After a 14 year journey that consisted of paying various fees at every step of the way, filling application forms, submitting biometrics, having criminal background and medical checks, attending USCIS interviews, submitting originals & photocopies of documents, standing in the line and following all the rules patiently, I finally became a proud US citizen last week. I love this country. My first job in my country of origin paid no salary. Today, American capitalism has allowed our family to be in the top 1% of income after years of working hard and just minding our business. My whole family back in the country of my origin is so supportive and impressed with what a great country America is and how anyone who comes there is given an opportunity to get a better life. I'm a living example of this. I started with nothing back in my home country. I would have been nothing back there. But this country's ideals of preserving life, freedom & letting you pursue what makes you happy gave me a chance.
I want to write more but this is a quick post after I got pissed off finding out that Reddit banned TheDonald. And now I'm noticing that there's a concerted effort by big tech to shutdown Trump and his supporters.
BRING IT ON.
I'm glad I discovered this forum after reddit shutdown The Donald. And I started a Parler account too. I don't need them stupid big tech sites that think they can dictate every facet of my life..
These guys can try hard. I'm hyped up about watching The Meltdown - The Sequel this November with more screaming into the sky.
While living in the US, I have never faced a racist incident from a republican. Infact, my best experiences and friends have been conservatives. All the in-your-face racist and subtle racist comments I've got are while I worked in lefty cities like New York city from people of a particular race who are not white. And you know what? I didn't give a damn... I just ignored it and went on my life instead of being a cry baby about it. I've had and experienced far worse from the country I came from and while I grew up in another monarchy in the Arabian gulf. Grow a thick skin you entitled cry babies.
I bought nice big American flag and a bunch of smaller ones last week for July 4th and will be sticking that nice big American flag some 15 feet high on my home.
I'm tired and sick of these violent intolerant socialist lefty facist racist bigots being allowed to destroy this country and get a free pass from the educational institutions, media institutions and even the governmental institutions. I left my country to esape this crap and these idiots made their way here? What a shame that this great country has to endure! Notice that every blackface controversy in the media is from self righteous white lefty democrat - Governor of Virginia, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Joy Behar. Outside the US? Trudeau. Gimme a break. And Republicans are the racists???? Gimme a break!
Welcome to the American family, new citizen! Since you're an immigrant whose family has done very well here financially, please look for opportunities to provide some direct financial assistance to hard-working native-born Americans who have been financially decimated by the pandemic restrictions and/or rioting-looting. A lot of people are really hurting right now, through no fault of their own.
I'm totally sympathetic to what you said because it's been very painful for me and my wife to see and hear of people losing their jobs, go through pay cuts, furlows... our own neighbors who had to pull their kids out of daycare to see where they can save on cash after a pay cut and expectations of a layoff and talking to people asking me about credit cards they could apply for (I'm a credit card nerd). So many Americans hurting right now. We were already involved in supporting the needs of US families in various communities through the church we attend. During this pandemic, we made some big ticket purchases we were holding off all along through local contractors. and buy more local and be a little bit more liberal in our spending. But yeah, I'm on the same page on needing to do more directly where it hurts. Food banks are one area we occasionally contribute to but I'd be interested to know about organizations that reach out to families who are hurting right now due to a job loss and can't make ends meet if such an organization exists.
Thank you for all you and your family are already doing! If you have the ability to do more, I'd suggest checking with some local businesses that you do business with or whose owners you are personally well-acquainted with, who probably also have some customers that are in serious financial trouble and for whom some very small contributions could really make a huge difference.
Some people just need gas money to get to work, if they still have a job at all -- they may be getting fewer hours, or fewer tips, or are just returning to work after a laid-off period that wiped them out financially, or are in a household that was barely getting by with two adults working, and now only one has work.
Some people need urgent vehicle repairs to be able to get to work, and just can't afford it -- local mechanics may be willing to donate their labor or defer payment for their labor for established customers who are really hurting, but can't really afford to pay out of pocket for parts too. If you know an independent vehicle repair business (i.e. that works on long out-of-warranty vehicles), maybe offer to help by paying for urgently needed parts. Also some people have financed the purchase of very modest used cars, and will lose the car to repossession if they miss an insurance payment. Check with any local insurance agents you know and trust, who might be in a position to know about people in this situation. Agents are already getting hit financially by lots of people dropping policies they just can't afford to keep.
Also think about how important pets are to people who are losing jobs, homes, vehicles, etc. When people are at the end of their rope, often a sense of responsibility to a beloved pet is the only thing that keeps them from giving up completely and maybe even committing suicide, but what happens when they can't even feed the pet? Help make sure your local food banks have dog and cat food (and cat litter for people whose living situation doesn't make it possible letting the cat use the outdoors as their potty).
I'm sure you can think of a lot of other things. Just look around you for really necessary things that may be falling through the cracks, that you could help with in a way that you can be sure your hard-earned money is not being misused.