I constantly hear those on the Right complain about the freeloaders and moochers who use the system to avoid actually working. Well, to all the commentators out there, let me explain my story in brief in a feeble attempt to break your close-mindedness.

I am:

• White
• Male
• Middle Class
• College Educated
• In debt because of this
• Actively seeking a job that is not in a call center or service industry
• Not qualified to receive unemployment
• An otherwise contributing member of society

Truman said it best: “A recession is when your neighbor looses his job, a depression is when you loose your job.” Well, let there be no doubt, I am in a “depression” as we speak.

I want a job, I want to contribute, and I want the society I have been a part of (and paid into I might add) to help me at this moment. No, I am not a welfare queen or a trust fund kid who does not care – no, I am young, I want to work, and I can’t.

This recession is not about bloated government spending, it is not about socialism penetrating our hospitals, it is not about how our rights have been taken away. No, this recession is about good, honest, hard working people struggling to keep their head above water, and I am thankful that this administration is trying to make changes that allow me to do that.

The role of the government should never be to tell me how to live my life, it should be to give me the tools I need to ensure I make this nation a better place. Frankly, I feel a lot of talking heads and politicians have lost sight of this.