Posted on 08/18/2014 11:34:16 AM PDT by GraceG
Okay, So I know of a few people who are shall we say very Lower middle class who used to be Mid-Middle class until recently due to the wonderful economy as of late.
I know they are wanting to prep, but are unable to make ends meet and I have been rotating out my own personal prepping stock to just keep them fed day to day. (don't worry I am not giving them expired food, just food that is nearing expiration).
The question recently arose about if they should get an EBT card and use it to buy their own reserve, stuff like canned food and easily storable food like oats, rice, etc...
They hate the idea of getting on EBT/SNAP, but the question is if things are going to go haywire anyways is it a bad thing to do this?
Or should they go to private food pantries to slowly stock up on having a stash in case SHTF....
I have offered to help with their preps but they are too prideful to take my prepping food for prepping purposes. The only way I could actually give them food for day to day living has been to use the excuse that the food that I have that is nearing expiration and they are doing me a favor by taking it...
I hate to try to convince them to use an EBT or SNAP to buy canned food in case SHTF, but on the other hand, I am really starting to get apathetic about it all...
What is Ethical vs. What is Practical..? And at what point do either options apply?
Also if I find myself out of work and end up eating through my Prepping stocks, what do I do then if I still want to stay prepared in case of the SHTF event?
Preppers’ PING!!
What say you preppers?
As for me its a case by case, without all information its impossible for me to give a blanket answer.
A matter of conscience, I suppose...
If you think it’s OK to get a part of what you’ve paid in back, because it’s all gonna crash anyway, go for it.
If you have strong convictions about never being on any form of the dole, then eschew it.
That Kart, I thought you might chime in....
Granted a low income prepper using an SNAP/EBT card for prepping type food would actually be a better use of the card that probably 90% of the people currently using SNAP/EBT cards....
What would be funny would be if they fallged someone for using a SNAP/EBT card because they bought bags of rice and cans of pork and beans....
You know because it made the other SNAPers look bad...
Yes. If your environment included berry bushes you would pick the berries to feed your family. If your environment include free government cheese, give the free government cheese to your family. I would much rather see EBT benefits going to someone who wonders whether they should take it than to someone who is certain that they are entitled to it.
40% of our country is on food stamps. If they need it then they should use it. The system is there for temporary help, IMO.
What they do with the food once they get it is up to them. If they store it then they will eventually eat it.
The people I have an issue with are those who buy lobster with food stamps or spend their personal money on luxuries and plan to live their life on food stamps and other welfare programs.
i to think about this exact very thing for myself and family quite often as i’m also right in that lower spectrum of middle class i guess you could say. i mean don’t get me wrong, we live ok and we also take care of my disabled mother for the last 11 years( disabled by my own brother) (but that’s for another story another thread) but we never have any “extra” if you can call it that to prep for shtf situation that i know will happen eventually : /
Mike
btw Grace, you sound like a very nice, caring person!
Mike
If the person is of the mind set to buy bags of rice and beans and other staples vs the normal purchase of the entitled EBT crowd of steaks, shrimp and TV dinners, then I say they most likely fairly need the assitance and I have no problem.
[ The people I have an issue with are those who buy lobster with food stamps or spend their personal money on luxuries and plan to live their life on food stamps and other welfare programs. ]
Same here, and those people will be the first to violently attack the prepping people in suburban areas when their EBT/SNAP card stops working...
They are the Welfare Hordes/ Obama Zombies...
I’m not a Prepper in any serious sense but this seems foolish. A dark invitation to the government to get their boot on your neck. Once your addicted it’s hard to break. (Unless forced of course due to some wide-ranging catastrophe.)
I agree.
It is a personal choice and circumstances vary.
In general, I have no problem with a safety net for the truly needy and deserving.
Our problem is that the safety net has been perverted by the government into just another wealth redistribution program.
There is a world of difference between someone with a legitimate disability and an able bodied whore sitting on her butt spitting out fatherless babies sired by anonymous sperm donors.
The same applies to able bodied people who are temporarily down on their luck as compared to those who game the system as a way of life.
If we eliminated all of the non-deserving moochers on the public dole we could take first class care of the truly needy and spend much less.
+1.
I talked to my pastor about this not that long ago when it came up on FR I posted that as Christians we are to be kind and helpful to the poor, but rebuke and avoid the slothful. He agreed with me so much that he ended up doing a sermon on just that the difference between the poor and the slothful.
[ btw Grace, you sound like a very nice, caring person!
Mike ]
I don’t let my friends go hungry. I shouldn’t feel guilty about using my freinds as a “dumping ground for soon to expire food” but I do... But it is the the only way they will take the food anyways... so there is that...
Just for giggles, I got on the Lone Star card website, and my wife and I qualify for the assistance card. BUT, there is no way I am applying for the card.
Well said.
Government assistance is like road-kill. If it’s fresh, grab it.
“Self love is not so vile a sin as self-loathing.” Henry V, Shakespeare.
Absolutely.
If hey are eligible, and they have kids. If they have exhausted all other sources, it is important to eat well.
I know there is a stigma, and that is good. But as long as they don’t abuse it, why the heck not.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.