Money isn't everything?

It's been proven that lack of money is directly tied to high levels of stress. The have-nots have more stress related illness than the have's, and the have-nots typically lack the medical coverage to care for those illnesses. The have's have many more opportunities to take advantage of what life has to offer than the have-nots, who typically spend their lives just trying to stay ahead. It's a vicious cycle.

Some say that Money isn't everything. I'm increasingly convinced, as a have not, that this is bogus, at least in America. In Canada, Great Britain, France, and other countries, the have-nots don't have to worry about their health, where in America, we have to worry about being able to pay for it, and if we can't, we go into unrepayable debt and ruin the rest of our lives. Does this make sense?


Sometimes, the have-nots have to rely on public assistance, which is a soul sucking demon designed to keep the person who needs it on it for the rest of time. For example, if you make $50 lower than the income ceiling for Food Stamps, you'll get food stamps. This could bring in a few hundred dollars worth of food to your household. But if you get a small raise, and earn even a little more than the income ceiling, then your several hundred dollars worth of food assistance could be taken away, and you're in a worse position than you were when you made less. Does this make sense?

If you have a child with special needs, and that child is bringing in state income assistance for you, then you have to report every penny that you earn and are not allowed to save money. If you get money, you have to spend it all within 6 months. The line of thinking is that if you need this assistance, then you'll need it less if you bring in more money, but the facts on the ground are that this makes it very hard to get ahead. This is because if you're relying on these types of assistance to provide for your disabled children, but your income creeps slightly above the requirement level, you'll lose far more than that little bit of income that you brought in, and will be drowning in stress and uncertainty yet again. If I'm a parent of disabled children, and I knew that going to work would lose me the money I get from the state to care for my kids, and I knew that if it were to be worth it my job would have to start me at over $40,000-year, why would I bother looking for work? It's Ohio. How many jobs start you out at over $40,000-year? So unless you can all of a sudden earn a large influx of steady cash, it's not worth getting a job and losing your benefits for your children. Does this make sense?


The fact is simple. When money holds you down from doing what you want, or NEED, to do in life, then money IS everything. But this isn't a rant about income inequality, and this isn't a rant about our broken safety net system. This is a rant about how whenever someone tells you that money isn't everything, it's easy to assume that they've never had to worry about money in the ways that I have.

Money is everything in this society. Right or wrong, it's a fact. Without it, it's hard to get by in any capacity. I've come from a trailer in a small town known for it's teen pregnancy rating, and I've been able to do some great things in life, but they were because I was in a relationship with someone who's family had a bit of money to help us when needed. When that relationship ended, money became an entirely new struggle for me, because even though I wasn't intentionally mooching off of that safety net, it was there. Now it's not, and over the summer I worried about losing the roof over my head. Now, thanks to unemployment and student loans, I'm ok for now, but if I were to get even a part time job, I'd lose half of the time I have available to study, and half of my unemployment benefits, regardless of how small my wages might be at that part time job. I'm now in the system, and although I don't wanna mooch off of it any longer than I have to, I'm better off financially on it unless I can get a job that pays me at least the same $14-hour that I made at my last job. Living in Marion……fat chance. Does that make sense?

So yeah, Money is everything. If you have it, you may still have stresses about Money, but you won't have to worry about dumpster diving for scrap metal to pay the rent. I was there last summer. If you don't have it, your stresses about Money will be at least 20 times more stressful because not securing it could cause you to lose everything VERY quickly.

So don't tell me that Money isn't everything.