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A Tom Simpson Image at Flickr Creative Commons
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Slate’s advice columnist Prudence responds to a letter
complaining of the cost of candy he or she needs to buy for the poor kids
trick-or-treating in their rich neighborhood.
Although this person is not politically identified, he or
she certainly thinks like a Republican: poor people are a burden on society,
they need to make their own way, resources should not be redistributed to help
those in need.
It’s a stark reminder of why I am a Liberal.
Here’s the letter:
“Dear Prudence,
I live in one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the
country, but on one of the more “modest” streets—mostly doctors and lawyers and
family business owners. (A few blocks away are billionaires, families with
famous last names, media moguls, etc.) I have noticed that on Halloween, what
seems like 75 percent of the trick-or-treaters are clearly not from this
neighborhood. Kids arrive in overflowing cars from less fortunate areas. I feel
this is inappropriate. Halloween isn’t a social service or a charity in which I
have to buy candy for less fortunate children. Obviously this makes me feel
like a terrible person, because what’s the big deal about making less fortunate
kids happy on a holiday? But it just bugs me, because we already pay more than
enough taxes toward actual social services. Should Halloween be a neighborhood
activity, or is it legitimately a free-for-all in which people hunt down the
best candy grounds for their kids?”
Read Prudence’s
response here: Kids from poorer neighborhoods keep coming
to trick-or-treat in mine. Do I have to give them candy?
Prudence’s advice: “Stop being callous and miserly and go to Costco, you
cheapskate, and get enough candy to fill the bags of the kids who come one day
a year to marvel at how the 1 percent live.”
Here’s reader Libby
Anne’s, a blogger for Patheos, response: Yes, I Bring My Poor Children
Trick-or-Treating in Your Rich Neighborhood
However, Libby hopes
that she will be “… part of the solution rather than becoming part of the
problem.”
In the Dear Prudence
letter the person says, “Obviously this makes me feel like a terrible person …..”
And it should. But if the letter is authentic, it makes my blood boil.
Copyright © 2014 Horatio Green
