"Spent" interactive web piece that takes you through your real choices when you lose your job.

[ehrnst]

Needs to be seen by every single representative that's pushing to eliminate the few remaining safety nets for people pushed to the brink.


"The Urban Ministries of Durham serves over 6000 people every year.

But you'd never need help, right?

Prove it. Take the challenge"


http://playspent.org/

[annabanana]

1. brutal and true

[Hotler]

2. kicking n/t

[tnlurker]

3. I'll look at this later

[OneGrassRoot]

4. Love this site. Time to share again. K&R n/t

[ck4829]

5. If it isn't already, this will be most of us sooner rather than later

But trying to stop this is SOCIALISM. Alright?

[ehrnst]

6. I have been down to less than my last $1000 in my adult life -

with a Masters Degree, and the student loan debt that came with it.

It's not the "ignorant" "lazy" "drug addicted" types that are the norm in this situation.

[FirstLight]

7. I've never been down to the last $1000

...more like the last $100. If i had $1000 in my hand, I'd feel RICH....

[MadrasT]

9. Loose change

Hell, at one point I was down to random loose change and had to call in sick the day before payday because I didn't have enough money to put gas in the car to get to work. (But at least I had a job!!!)

I couldn't even make it through the demo, it made me anxious.

Being there again makes me very scared.

:scared:

[BrendaBrick]

8. "Confronting The Myth of Choice" - Google Document:

Homelessness and Jones v. City of Los Angeles by Tanene Allison

In part (from page 2):

"...The myth of choice is a response to society's cognitive dissonance - the disconnect between the success we believe is possible and the existence of homelessness. We, as a society, want to believe ourselves to be a kind and just people who respect the value of fairness. We want to believe that all we have created has been won by our hands alone, and that our society allows for those with less than us to better themselves through hard work. This is the premise of our country, the premise of the "American Dream." It is simply too much for us, as a society to believe that the American Dream might be flawed, or, for some, potentially impossible to accomplish. The presence of homelessness in our society does not easily fit with society's belief in the American Dream. It is incomprehensible, as we go about our daily lives, to drive casually by, or step over individuals without food or shelter. It is impossible to believe that our communities create and allow for such disparity. And yet, these incomprehensibilities are a part of the daily experience of millions of Americans. The myth of choice soothes society's cognitive dissonance."

I think the last line bears repeating: The myth of choice soothes society's cognitive dissonance.

Link to entire article:

http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:SfisI2Gb4oAJ:www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/crcl/vol42_1/allison.pdf+can+a+society+experience+cognitive+dissonance%3F&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgNXzTE_TNlsML8qlCpXqJkSjNJng1YzygHK08ST3LgMwCIpJ0DTmfZNFd6SEOriTn1I3JZdII8kgUZ0B9NrIwBTZ2NCd6W0QcDt5B-CfTSuxj_nhJA4pnFKKYKWT3GUetEkV-c&sig=AHIEtbQbizdA2BSU2RyrAhyxInF7gwXkiA

Additionally, along these lines, I remember watching some show on TV last year...."The Tribes" or something? It was where they took some native peoples from a very remote place (island?) and had them stay with different families in the U.S.
I think it was in the NYC segment where one of the native person saw a homeless man on the streets and said: "Nobody loves him."

LOVES
SOLVE