I just watched the first episode of “can you survive on the breadline?” I watched as you got annoyed with Pierre buying cigerettes over food. Addiction is real and if cigerettes is the only joy they have in their life let them have that. No one says anything when a rich person lights up do they? The price of cigerettes is massive and that’s because of the government tax so think of it as Pierre recycling his money back into tax.
I no longer smoke. When my dad got lung cancer and asked me to quit I did, I won’t lie I still crave them at times especially when the anxiety kicks in. Not all of us on jobseeker or dsp do. In fact I believe the rates of smoking have been consistently dropping over the years. My mum who was on dsp smoked till her death in 2016 she figured with her disabilities limiting her to being mostly housebound that having only one bad habit was allowed. After all we all have at least one.
you’ve now opened up Pierre to the abuse of the right wing commentators maybe you did it unintentionally but nonetheless it’s been done. The “if he gave up his pets and smokes he’d be okay” brigade has already begun. The “even if he is poor he could clean up his house” people will be out in full force and most likely Pierre will read these comments. He will be left lingering on them long after you’ve gone back to your comfortable life.
last year I gave an interview about the jobseeker supplement and if it helped me. I had explained that it had and that it gave me the ability to eat properly with fresh food and veg. That my A1C had lowered and that I’d lost weight. During this time I also didn’t need an iron infusion and most importantly I had money to travel to my dads appointments and to see him and spend as much time as possible with him because he had stage 4 cancer. He’s sadly since passed
that interview was shared to conservative pages on Facebook and I was literally ripped apart with “lazy bitch get a job” “she can afford hair dye and make up though” “she’s fat so she’s not starving” “her dad will be happy when he dies to get away from her” “bludger”
I’ve been trying for 6 years to get a job. I spent 22 years caring for my mum from the ages of 12 to 34. I have a painful skin condition that impacts everything. Some days I can’t even walk without feeling like my skin is tearing. I also have myasthenia gravis bpd ocd ptsd depression anxiety and bereavement disorder. In 6 years after applying for thousands of jobs I’ve had one phone interview. Nobody wants to hire a disabled 40 yo with no experience. I’ve been told by my doctor I’m unfit for work but applying for dsp is a whole different challenge that I don’t have the money or energy for
each fortnight I pay my rent, water electricity and my medical supplies scripts etc ( a lot of guaze) and whatever’s left I use for food. This mainly consists of bread, rolls, pasta, potatoes sausages,all the food that isn’t great but will fill you up as cheaply as possible I usually skip breakfast and lunch to save money so by the time it’s dinner time I’m really hungry and I fill up the cheapest way I can.
yesterday my doctor confirmed that my last blood test showed I’m suffering from malnutrition and scurvy. Let that sink in a moment. It’s 2021 in such a “lucky” country as Australia and I have malnutrition and scurvy. The diagnosis of scurvy is made when someone’s vitamin c level is below 11 mine is a 3. The doctor explained that I’m not malnourished because I do eat but I’m malnutritioned because the food I have access to isn’t nutritious. Ffs I asked for groceries for my birthday. Nobody chooses to be in poverty. Nobody wants to live the way I and others do. Always on edge in case something breaks or trying to decide between bus fare and bread.
I’m not writing this for sympathy but genuine concern that you’ve missed the mark on the first episode and to ask you to do better. Living in poverty is our lives youre merely a visitor who now has gone back to being comfortable. We still live in hell that circumstances beyond our control has landed us in. There’s no escape for people like me. This show in a few months will be forgotten about just like us people on welfare. We only seem to exist for ratings or when people want to punch down. We sometimes exist when the government wants us to help fix the economy but even that brings more hate towards us. Poverty is a trap that I’ve been in my entire life and I’m tired of it being made to look like I somehow deserve to be in it.
this is just my thoughts on it feel free to discard them like the government has