Virginia Schutte – 2/8/08

This page was last updated on February 12, 2008.

Picking on the poor; Virginia Schutte; Beaver County Times; February 8, 2008.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“In response to the Jan. 31 letter to the editor ‘Don’t pick on the poor:’”

[RWC] Who picks on the poor? Read the letter to which Ms. Schutte refers and you find John Conkle wrote about rising prices. Both Mr. Conkle and Ms. Schutte appear to believe “the poor” are victims.

“I think I have the answer. When I chose to have children, I chose to be on welfare to raise my babies. What kind of parent am I to go to work and risk my babies with someone who might abuse them?”

[RWC] Yep, that’s right folks. Ms. Schutte admitted she chose to have kids despite the fact she knew she could not afford to raise them without handouts from her neighbors and other taxpayers. Even worse, it appears Ms. Schutte believes she did the right thing.

Let’s rewrite Ms. Schutte’s question to ask, what kind of parent is she that she would choose to have children she knows she can’t afford to raise?

“I went through the stares using the welfare card, and I may have heard a whisper now and then.

“My children’s father now stays home so I decided to get a job. I’ve held a job since November, a job that’s harder than a restaurant job. I climb abut [sic] 20 feet in the air to fill customers auto orders.”

[RWC] Did you catch which word is missing from this paragraph? That’s right, husband. Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but Ms. Schutte referred to her “children’s father,” not her husband. Is Ms. Schutte married to her “children’s father?” Yes, it matters.

We also don’t know why “children’s father now stays home.” The way the letter is written, it sounds like the “children’s father” left or lost his job and then Ms. Schutte “decided to get a job.” It doesn’t sound like something they planned. In effect, did they just switch which of them receives welfare? Should the “children’s father” return to work, will Ms. Schutte return to welfare?

“People only pick on others because of appearances or how they act. If you think hard about it, why pick on the poor when the rich have drug and alcohol problems, abusive relationships and abuse their own children?

“Before anyone picks on a poor person, watch television news where all the rich people are being arrested for abuse, alcohol, drugs and false use of money.”

[RWC] For more background about Ms. Schutte, read one of her previous letters (“Little people don’t matter”; Beaver County Times; August 8, 2006).

“The mayor of Pittsburgh is in the hospital sick. My son has an incurable condition. The only way they are alike is that they both have fluid (water) on the brain.

“The differences are as follows.

“Bob O’Connor - mayor - power - more money than I will ever see and portrayed on TV.

“My son - four-years-old - just a little boy - forgotten.

“Get over it, people. The mayor lived his life. There are babies dying every day with the same condition. Where are my son’s prayers, letters and his five minutes of fame on TV?

“I’ve learned in this life if you don’t have lots of money, own a condo, drive a fancy car or have a title behind your name, you’re a nobody.

“Thanks, people, for caring.”

Notice how the caring Ms. Schutte (“Get over it, people. The mayor lived his life.”) failed to mention at that time she had her child despite the fact she knew she could not afford to raise him.