Dot started working at thirteen. Married at fifteen.

[kpete]

...................

Dot’s life has been every bit as hard as Patsy’s. Harder really, because Dot has lived twice as long as Patsy Cline managed to, and she looks it. By the time my people hit sixty, we look like a bunch of hypertensive red-faced toads in a phleghm-coughing contest. Doctors tell us that we have blood in our cholesterol, and the cops tell us there is alcohol in that blood. True to our class, Dottie is disabled by heart trouble, diabetes, and several other diseases. Her blood pressure is so high the doctor thought the pressure device was broken. And she is slowly going blind to boot.

Trouble is, insurance costs her as much as rent. Her old man makes $8 an hour washing cars at a dealership, and if everything goes just right they have about $55 a week left for groceries, gas and everything else. But if an extra expense as small as $30 comes in, they compensate by not filling one of Dot’s prescriptions—or two or three of them—in which case she gets sicker and sicker until they can afford the co-pay to refill the prescriptions again. At fifty-nine, these repeated lapses into vessel-popping high blood pressure and diabetic surges pretty much guarantee that she won’t collect Social Security for long after she reaches sixty-three, if she reaches sixty-three…

from:
Deer Hunting with Jesus: Dispatches from America's Class War
http://www.balloon-juice.com/2011/04/24/here-is-a-barrel-of-fish-for-your-shooting/
http://www.amazon.com/Deer-Hunting-Jesus-Dispatches-Americas/dp/product-description/030733936X

[Turbineguy]

1. Life

in a Republican Paradise.

[jpak]

2. Dot should pull her self up by her bootstraps and get a job with healthcare benefits

instead of being a socialist wagon rider

yup

:sarcasm:

[Liberal_in_LA]

22. yup. Lots of jobs for older half blind wore out women

:sarcasm:

[Brickbat]

3. Sounds like Dot is reaping what she sowed.

Thems the breaks when you make decisions like that. :shrug: Maybe she could buy a pair of walking shoes and, you know, take charge of her health a little?

[sudopod]

5. woosh nt

[Brickbat]

10. Backatcha.

[immoderate]

9. Don't we all? We are all the product of our decisions.

And if everybody always made the right decisions, what would there be to complain about?

In a civilized country, Dot would get support and help to make better decisions. She has to worry about starving.

--imm

[Brickbat]

11. The point being, as well, that even making the "right "decisions doesn't keep you from being born

with hereditary health issues, into a poverty-stricken family that has no idea how to go about making life better for itself, or into a society that thinks getting married at 15 is just dandy.

I'll turn up the sarcasm next time.

[immoderate]

12. Yes, the apparent "gentility" fooled me...

I should have known better. :blush:

Carry on. You're OK.

--imm

[Brickbat]

14. Maybe I should drink more; then my humor won't be so dry.

:rofl: :toast:

[Brickbat]

13. .

.

[xmas74]

20. I spoke with a couple of relatives today

and listened to their "bootstrap" crap.

I missed the sarcasm in your post. Thanks for reminding me that I was still at DU!

[lunatica]

24. Your empathy attempts are sorry failures

But your cruelty bone is erect.

[Brickbat]

33. Shaka, when the walls fell.

"Cruelty Bone" can be the name of my new band.

[bluestate10]

42. You don't understand sarcasm, do you? nt

[cliffordu]

50. LOL. Man, time is going to kick your ass all over the room.

It'll be epic. Wish I could watch.....

:rofl:

EDIT: Just got the sarcasm, but I like my snark so much I'm leaving it. Hope you don't mind.....

:hi:

[Brickbat]

51. Not a problem at all!

Plenty are kicking my ass in the present time!

I just remember when Bush said something about people "taking responsibility" for their own health care and that someone if everyone got a pair of walking shoes, that would reduce health-care costs.

:rofl: :hi: :toast:

[cliffordu]

52. Really - walking shoes and ONE glass of red wine a night.......

:rofl:

[malaise]

4. Dot is falling to pieces faster than

Patsy Cline.

Very sad

[Scuba]

7. Maybe she's crazy. Maybe she's just walking in the moonlight.

[Scuba]

6. Welcome to Paul Ryan's vision of America.

[FormerDittoHead]

8. "We're spending too much on education..." Mind is blown.

Guy with the wife beater and the giant beard is a trip.

But... good luck South Carolina! Glad *I* don't live there, and I live in NEW JERSEY!

[bluestate10]

41. Tell me why Lincoln didn't allow South Carolina to secede from the union again? nt

[bluestate10]

15. Does Dot vote republican? If she does, she does not get it, and I must

say, the country will be better off with her vote no longer available republicans. The woman in the video that said her and her husband collect cans to make end meet and she was at a republican rally is typical of what is happening in the red south. As a blue stater, I want tax money collected from my state residents send back to meet the needs of my state elderly and poor instead of being sent to the types of clowns shown in the video.

[MadHound]

19. Once again you show just how cold blooded you are,

You have not one ounce of humanity, and this post of yours proves it.

You have become that which you abhor, a soulless shell of a human, ready to throw people overboard because of their political affiliation. How very sad.

[JI7]

21. well, why is she voting republican ?

sometimes poor people vote republican for reasons that makes me lose compassion for them. like bigotry against certain peoples.

[MadHound]

23. So just let her die because of the way she voted?

Hmm, haven't we seen what happens when various political groups, even entire countries go down that road? It isn't pretty.

Rather than condemning this woman to death for how she votes, perhaps we should show that we are above such barbarity and use this as a teaching opportunity.

[Bluenorthwest]

25. Noting in the article mentions Dot voting at all

Much less which Party.

[JI7]

27. i asked why she voted republican and that i didn't have compassion, i don't need to have compassion

for everyone in order to support policies to help people.

i still ask why she votes republican.

[bluestate10]

28. NO. She is sentencing herself to death by the way she votes. And, more

important to me, she is sentencing other people to death. For that my humanity toward her is severely tested.

[MadHound]

36. Yes, apparently your humanity is severely tested,

And frankly, found sorely lacking.

[Chris_Texas]

43. wow!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

34. Have the Democrats ever appealed to her in terms that are meaningful to her?

Or have they lived up to the stereotype of "yuppie elitists"?

[eridani]

38. Joe once asked her if she would vote for a president who implemented health care for all

Dot replied "Vote for him? I'd go down on him!" Joe commented that it would be hard to get stronger voter approval than that.

[Chris_Texas]

44. More, have they ever done more than talk one way then vote the other

[Lydia Leftcoast]

47. That's what I see--talking one way and then excessively "compromising" with the corporatists

They promise "health care for all" and it somehow becomes "required private insurance for all, whether you can afford it or not."

They promise "bankruptcy reform," but it still leaves people mired in excessive debt, no matter what the reason for the bankruptcy.

They promise "credit card reform," but it fails to touch the most important issue, excessive interest rates.

Crap like that is why so many people don't trust politicians of either party.

[bluestate10]

29. I will match the dollars that I contribute and the time that I contribute to

charitable causes and social improvement to your efforts any day of the week, year in and year out. Seriously doubt that you remotely measure up. If the woman votes republican, which she highly likely does, she is a damned fool who hurts millions of poor and struggling people with her vote.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

35. No, the Democrats are damn fools for not appealing directly to people like Dot

The Republicans have been working overtime to win over people like Dot.

What are the Democrats doing to appeal directly to the working class and poor?

[MadHound]

37. Well, first of all, this isn't about your philanthropy,

After all, many robber barons, both past and present have given generously to charity in order to salve their conscience. It doesn't make the acts they committed any less heinous.

But we're not talking about your charity works, but rather about your willingness to let somebody die based on a perceived voting record. Sorry, but that is going into the territory of humanitarian crimes, and I won't follow you there.

[bluestate10]

39. Are you kidding me. Voters that vote republican sentence thousands

to death each day. If one die and can't vote, so be it, more people will live as a result. I am not advocating killing republican voters. You obviously don't understand what humanitarian means, so stop using the term.

[tkmorris]

46. You are a piece of work. I will dance.

I will say no more, but I WILL dance. You walk a fine line sir, and you walk it well. That's the only compliment I will ever pay you so enjoy it as best ye can.

[MadHound]

49. You're not? Could have fooled me, judging by your posts.

As far as understanding what humanitarian means, sorry, but again, based on your posts in this thread, I think I know far better what it truly means than you do.

Are you even listening to yourself, listening to what you're saying? Geez, what a sad sack of humanity you truly are.

[Chris_Texas]

45. You think democrats at the national level represent the poor?

And you call this woman a fool...

[lunatica]

26. She probably doesn't vote at all since she knows

no one is going to help her or her family. Ever.

[bluestate10]

30. Great insight, Nader voter. You are one of the "there is no difference"

types. So be it, regardless of how hard you get hit up beside the head by republican efforts to send working americans to the poor house.

[lunatica]

32. You're assuming and making an ass out of yourself

You know nothing about me, but obviously that doesn't stop your type from jumping to simple minded conclusions.

[bluestate10]

40. I know enough about the "there is no difference between the parties" balloon

that you floated. That is enough for me to :puke:.

[Odin2005]

16. It makes me ANGRY that this is happening in the wealthiest country on Earth.

:grr:

[Blue-Jay]

17. What does her brother Dash think about this?

[SoCalDem]

18. I started working at age 11 (family business.. I had no choice)

It;s not so much the "working young", as it is the procreating young.. If you are female, once you have a child(children), you have cast your lot, and most of the time, you will be mother-first, and everything else-second.

The younger you are when you have that first child, will most likely determine what the rest of your life will be.

You can change a lot of things about your life as you get older, but the fact that you are a parent will not change, and the costs involved in raising kids are always more than a naive teenager thinks they will be.

Postponing childbirth until one is older & self sufficient should be the goal for all girls..no matter where they live.. If you have one kid by 17, there is often a 2nd, 3rd 4th etc. :(

[bluestate10]

31. You are right, but it takes education and the ability to see a future

for a child to work toward a better life. The important issue that society must resolve is early intervention as a way to direct children from desperately poor families toward a better life, this is why Head Start is such an important program. And why local governmental and non-governmental agencies that serve and educate children are so vital to a functioning society. With republican bullshit working 24x7 to rip government apart, action by individuals to save society is the only way out.

[olegramps]

48. I listened for two minutes and just had to turn if off.

What a sad day in our nation when those who have been elected to guide the nation, rather than setting the record straight, actually feed on what they know to be absolute lies. This cesspool of ignorance is an embarashment. If I was a young person I would seriously consider looking for country that has a brighter future. While these pathetic fools intertain themselves with their delusions, they fail to realize that they are supporting the very people who are intent in enslaving their children and grandchilden in perpetual poverty and servatude to the wealthy in one of the most devatating transfer and concentration of wealth in recent history.