These are really tough times. Businesses are cutting back and going under, workers are being laid off or having their hours cut. And the public sector is not immune -- all while the need is escalating dramatically.
Vanessa reminds us that we should be thinking of those who don't have shelter or food. I want to suggest that maybe we should do more than think about it or simply expect "government" to take care of it. It is certainly easier to sit back and demand that other people's money be used to solve the problem rather than to make any kind of a personal effort. To someone on the street, any one of us on this list could be considered "rich". How many of us have taken something to the food shelves or better yet, volunteered a few hours recently? How many of us take clothes or toys or household goods to shelters or transitional housing regularly? Maybe those who are complaining about the reduction of LGA should figure out what the their proportionate share would be or send it to a homeless/battered woman's shelter, a soup kitchen, their local school, or whatever they hold nearest and dearest. There is so much that each of us could do if we were just willing to get going and DO something. One of the reasons that I don't participate very much on this list is that I am busy out there--doing what I can. The other one is that I am so terribly tired of being vilified here because I happen to be somewhat more conservative than most on this list. PS-When my neighbors lost their house (victims of predatory lending) I took them into my home for over ten months while they worked to get established on their own. Not an easy task with a UD on their record. I wonder if my harshest critics would do the same. If so, I am sure that there is a homeless family somewhere in Minneapolis tonight who could use a place to stay. I hope they accept the challenge as I did. And just maybe, they might discover that I am not as evil as they believe me to be. Catherine Leighton Live in Longfellow/Work North East TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
