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Joseph Felser's avatar

Too many in this country worship wealth without understanding what true wealth consists of and how to produce it. Wealth properly speaking is not the accumulation of money or the power to purchase things—riches. As John Ruskin said:

“There is no wealth but life. Life, including all its powers of love, of joy, and of admiration. That country is the richest which nourishes the greatest numbers of noble and happy human beings; that man is richest, who, having perfected the functions of his own life to the utmost, has also the widest helpful influence, both personal, and by means of his possessions, over the lives of others.”

A child cannot be happy or pursue happiness and the fullness of their own potential if they are hungry. To diminish the wealth or quality of many humans’ experiences in order to increase the quantity of monetary resources of a few is a perverse moral calculation that puts civilization itself at risk. It diminishes social capital that is essential for the cultivation of creativity necessary for our collective future. It is both profoundly unjust and profoundly self-destructive.

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Lynda Phoenix's avatar

Bishop you are so right-on. Poor people of all races and genders need to unite to expose this need. Why is Snap just considered a hand out to poor people when it's also a life line to farmers who have a need to sell their crops? I seem to remember early on this was a talking point for food stamps. Then selfish people warped it into something poor folks should be embarrassed to be using. The embarrassment is a society that can't seem to pay their workers a living wage. And don't label people as lazy until you've lived a day in their shoes. The Snap allowance is not abundant. It's just enough to keep you from starving and with the price of food going up they need to be increasing the allotment...not cutting it!

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