From the inside—how she escaped the welfare trap

Tinker writes on Facebook:

“I have been a life long conservative (not to be confused as a Republican) because of how I watched the “system” take advantage of my mother’s propensity toward drugs, alcohol and terrible men. She had 5 children from 3 men (not husbands) and fed her addictions more than she fed her children. She would bring her destructive “love” relationships into the home and subject her kids to the inevitable destruction that was to be our “normal” way of living.

She was on every subsistence available to her, and learned how to game the system with precision. Welfare would occasionally call to schedule an appointment for a “welfare check” and with that handy little heads up, my mother would move her man’s clothes etc., out of the house so that it appeared to be just her, a poor pathetic abused woman, and her five hungry kids struggling to make ends meet. As a CHILD I saw that this was wrong and hopeless, but the checks kept coming . . .yet somehow life never got better.

My mom was never truly helped by any of these handouts, in fact quite the opposite. But more importantly, her children were absolutely never helped by this government “assistance “. It became a lifestyle, a career actually for my mother until the day she died at 39 due to a (rather short) lifetime of drug and alcohol abuse. She learned how to sell food stamps for cash, and work a waitressing job (for cash) while still collecting “government assistance “. And make no mistake, it’s a community. All of her friends were exactly the same, and all of their kids had the same look of despair as my mothers children.

I am so grateful, GRATEFUL that I somehow saw the reality of this cycle of abuse (and that’s what it is!) that was perpetrated on our family. I truly believe that the “system” saw all of us kids as future Democrats. I really do. I left home at 16, moved in with a friend and her family, finished high school and began building my own life. Happy in the struggle of it too because I knew I was free. Free from being held down by a system that promised to give me clothes and food if I would remain faithful to the system. No way!

Then for some reason, though my mother was anything but political, I was drawn to such things. In the 10th grade I was intrigued by Ronald Reagan. The media hated him, my teachers weren’t crazy about him and sometimes said the most awful things about him, but I just couldn’t believe these things were true of someone who had been elected by the people of America. My father had been in the army, my grandfather and uncle had served in the Air Force, so at heart, I was a patriot (I didn’t really know that term then), but I really loved America. So I began listening to Ronald Reagan, and then I wrote him a couple of letters. . . .and he wrote back! My first ability to vote was in his re-election, I was 19 and I couldn’t have been more proud to cast my vote for him.

My whole extended family (as I later learned) were blue blood Democrats, so I guess I defected from tradition without knowing it. We never openly discussed politics in my family. So, I can truly say that I have always been a conservative. Not because I was trained to be such, but because life’s struggles and lessons had shaped me in that direction, and I learned first hand the rewards of hard work. It just made sense to me.

I am also a woman who loves Jesus, I have since I was a very young girl. He is (quite literally) my Savior. I think it is SO IMPORTANT to know what you believe, and WHY you believe it. Because THAT is what makes us authentic, and real, right down to our soul. Our beliefs cannot simply be an “anthem” or some clever meme, they must reveal who we are and act as a compass, or we will crumble when the storms of life come blowing through, or fall for silver tongued politicians who say what our itching ears may want to hear.

Thank you Brandon [Walkaway campaign] for your courage, your honesty and most importantly, your willingness to use your life to help others in the struggle. Your interview with Mark Levin was captivating and raw and I found myself praying for you and thanking God for your strength and willingness to accept something that had been so contrary to your previous beliefs. Continue to shine your light of truth so that others can break free from the bonds of emotional entrapment which the Left has so skillfully kept them strapped to.