We may have no choice in whether the collapse comes or not ... have any of you been watching the harvest reports for this year? Wheat is in the crapper, corn is iffy and has been called a failure in the south. And think about how much of our harvest goes to other countries ... if our harvest fails, millions of people in OTHER COUNTRIES will starve, and if our harvest fails, our economy will falter again, which will delay/shrink our aide money that goes to a lot of other countries that use that money to subsidize/provide food for their citizens. And my annual garden was a huge FAILURE this year.
Whether or not the assistance checks go out, if there isn't any food in the stores, or it is priced out of range, those "parasite class" folks will riot and then Marshall Law will be called. So, how many states have legislation that blocks the seizure of personal weapons during that time? Oklahoma passed that law after Katrina.
I have rental property to provide me an income, the ex and I are partners in owning our house (bought and paid for with cash, BTW), and my renters are Senior Citizens on SS ... if those checks don't go out, what can I do? Evict them? And pay my bills and support the ex while he fights with the VA for his disability and argues with SS about disability from them? I have certain physical limitations on how long I can sit or stand and trying to get a job when I have to compete with younger folks is really hard as there just aren't that many jobs in this small town.
Be careful just who you lump into that "parasite" class as there are a lot of good folks that are needing public assistance right now through no real fault of their own ... too old, too many medical/physical issues, too many younger folks willing to work for less, etc.
Despite the Occupants' administration assertion that unemployment is still under 10%, there is compelling information showing it is closer to 20% and some even as high as 25% ... thats a LOT of folks out of work.
Right now, I am having to dip into my canned foods, but I can still get my bills paid ... I went from $1500 a month rental property income to $800 when I lost one of my tenants last October, then I have the remodeling to do because of the damage they did to the property ... more money out of pocket that I don't have, so I made a deal with a real estate agent to do the repairs and put the property on the market last November ... and the repairs still aren't done and the property hasn't sold. My back is against the wall right now, one more hit and I could be underwater. Luckily, my household expenses are $350 per month not including food or fuel/insurance for the vehicles ... that adds another $300 or so per month. Then there are a couple of other bills that I will have paid off by this time next year that add up to another $125 per month. We receive $200 in Food Stamps per month and I haven't had any serious range time in several months as I REFUSE to tap into my SHTF ammo
Out of that, I feed 3 adults, maintain the landline, internet, dishnetwork, dog, rabbit (meat rabbits soon as I can get a girl bunny to date my buck bunny LOL), trips to VA hospital (150 mi one way) and primary care physician (70 mi one way) for ex, provide occassional day care for grandkid. If you see anywhere I can cut, or have a job that doesn't require me to sit or stand for extended periods of time, or lift more than 30lbs, or sell out and move, let me know and I will stop the ex from taking the Food Stamps. Haven't bought a DVD in almost a year, haven't bought a new gun in over a year, went out to eat last night because DD took us out for my birthday, get pizza or burgers once a month as a treat. Do most of my cooking from scratch, so no frozen dinners or junk food wasting my money.
I would agree that the term "parasite" can and should be used towards drug addicts/dealers that have not/did not contribute to society (I worked for 30 years before this old age caught up to me and I am only 51) and are on public assistance. I am not eligible for SS, but I worked for decades and paid my FICA each and every paycheck. I don't want to be medically declared disabled because when a job does come my way that I could do, I don't want to be excluded due to medical reasons.