A few days ago, there was an extremely snarky post trending on reddit.com called “An open letter to Ann Romney.” Someone who identified herself as “Just Another Mom” (or as we’ll address her henceforth: JAM) wrote a letter which emblemized the snide self-righteousness that many liberals use as a bludgeon against their opponents in lieu of argument and reason. JAM’s angst would be better directed toward women such as these girls.
Ann Romney herself would be much too classy to respond to such a cheap attack, and the act would be beneath her. Fortunately, for old Frick, these are not concerns. So for Mrs. Romney, cancer-survivor & M.S. sufferer, mother of five boys turned upstanding men, and potential First Lady of the United States, I respond:
Dear JAM,
Perhaps you can advise me. I see that you’re in some difficult circumstances in your life and that you face some serious challenges. It’s unfortunate you’ve chosen to project your frustration onto a public woman who hasn’t said an ill word about you or presumed to preach to you how to live your life. Lashing out at others for where you find yourself in life is a disappointing and unproductive exercise.
While I don’t know the particulars of how you’ve come to be in your situation, whether through death of a spouse or unavoidable alienation from the rest of your family, your situational isolation is illustrative of the tragic social upheaval caused by postmodern progressivism and its deleterious effect on 21st century American culture and economics. However, since we cannot time travel and reverse the various environmental factors leading to your situation, such as the consistent election of Democrats, I will attempt to address your concerns as best I can.
First, your boss sounds like a huge jerk. I can only assume that since you’re staying in a job with hostile management and no health insurance, that your economic and geographic mobility are limited. The rest of this letter will move forward on that assumption, because if you are not limited by these factors, your letter moves from frustrated venting to vicious and lazy petulance. Out of an abundance of charity, I will presume the former.
Your healthcare situation is unfortunately more common than it should be. Current regulations and tax treatment put in place by progressive legislators have prevented health insurance from becoming personal, portable, and affordable. Since we are limited to working within the current system, I ask: if you make too much money to qualify for Medicaid, have you applied for SCHIP? Since I don’t know your personal income or number of children, you may find this chart at http://www.chipmedicaid.org/en/Can-I-Get-It as a useful starting point in determining which program you qualify for. I presume since you found internet access to conduct your unproductive venting exercise, you also can find internet access to determine the quickest route to get your child(ren) health insurance.
As for your current employment situation, have you explored work-from-home employment opportunities? In the 21st century economy, many such opportunities exist, and employers have become more flexible in this regard. If this is not an option, some employers also contract with local ‘sick daycare’ for as little as $10 a day in cost to the employee. I would also make sure you’re getting the full benefit of the Earned Income Tax Credit, which could provide you with additional funds exceeding $5,000 every April. You can find eligibility and credit information at http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=150513,00.html. Again, if you have time to waste on the internet (maybe this is why you get bad performance reviews?), you should have time to explore these and other options, options which are streamlined for your ease of use at http://www.benefits.gov/.
While these inefficient and cumbersome government programs are not my favorite approach to assisting you in your plight, due to systematic marginalization of social institutions such as local charity groups, religious organizations, and the basic family, as well as the negative and costly distortions of government intrusion into sectors such as healthcare, these programs appear to be what decades of progressive activism have left us with.
Despite all your best efforts, you will still very likely find yourself in a lifelong struggle to make ends meet. This is the reality of life for tens of millions of Americans, but in this paycheck-to-paycheck struggle, you shouldn’t lose site of the fact that you live in a country where there is the option to take your child to an emergency room and be guaranteed care, or that if you lose your job or don’t make enough money, your fellow citizens will provide you with countless avenues to get you by until you get back on your feet. Child soldiers in Sudan or destitute Tibetan mothers would happily swap the American concept of ‘getting by’ with their concept of ‘getting by.’
Your final question, asking Ann Romney what she would do in this situation, used as a rhetorical weapon, is senseless. The question is not what would Ann Romney do, but what would you do? That’s the only question that needs to be asked, and one that only you can answer.
Sincerely,
Just Another American
BIASBREAKDOWN 