept when billion-dollar companies do. We don’t have capitalism. We have socialism for the rich.
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