Oklahoma’s governor refuses to let kids in his state access the federal government’s new summer EBT program, to ensure that kids can have meals when school is out. In response, five tribal nations have teamed up to provide the benefits to any eligible kids who happen to live on tribal land (which is a lot of Oklahoma). https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/09/us/politics/school-meals-summer-ebt.html?unlocked_article_code=1.jE0.NZAi.mehkrnKm8xuN&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&ugrp=u&sgrp=c-cb
@waldoj
The voters who continue to elect these monsters deserve to be thoroughly berated for their racism and compassionless attitudes.
@waldoj bonkers that someone can run on a “letting children starve is good, actually” platform and not get voted out of politics forever
@feld @waldoj @mathowie I'm unemployed, single, have two kids.
If I was in the US, I'd be fucked, but here I have public housing, parenting payment, and family tax benefit. I may not live a life of luxury, but my kids never go hungry.
I don't say this to rub it in your face, but so you burn the place to the ground until the US can at least match a moderate welfare state
@textualdeviance @mathowie @waldoj
It's a Republican thing. I volunteer at a soup kitchen where, of course, people eat for free, including children. Many of the other volunteers are evangelicals. They are very happy to give people food.
@textualdeviance @mathowie @waldoj
It's a Christian place, but no specific denomination. Sometimes there are people who hand out Christian fliers but no one has to take them. And the volunteers don't have to be religious - there are different types of Christians, a few Hindus/Sikhs (I think, but didn't ask them), an atheist or two...
I don't know how most of the people there vote, and I'm sure not everyone has the same beliefs and attitudes, but overall the place is full of real love - it's not a gimmick. And there is no secular place in town that feeds people every day; just one Christian place and one Sikh place.
Volunteering there has changed my life for the better.
@TheZorse @mathowie @waldoj And there we have it. If your local government did try to provide these services without any of the religious framing, I can pretty much guarantee some of those evangelicals you think are good people would show a very different side of themselves.
In the words of Stephen Sondheim: "Nice" is different than "good." My mom seems like a total sweetheart on the surface. She's also a racist, Trump-voting anti-vaxer who thinks everyone who isn't baptized is going to Hell.
@textualdeviance @mathowie @waldoj
Sorry, I didn't mention that I'm not American. I'm from one of those Western countries (i.e. all of them except the U.S.) that has free health care and strict gun laws. (Our conservatives are generally more liberal than the Democrats.)
@TheZorse @textualdeviance @mathowie @waldoj are you per chance in a place where evangelical sounds like protestant? Because it's the specific radical Calvinist protestant tradition, not all protestants that is meant here.
@TheZorse @mathowie @waldoj American evangelicals and similar sects are a completely different breed than most of the Protestant splinter groups one finds elsewhere. I'm talking about groups like the 25% of the country that believes in Biblical literalism and young-Earth creationism. If that doesn't describe your evangelicals, then they're definitely different than ours.
@textualdeviance @mathowie @waldoj
The Biblical literalism does describe some of them, but that kind of antagonistic, cruel attitude I read about American evangelicals isn't much of a thing here. I'm sure it exists, but it isn't something I've encountered or heard anyone talk about. And as far as social programs go, that's just a normal thing here. If anyone opposes them, it would be far more likely to be capitalists than Christians, specifically.
These people at the soup kitchen are good people. I might not see 100% eye to eye with them, but they have good hearts. That's why I spoke up. :)
@TheZorse @textualdeviance @mathowie @waldoj of course not all evangelicals are the same, but in my experience, a majority of evangelicals like to seem like heroes -in the name of their savior.
But they tend to vote for really regressive GOVERNMENT "policies"
IOW: We wouldn't need soup kitchens if they voted for larger governmental safety nets…
but they are often persuaded to vote for incredibly regressive people/policies.
@textualdeviance @mathowie @waldoj Evangelicals are a blight upon the world.
Imagine being the guy who has to somehow justify in his own head the idea that kids shouldn't be allowed to eat even when the means are readily available. How does a person like that even sleep at night?
with a nice bonus at the end of the year, probably
And an unshakable (and indefensible) belief that, if God loved them they wouldn't be poor, and it God doesn't love them they are worthless.
@tstrike78 @waldoj Comfortably in their coffins?
@waldoj It is the United States in the year 2054. For unclear reasons, all social services are run by Indian tribes.
This seems a little odd administratively, but most observers agree that it could be a lot worse.
Stitt-for-brains is as reprehensible as Greg Abbott. I still can't believe Stitt actually ran on the fact he is a member of the Cherokee Nation. Then he started his Killer Moon routine, attempting to revoke agreements with & benefits from the tribal nations. Now he wants children to go hungry.
We could've had Joy Hoffmeister, but Okies love shooting themselves in the foot!
@waldoj Proud to have Cherokee Ancestry
@waldoj I feel really strongly that North America would be a better place if put back into the hands of its original inhabitants.
@LillyHerself @waldoj i suspect you already know this (or for others reading this who may be unfamiliar with the movement) but just in case, you might check out the #LandBack hashtag to pick up on some of the efforts being made here on stolen north american land.
@peachfiend @waldoj Thanks for the tip. I've followed that hashtag now.
@waldoj the symbolism of this is stunning
@waldoj I’m part Chickasaw. The work these five tribes in Oklahoma are doing together for health care, education, food access, even economic development in the state is HUGE. I’d love to see a great story that really illuminates the amazing work of these tribes (just back from a trip in Choctaw Nation, lots of great facilities).
Glad we escaped last year. And thank the maker for the tribes - they have to bail out the white people all the time.
@waldoj
Republicans: fuck them kids
Natives: we got you fam
White supremacy burying itself.
@waldoj something I imagine in these kind of scenarios is the frustrated meetings/bar conversations that must happen among the grocery store lobbyists. “These politicians, whom we have purchased with good money, are literally refusing simply alllow these federal dollars to be spent in our state at our stores! What is wrong with them???”
The Cruelty is the Point.
"Cruelty to children, particularly malnutrition for children, is what Republican megadonors want.
Billionaires don't want to pay taxes, any taxes, and starving kids is how they think they evade taxation.
The GOP does nothing but donor maintenance. "
https://www.propublica.org/article/jeff-yass-susquehanna-tiktok-tax-avoidance
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/09/jeff-yass-millions-to-influence-schools-courts-and-markets.html
https://theintercept.com/2024/03/21/house-republicans-ban-universal-school-lunches/
https://newrepublic.com/post/180574/gop-state-official-threatens-biden-ballot
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/florida-playbook/2024/01/18/floridas-food-00136308
https://www.motherjones.com/food/2024/02/summer-ebt-subsidies-kids-pandemic-nutrition-kim-reynolds/
https://www.businessinsider.com/house-republican-budget-universal-free-school-lunch-2024-3
@waldoj The richest country in the world.
@waldoj
Life does go in circles
Here we have the Native Americans feeding the latecomers that are too inept to feed their own...again
@waldoj@mastodon.social reminds me of tribes right off the trail of tears donating to famine relief in Ireland
@waldoj Governor says, he doesn't believe in welfare, according to the article.
No, where have I read about "promote the general Welfare"?
@waldoj Does anyone know what the tribal nations are feuding with Stitt about as the article links to?
@DrSuzanne @waldoj a lot, namely around interpretation and limits (or not) of the McGirt v Oklahoma decision that remanded tribal oversight of tribal citizens back to the tribes. Stitt keeps trying to limit the interpretation and application of it in the state. He also tried to unilaterally declare treaties as “dead” and just create his own rules. But the tribes are fighting back on that too (as is the Oklahoma state legislature and AG, interestingly).
i don't think the europeans are civilized enough to manage their own affairs, really. they let their own kids starve in abject poverty. indians should govern the entire state, for europeans' own good.
@waldoj @JessTheUnstill Oklahoma's government just sounds like a bunch of cartoonishly evil bastards who want to make life harder for the folks living there. Doing this to kids? Com on! I'm glad the tribes are stepping up though.