I was 'single parent' for two weeks and...wow

[RandySF]

My partner was out of the country for the past two weeks and I gotta say it's a different world when you can't take for granted having someone to cover for you when you're facing a major work deadline and the babysitter's looking for you, especially when you rely on public transportation. Those inconveniences were minor and I wouldn't wish anything more on my worst enemy. Single parents, you have a respect that comes from getting at least a taste of your lives.

[zalinda]

1. And now live it for 18 years

under minimum wage and no babysitter. Makes a big difference in who you support.

Z

[silverweb]

3. Very true!

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]I've raised two children alone - consecutively, not together, except for a 3-year overlap - with no child support in either case.

When reliable, competent child care (so a divorcée can work for less than 3/4 of what a man earns for the same job) costs as much as the rent, every single day is a stress-filled struggle. Necessities are barely met, physical and emotional exhaustion is constant, and things other people take for granted every day are considered rare or unattainable luxuries.

The experience has made a huge difference in who this woman supports!

[Califonz]

4. Seems that only Bernie voters see the connection

Between the current putrid economic policies of the elites now or formerly in government and the condition of their lives.

[silverweb]

7. Sadly true.

[Hortensis]

9. IMO, ridiculously narrow-minded statement.

Where were Bernie voters when the New Deal, Fair Deal and Great Society programs were set up, guaranteeing fair wages, unemployment insurance, workplace benefits, much higher taxes on the wealthy, etc., etc., etc., for instance? You are part of so much more than you realize, but your counterparts back then neither lead nor did it alone--because like now there weren't enough of them. They were among those who made it happen.

No? Don't believe that? Are you under the impression that Aid to Families with Dependent Children was your product? Eisenhower signed Disability Insurance into law; were the John Birchers right when they insisted he was a Commie infiltrator (i.e., from the left wing)? Food Stamps, SSI, Earned Income Tax Credit for families, nutrition programs, in spite of Eisenhower almost all enacted by liberals, according to the history books, but according to you you guys did it?

In the 1980s, conservatives gained power and their economics "Reaganomics" meant no more new programs, just dismantling what had been created before. Why didn't you stop them if you were doing so good before?

With Bill Clinton in the late 1990s, a couple new ones like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and SCHIP to get healthcare to children were started over the strenuous resistance of conservatives. Was that actually you, not Clinton? Medicare Part D was W's bone thrown when voters were getting restless, but it was a good bone, even if no one bothered to raise taxes to pay for it--were you the ones who refused to raise taxes? And with our last liberal president we finally after most of a century got healthcare reform, the ACA. THAT was actually you too?

Are there NO Bernie voters capable of connecting the dots between the great national prosperity of the 1940s-1970s under liberal Democratic-passed programs and its disappearance beginning in the 1980s when the nation transferred power to the GOP conservatives instead?

[zalinda]

10. Yes, Bernie supporters jumped into time machines. ROTFLMAF!!!!!! eom

[PatrickforO]

6. Child care and early childhood education are things neolibs don't like.

The neolibs who call themselves Republicans, of course, work hard to marginalize everyone who might at some time in their lives need a helping hand, and have been dead set against it.

The neolibs who call themselves Democrats will pay lip service to it, but then negotiate it away.

In the meantime our society continues its brutal and inhumane treatment of single parents, women mostly.

But, no, we have a 'forever war' to fight! Prisons to privatize! Law enforcement to militarize!

Why, there's espionage to do, and we can't ever build enough military toys for the little boys wearing their uniforms. Nope, drug wars and domestic spying, why these things are as American as apple pie. After all, people are frightened because it's NORMAL to be frightened instead of being concerned about the loss of civil rights. Safety, everyone knows is MORE important than our rights.

And businesses? Why we need to deregulate and privatize because everyone knows the private sector can ALWAYS do it better, faster and cheaper and the profit motive is good for everything! And while we're at it, big business roars, we might as well have MORE tax cuts because that will force the government to end all social programs. The money we'll not have to pay in taxes enhances our profits, and everyone knows profits are MORE important than people. Heck, we've been letting people who cannot pay die for decades.

**************************

Patrick's eyes narrowed and he frowned, angry. "But why, just once, can't we use OUR tax money that WE pay in to OUR government for programs that make our own lives better???"

Everyone smirks and turns their backs on Patrick. Gods, what a unicorn that guy is!

[silverweb]

8. Well said.

[ismnotwasm]

11. I did it for years welfare and lived in housing projects

And it did make a difference who I support. Hillary all the way.

[Happyhippychick]

2. I hear ya, my husband travels 75% of the time so I also do it

And, I also support Hillary. Imagine that?

[zalinda]

12. Really, that's what you got out of that?

You have a spouse. I take it that more than minimum wage is brought into the family. That 25% of the time is respite time that a single parent does not have. Stress and sleeplessness is SOP for the single parent. And, if a child gets sick, what do you do? You do realize that when you have a partner, it is easier, even if it is just to share some of the responsibility and worry.

Two heads are better than one.
A problem shared is a problem halved.

The loneliest moment in someone’s life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart, and all they can do is stare blankly.

—F. Scott Fitzgerald


Z

[Happyhippychick]

14. I'm not comparing my hardship to anyone else's.

Perhaps you shouldn't either.

[matt819]

5. Then try it with more than one child

You see, there's the problem. People who haven't experienced it pretty much dismiss it. The "it" being just about anything: single parenting, abusive partner, gay child, abortion, etc. Only when people experience it (and, sadly, not even then), do otherwise intolerant and uncaring people sit up and take notice. I read an article a week or so ago about a Republican congressperson with a transgender child. I believe she was a tad more tolerant than her inclination and politics would otherwise permit.

[Skittles]

13. yes

when I watch a neighbor's kids while she runs to a store, you'd think I was performing a miracle for her, she is so grateful