We are emerging from the dark ages and maybe, just maybe, entering the age of Enlightenment. By that I mean a gazillion dollar bill that promises to pull families up from grinding poverty with a child tax credit, expanding unemployment benefits, expanding Medicaid, child care cost tax breaks. Unfortunately, no minimum wage raise which would actually have a real impact on working people’s ability to care for their families. And the money comes from……it’s always been there. Redistribution of wealth. I like the idea of hiring IRS auditors to target the tax returns of the very very rich. I work with working families and know that they are not lazy and prone to gaming the system. Unless you believe that sharing information about how to access benefits with your friends and relatives is gaming. Or, working 2 or 3 jobs, sometimes under the table is illegal, unfair, taking advantage of middle class, mostly white, privileged tax payers. I am one the latter. I don’t feel used. I feel grateful for untold opportunities afforded me due to the the lottery like happenstance of my birth. It was not an idyllic childhood by any means, but I never doubted my ability to leave and flourish. The perks of whiteness including education, jobs, housing, mentors. Like a neighborhood welcome basket just for being white and born on the right side of the tracks.
On another note, my vaccinated left arm no longer hurts.