YOUR SAY: Are we really doing it tough?
WE'RE not all doing it tough according to Daily News readers, who have voiced their opinions on just how hard people in the Rose City have it at the moment.
Daily News reader pussyfoot from Stanthorpe said he was shocked at a poll in which 50% of readers declared they were doing it tough.
POLL RESIDENT'S BACKS TO THE WALLS
"Surely to goodness there are not that many people "doing it tough" in this country," he wrote.
I am aware there are people in need in Australia but 50% - that seems a bit far fetched to me."
pussyfoot, an aged pensioner, said with planning he could live a comfortable life.
"I am not at every social event, I don't smoke and I drink only on a rare occasion but I class myself as very lucky to receive money every fortnight from the government," he said.
"Lots of people in other countries don't have that luxury."
Woowoonga resident tstevens said the majority of people would say they're doing it tough, even millionaires. "My humble suggestion for the Salvos and similar charities is to encourage periodic budgets from those in genuine need and present these documents to the media as proof of what we all really know: the poor are slipping through the safety net," tstevens wrote."Naturally, the names and personal details would remain private and not be published. But the facts would be enough to show the claim is genuine and would have far more of an impact than just making claims once a year."
Toowoomba reader Rai_o_Sunshine had a more sympathetic view, writing that some people repeated cruel and ignorant urban myths to suggest battlers deserved their situation.
"I'm still reminded of the time when an unnamed elected representative berated me (in a "mental health awareness" morning tea) because, in their mind, my volunteering "empowered the poor" to "waste their money" on booze, nicotine, gambling and illegal substances," Rai_o_Sunshine wrote.
"They didn't like it when I gave case studies, such as the couple who owned their two-bedroom house when the courts awarded them custody of "more than a few" grandchildren."
