Problems without support

Sometimes this world just frustrates me. Take today for example, a friend of mine was really upset because he spoke to his mom only to find out that they were behind on all of their bills because his dad was unable to work because of a problem with his knee. Surgery is comming (but of course expensive), but even then they say that he might be out of work for several months, and at least a few weeks. Already the time he has had to be off has put them into the hole.

What really irks me about this situation is that the people involved don't deserve this situation. They don't live extravagantly at all. In fact, it takes all that they have to be able to pay for their house, car, living expenses, and tuition for school. The mom works, but of course, is underpaid. The dad's company doesn't offer any kind of quality health insurance or sick pay, so they are pretty much up the creek without a paddle. I have talked to my friend about helping them try and get some help, but there seems to be less and less out there to get, and it's difficult to navigate throught all the red tape to get the help that they need.

Over the last several years, there have been an ever increasing amount of cuts in social programs, and of course with the publicity of the presidential debates, we have all heard of the issues with health insurance. I can tell you from my own experience that offering health insurance is almost impossible. This last year alone, costs increased 23%, a number that most small businesses simply can't swallow. Small businesses employ a majority of American workers and are the backbone of our economy, but because of the way the system currently works, they simply are unable to offer the kind of benefits that people need. We aren't talking about frivilous things, but the basic necessities like health and retirement.

Of course on top of the business issues, there seems to be little help for those who run into problems that are not of their own design. Looking at situations like that of my friend's family, I can't help but wonder why there are so many people opposed to social programs that help people. In this case, we aren't talking about people who are unwilling to work, or who are trying to be a drain on society, but good, hard-working, Americans who run into a problem or a string of problems that threatens to take everything away from them. Maybe it's just me, but I simply can't see how we as a society can let that happen.

I don't want to turn this into a political rant, but I will say that it amazes me how people can support candidates that advocate the removal of vital social programs. Perhaps those people should step back and think of what it would be like if they were in a similar position. Lower and lower-middle class citizens often have to scrape just to get by. When the winds of fate bring them some calamity, it can often shatter everything that they have worked so hard for. I think that is horrible no matter where in the world they live, but when they call America, the richest, most powerful world in the nation, their home, I think this situation is a crime. We as a society need to look beyond our own troubles sometimes and realize that there are other people in this world and that we should help them, and encourage our government to help them whenever possible. We never know when one of those unfortunate people could be us.