ITVS: Talkback


			OUTRIDERS

Tell us what you think about OUTRIDERS.

Selected submissions will be posted here, so check back regularly and join the discussion.

05/27/2004
Sharon
Sharon.Fernando@mbs.gov.on.ca
Canada

I'm a social work student and we watched the film in class yesterday. It was one of the most heart breaking films I've seen. It made me angry as Canada and the U.S are two of the richest countries in the world. If you ever plan to organize a bus trip like that again please tell me as I would want to be part of such a passionate fight. Thank You and well done on showing the truth.

11/18/2003
Ashley
Colorado

I think that we have many of our own problems in this country. We really don't need to be worrying about the other countries and their problems. We give billions, the idea in this is give billions of our money to other countries to help or rebuild their struggling economy when we have millions of our own people dying each day of starvation, or living on the streets with their family because the don' t have the support they need. Why don't we loan our money rather then just give it away? This is something the rich look past each day. Think about it. Support America before we support Iraq etc.

WIT's End Farm
Dowelltown, TN

A small group of us in the hills of Tennessee watched this film last night and immediately identified with the struggle and strength of the New Freedom Bus riders. The war on the poor is not just about "those people" but about all American workers, including those barely surviving on government programs today. We were inspired by these leaders from the big city, and we are joining them in the movement to end poverty!

Maggie

Montreal

It's late & I'm tired, but I just watched "Outriders" on Vermont Public Television and I had to write to tell you how moved I was by your actions! I was crying and angry. I helped start an anti-poverty group here in my neighborhood in Montreal (an English 'hood in a
French-speaking city) about ten years ago, and though welfare rights have gone downhill since then, we in Canada don't have it as bad as people in the U.S. And it's pretty bad here. I wrote a message to the VPT station managers to ask them why they show programs like your documentary at very late hours of the night, instead of a time when more people will be likely to watch it. I think many think that poverty is not a very 'sexy' issue to get
involved with, and the programs they show earlier are all (this week anyway) about fireworks & marching bands to keep people thinking that all is well in the land of the free and the home of the brave (I was born in NYC, my grandparents were immigrants to the lower east side tenements). I also asked them if we should be like so-called dictator-led countries that monitor what people can see in the media. I also thanked them for airing Outrider. But I felt they needed to hear my feeling too, even though I can't afford to send donations to their Public TV station. I'm the public too. I was most moved by the young man, Jason (right name?), whose mother met him in NY, but left just before he expressed his Voice in song in front of the crowd, despite his grief & sadness. I lost a young adult son 12 years ago to suicide. I could not always be there for him & I wonder how sad he was because he didn't understand the whole picture. Watching Jason's political awareness and self-love grow was just so incredible. This is what makes the world go round, as they say, not the billions of dollars in the few corporations and military banks. Although we all could use some of the natural & created riches that are being horded by so few compared to the many who are suffering as I write. I send my thoughts of support and love to Jason (I so hope that's the right name) and all of you in the coming days, and right now.

frank nedry
frank307@webtv.net
alexandria,va.

Thank you itvs and peter kinoy and pamela yates. I just saw the outriders piece and was amazed. The courage and determination of the people on that bus cannot be described. And those people should not be forgotten or ignored. Do you know if they are continuing their efforts as a group and how to get in touch with them. I would like to help. Thank you again for a touching and informative look at people who are no different from anyone else but for the conditions of their early lives.

Harmony
worldhome@thesociety.net

As someone who has been homeless on two different occasions, and who now considers herself in many ways an "economic refugee" from the US, I really applaud and support Outrider's work. I have just added the link to this site to my Homeless Resources (WorldHome) Webpage:

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Agora/7076/causes.html

For my part, I became homeless due to a combination of a too-low-paying job with no benefits/too high rental, and an accident/injury on the job. There is a serious lack of affordable housing in the US, and the minimum wage is not adequate for any sustainable life that I can see.Those conditions, plus the prevalent attitude of criminalizing the poor, and harassing us, and making it illegal to even cover ourselves with blankets in some places (Santa Cruz), are a call to action.
I am very happy you took this to the UN. Bless you people!!

Harmony

http://www.planetsave.com/communities/user/?ID=Harmony

Noel
blckkwll@pacbell.net
CA

I was channel flipping, about to go to bed, when the show caught my eye. It really amazed me. It was very aw-inspiring. Its the type of thing where when u see it it really opens your eyes to things u eithere didn't know or were trying to ignore. Especialy the story on Jason. It was very emotional for me when he decided to turn himself in so that he could clear his name in order to better enable himself to help others. I wish i could have been a part of that. If there is anything i can do pleez let me know. I would really like to do my part in helping better our society like the outrider did. They are truly an exceptional group of individuals.

Poverty in the US is the result of greed, sanctioned by the government and our tax system, and further encouraged by Darwin economics. If you ain't well-off, you must be doing something wrong <LOL!>. Or you should've saved for that emergency <LOL!>. Or you should go back to school and get a better job - like tuition is free. Like you can do that AND work AND raise your kids.....

There's no decent fallback for people who need help in the U.S., so everybody grows up with this idea that they MUST be greedy, and acquire every dollar they possibly can, or they'll be s*!% out of luck if they have an unforeseeable catastrophe. So nobody will pay much more than minimum wage unless they really have to. And so then a whole lot of people can barely survive, and have been brainwashed into thinking they can't band together, complain, get the union in.....

The rich get all kinds of tax cuts. Like they really need 'em. Like if you actually PAID 25% of $200,000 per year, you wouldn't be able to buy food or keep a roof over your head.

And the Republicans keep trying to cut or take away the Earned Income Credit, and start these savings programs that are tax deductible. Like the poor can itemize. Like we couldn't find a use for an extra $500 a year - AS IF that could go into some savings plan. Like people who get EIC can actually SAVE something. Like they use EIC to go to the Riviera for a month. Like they don't use that money to catch up on bills, or turn their utilities back on....

The rich want to get richer, of course. And they can do it by keeping the poor poorer. There's only Survival of the Fittest here, and blaming the poor for their own predicament, while bemoaning the fact that it's hard for them to get good help at minimum wage. Do people this dumb really deserve to be rich?

My job hasn't had a raise in 10 years. It's outsourced now, so there's another layer of profit that has to be taken out of what the purchaser of the service is willing to pay. We no longer get benefits, as we did when we were working in-house. We who perform the work just keep getting poorer, yet the service provider we work for can't understand why nobody wants to do this job any more. Ha! Everybody complains about this, but nobody will even talk to a union. Maybe we're so dumb we deserve this....

So the working poor do stuff like: Let the insurance on the car lapse (risking fines and legal hassles), but keep the car because otherwise you can't work without it, or can't get your very young children to school. Let your teeth rot out because no dentist is affordable except the free clinic, but you'll miss a day of work, and you can't afford *that.* Juggle bills like you wouldn't believe, every single month. Literally PRAY that 10+ year old car doesn't break down until tax refund time. Get sick and don't go to the doctor unless you're reasonably sure it's really, really serious - then go to the emergency room that'll take you, and toss the bill in the trash when it comes. You can't afford the medication anyway.

If you happen to own your home (and, yes, you can be a poor homeowner), learn to fix a whole lot of stuff yourself - but of course you won't have time to do it all, and some stuff you won't be able to fix, so everything deteriorates. You might not be able to afford the materials, anyway.

Listen to your child's teacher tell you s/he needs tutoring - and it's only $45 an hour. You make about $10 per hour and raise a few children on it.....

Get down so low with all the above that you wonder if you have depression - but, heck, you don't have the time or money for a Diagnosis. So you struggle on.

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