Migrant Mother

***This post is also running on the TriangleMom2Mom site where I write each week***

As I was eating breakfast with my 12 year old son the other day, I saw a story online about the famous “Migrant Mother” photo taken by Dorothy Lange in 1936, that captured the pain and hopelessness people felt during the Great Depression.

 There has been a lot of discussion in my family about gas prices, the stock market, lack of jobs and the far-reaching effects of the current state of our economy.

I showed my son the picture and told him that the subject of the picture, Florence Owens Thompson, had seven children and that she and her family had to live in tents or cars as they traveled from farm to farm in California picking cotton. I wanted him to understand how devastating that time was and, I guess, how fortunate we are today. I said, “Her kids didn’t even get to go to school. They worked in the fields with their Mom every day just to survive.”

His response, “Well, I guess that’s what she gets for putting all of her money in the stock market.” A fuller explanation of the Depression followed, an explanation that I hope he gets when he is taking American History in high school. I feel that as we get further and further away from historical events, they become defined by one particular thing and the details are lost. For many, the stock market crash equals the Depression just like “Let them eat cake” defines the French Revolution.

As we experience our current economic situation and I see the effects on us and people close to us, I hope that history doesn’t repeat itself, plunging us into the bleak times of the Depression. And most of all, I hope that we can tear ourselves away from the news channels, their constant stock market analysis, their sterile statistics on unemployment rates and their talk of multi-billion dollar bail-outs and remember that, like the Migrant Mother in the 1930s, there are individuals, families and children whose very survival is impacted by the economy today.

I hope we don’t see the percentage of unemployed without remembering that the people who comprise that percentage are struggling to put food on their tables and making decisions between purchasing their prescriptions and paying the electric bill. I hope that the economic good fortune that many of us have experienced for most of our lives, doesn’t make us view those who are in need as slackers who collect welfare and would be fine if they just got off the couch and got a job. I have heard this sentiment on several occasions from many different people. Call me a Liberal, a label I wear proudly, but this opinion is appalling to me!

The Migrant Mother in the picture was 32 years old when the picture was taken. Look at the picture again. Think about it.

Di

Comments

[JoAnn]

You just HAD to know that I would comment, since I am sure that I am one of those to whom you referred as calling people on welfare "slackers".

However, I never referred to EVERYONE on welfare that way...and even you, as a Liberal with a capital L, must admit that not everyone on welfare is deserving.

I worked as a volunteer with far too many women who kept having baby after baby in order to keep collecting welfare....and were absolutely unashamed to admit this. They had no interest in getting off the dole.

The photo above reminds me of my grandmother's life....left with seven young children in her early 30s, with no means of support. She worked as a seamstress and took in ironing and cleaned houses. All of the children had jobs as soon as they were old enough...running errands, washing windows, etc. Ketchup sandwiches were a staple. She would not accept any public assistance.

In conclusion:

yes, there are people who deserve and need welfare/assistance/unemployment

But......

there are people who are welfare cheats and are draining all of us and taking resources from those who are in need

Until we as a country say ENOUGH! and go after these cheats, the flawed system will stay the same. Some states have managed to accomplish welfare reforms, so why not others?

[Mom]

Well said, Diane. How sad that these lessons have to be learned again. As JoAnn implied, there are flaws in many assistance programs, but I don't think that was intended as the message in your blog!

[Di]

I was talking about "those in need," not those on welfare. Unfortunately, some people assume that those in need ARE on welfare, whether or not that is the case.

I am sure there are abuses of welfare just as there are abuses of insurance, abuses of governmental power and abuses of the court system. And the abusers (hopefully a small percentage) inflict the stigma on the rest of the honest people.

And if people end up unemployed, I hope that they absolutely take advantage of their rights to collect unemployment while looking for another job. Our employers have been paying unemployment insurance during all of our working years and we deserve to participate in that program when the time comes.