Katie Tucker moved into her own apartment this week, the first real home her 1-year-old baby has ever known.
She had been living with family members and friends for more than a year, but a new Charleston Housing Authority program made a permanent place to live possible, just in time for Christmas.
A series of misfortunes and some personal struggles knocked down Tucker financially, and she and her baby Sydney were having a hard time getting up.
There is an interesting juxtaposition in this story. On the one hand she says:
“I’m giving her a new home and a safe place.”
On the other hand, I read:
“…the Charleston Housing Authority…agency recently launched the program with five other groups that help low-income people. The goal is to work together to help the most vulnerable families with the fewest alternatives get homes, and to provide the social services necessary to keep them in stable living situations, he said.”
So, who is really providing the home for the 1 year old baby? It sounds to me as if the taxpayers and charities are providing the home.
She is 42 and has a 1 year old baby out of wedlock. Among the groups giving her financial assistance are the “Charleston County Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Services and the Charleston Dorchester Mental Health Center.”
She still does not have a job, so her food, utilities, shelter, all household goods, etc. are being provided for her at someone else’s expense…yet she says: “I’m giving her a new home and a safe place.” She credits her baby with “saving her life”.
I wish her and the baby well and I hope that she truly does begin to provide for her own needs and those of her child. I also hope that she understands that her irresponsible actions in life are being paid for by the community and that she has some measure of appreciation for that. If she does get a job and starts paying taxes, I am sure that she will have a new appreciation for the support she has received.
That is one of the things that angers me the most about the wealth redistribution in our society. I have been poor. I have lived around other poor people. I have seen single moms working 2 and 3 jobs to care for their children, because their husband’s weren’t real men and left them to fend for themselves. These same moms had to pay taxes on their incomes…and that money taken from their families was given to other people that were not working, were on drugs and alcohol, etc. It is a great injustice that our system does this.
I believe in giving a hand-up and I really do hope that this woman does what is right and works hard to support herself and her child. I hope that she stays clean and sober and that she has a happy life. But there is a real disconnect with reality here. Others are providing her housing, food, utilities, medical care, and clothing, yet she believes that “she” is providing for her baby. I don’t mean to pick on her though; I think this is a very widely held perspective in our country. I think that about half of the American people think this way. Other peoples money is “theirs” by right of entitlement. So if they “provide” for their children out of resources they receive from their entitlements, they honestly believe that they are the providers of care to their family; nevermind the fact that the money is actually taken by coercion from others to do so.