Heard this Kid on the Radio Today

[SSG Snuggle Bunny]

Adam Shepherd, author of Scratch Beginnings: Me, $25, and the Search for the American Dream

From the amazon.com write-up:

Is the American Dream still alive or has it, in fact, been drowned out by a clashing of the classes? Is the upper class destined to rule forever while the lower classes are forced to live in the same cyclical misery? Millions of Americans fight for the answers to these questions every day, and here, in Scratch Beginnings, one man makes the attempt at discovering the answers for himself. Carrying only a sleeping bag, $25, and the clothes on his back, and restricted from using his contacts or his education, Adam Shepard sets out for a randomly selected city with one goal on his mind: work his way out of the realities of homelessness and into a life that will offer him the opportunity for success. Scratch Beginnings is Shepard's response to the now-famous books Nickel and Dimed and Bait and Switch, where Barbara Ehrenreich has written on the hopeless pursuit of the American Dream. This book offers his observation of what it is like for so many people on the lower end of the spectrum, the blunt end of the stick. In this poignant account, Shepard goes on a search for the vitality of the American Dream, and, in turn, discovers so much more. Scratch Beginnings is unquestionably one of the most engaging works of the social science genre. No matter your reading interest, Shepard's facile writing style is sure to keep you turning the pages.

http://www.amazon.com/Scratch-Beginnings-Search-American-Dream/dp/0979692601

Nutshell: he gave himself 12 months to obtain a furnished apartment, a car and $2,500 savings. He accomplished those goals--admittedly the car was old and the apartment less than grand--in 10 onths.

He spent a great deal of his air-time talking about the variety of people he met from the down-and-out types to the derelicts to the ones that helped him along the way.

[Chris_]

It would be interesting to see what aid, if any, he received from the government. I am betting none.

I am convinced that government welfare is designed to keep one dependent on the system. Welfare also "keeps" people from helping others. Shit, welfare has never worked right.

[CactusCarlos]

Show this story to a liberal and it would be like garlic to a vampire. 

[NHSparky]

6 TRILLION dollars pissed away since the "Great Society" programs came out, and poverty, homelessness, and other social ills are as great as ever.

Yet the libs think throwing more of YOUR money at the problem will solve it.  Not unless and until the unwashed get their dead asses off the couch.

[Ptarmigan]

So inspirational. The vicious cycle of poverty can be broken and people are freed from the bondage of poverty.

[SSG Snuggle Bunny]

Show this story to a liberal and it would be like garlic to a vampire. 

Comments in the youtube videos of him are full whining libs.

"So an athletic white kid can make it. Big deal." sort of stuff.

I can only wonder what they say about the film "Pursuit of Happyness."

[Uhhuh35]

I can only wonder what they say about the film "Pursuit of Happyness."

I never saw that movie, what was the story line?

[SSG Snuggle Bunny]

I can only wonder what they say about the film "Pursuit of Happyness."

I never saw that movie, what was the story line?

Black man and his son abandoned by wife. They end up homeless. He stays positive, good moral man who becomes rich through hard work.

The bastard!