Dear Dave Ramsey…
…recently you were interviewed on the Fox News network, and you discussed financial issues, including student debt forgiveness and the possibility of stimulus checks for citizens.
In the middle of that interview, you made the statement,
“I don't believe in a stimulus check because if $600 or $1400 changes your life, you were pretty much screwed already. You got other issues going on.”
and you went on to say,
"You have a career problem, you have a debt problem, you have a relationship problem, you have a mental health problem. Something else is going on if $600 changes your life."
I don’t suspect my thoughts will be completely well aligned and completely cohesive at this moment, but bear with me.
Please allow me to start by saying that you are absolutely right asshole. Thank you for pointing that out. I couldn’t help but wonder if somewhere in that big brain of yours you actually thought that I didn’t know that I have a plethora of problems hovering over my head.
Yes, I have a career problem. I’m underpaid. I can at least say I’m not under-appreciated, but in the midst of covid-19, I won’t even be getting my 3% increase this year, and you know what, while I haven’t received my new lease yet (current lease ends on the 28th), I can bet you as surely as the sun will eventually follow the moon that that won’t stop my rental company from raising my rent another $50 or $100.
I’m only ever a day away from being an absolutely miserable prick. Dating apps have become my lifeline to at least something resembling emotional connection and affection. I have more student debt resting on my shoulders than I even care to admit publicly, and yes, my loans have been in deferment during covid-19 because I just can’t deal with it right now.
No, $600….$1400…hell, you could give me $3K and it ins’t going to change my life…but damnit, it would help.
I need furniture.
I need repairs to my car.
In all honesty, those are my only two real needs right now, and if I don’t get a stimulus check…you know what? I’m going to be ok. Because I come from people who could squeeze a dollar out of a dime. My mother always made sure we made ends meet, whether that meant putting food on the table, or I was able to get that one gift I really wanted for Christmas, and looking back on it, I see where the things that I complained about really mattered. I never had a name brand shoe growing up. Payless was a godsend, because they at least tried to make things look cool. My mother mastered the art of “robbing Paul to pay Peter” as she’d always say.
I’ll never forget the day I went to school with fake Jordans on (same style, no nike swoosh and definitely no flying man) and the kids teased me unmercifully for a little bit. But I come from people also with strong hearts. After a day or two, the hubbub died down, and I was just another kid trying to fit in.
Yet I digress…
While you can sit in your ivory tower and cast stones over the sides at those of us who really need that money, allow me to be very direct. Since you don’t need a stimulus, go ahead and give me your cut. And since you’re obviously so “Freddy Flashy Fucking Money,” go ahead and add a couple stacks on top. I promise you they’ll go to real needs, and whatever’s left over, I’ll kick over to Great Lakes to bring down the sizable interest on my student loans.
You know what I hate most about people like you Dave? You go for your political points on the heads of people who are genuinely hurting. You are goddamn right there are people out here with career problems, and debt problems and relationship problems, and how the fuck dare you talk about mental health problems like those are a slight annoyance to be cast to the side.
Who are you, and how do you look in the mirror?
I suspect this, like so many things, will float off into the ether of the interwebs, but I hope to the very core of my being at this moment that some person will lay at your feet the sentiments that I’m typing feverishly into my keyboard at this moment.
I thought you were just a pompous asshole for ratings. But now I know you’re genuinely callous and hurtful.
But you know what, I’ll endure that too…just like I endure the hill of “little” problems that I face everyday.
Sending two middle fingers your way big guy,
Dion McGill
