Erica Wilkinson
banner
everywhereerica.bsky.social
Erica Wilkinson
@everywhereerica.bsky.social
1.9K followers 550 following 860 posts
Travel Agent for corporate clients -- also a writer, book nerd, trivia queen, and enthusiastic home cook. www.ericawilkinson.com
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
Pinned
Good morning!

I think I'm going to move over my biggest Hotel thread from the other place as a way to say hello again.

It seems like we could all use a little joyful day dreaming anyway.
Reposted by Erica Wilkinson
The fact a *single* Amazon full-time employee requires SNAP benefits should be a crime. The fact Amazon is the largest employer of SNAP recipients is a disgrace. Jeff Bezos shouldnt be that rich; he should be in jail.
Reposted by Erica Wilkinson
wish they’d have this same attitude but for tax loopholes for billionaires instead
Reposted by Erica Wilkinson
Exactly this. Wage theft is the largest form of theft in the world. Yet in our grotesque Capitalist system, the billionaires get worshiped as genius and deserving of their wealth. When it is the PEOPLE who keep them afloat.
Reposted by Erica Wilkinson
“some people abuse SNAP” your soul is rotten
Reposted by Erica Wilkinson
as someone who was on SNAP four times let me tell you it would be *phenomenally hard* to exploit, they put *a lot of effort* into giving you *as little as possible* and are horrendously understaffed

if someone has managed to abuse the system they are Danny Ocean and you should respect the hustle
“some people abuse SNAP” your soul is rotten
Served with Mexican rice, guac, and homemade salsa + chips

Could make it vegan if you swapped the chicken stock for veggie stock. Totally gluten free though.
I put about 2 cups of pintos in with about 2 or 3 quarts of chicken stock (probably could have used less), with a couple serranos, salt, and a bay leaf (would have used onion, but I knew the stock had onion).

Sealed it, and cooked on high pressure for 45 minutes, 15 minute natural release. DONE.
My only regret is that I didn't thrift an Instant Pot 5 years ago
I've been trying to make a great pot of brothy beans SINCE I MOVED TO ALTITUDE in Colorado, and this is the first REAL success in that quest.

I'm deeply delighted.
The Instant Pot is God's Kitchen Appliance.

I made the best beans of my LIFE in ONE HOUR.

The beans were not pre-soaked, they were OLD and CHEAP. A perfect combo for tough beans.

Except they had perfectly custardy interiors, with a beautiful clear broth.

WELCOME TO HOT BEAN WINTER!!
Reposted by Erica Wilkinson
BOSTON (AP) — Judges order the federal government to use contingency funds for SNAP food aid payments during the shutdown.
Put morality aside, every social safety net program generates or saves more money than every punitive austerity policy.

Housing First? Saves cities thousands.
SNAP/WIC? Generates millions

Why aren't we making fun of these GOP losers who can't do basic math?
Every 1$ in SNAP benefits creates 1.60$ in local economic activity.

So, in El Paso County where I live, 24,636 households receive about of 356.41$/mo in SNAP

That's a net loss of 14,048,826.81$ in economic activity in my county IN ONE MONTH.

"Fiscally Conservative" my fanny.
Every 1$ in SNAP benefits creates 1.60$ in local economic activity.

So, in El Paso County where I live, 24,636 households receive about of 356.41$/mo in SNAP

That's a net loss of 14,048,826.81$ in economic activity in my county IN ONE MONTH.

"Fiscally Conservative" my fanny.
I am sick at heart over this.
I still live on the Thrifty Plan (more or less), because even though I'm not feeding a family of 4 on 14$/hr anymore, inflation has eaten my lunch.

And I'm one of the lucky ones. My housing costs are stable.
I am a very blessed to now live in a lower-middle-class household.

I feed 2 teen boys, and 3 adults on between 800-1200$/mo in groceries

I'm blessed because I now have the wiggle room in my budget to be able to stock up when things are on sale, and an extra freezer to store it in.
The THRIFTY FOOD PLAN from Trump's USDA from this summer says that feeding a family of 4 takes a minimum of 1K/mo

This is making things from scratch, little meat, no convenience foods, no waste eating.
I didn't own a smart phone until 2016 because of this, btw.
But you're also required to Better Yourself With This Hand Up, and so you NEED to have professional clothing and the accessories of a modern life!

It's a constant tightrope walk!!
A Respectable Poor who is taking assistance must, at all times, be well groomed, modest, humble, and ascetic.

Pleasure, beauty, and full participation in community life is reserved for those who do the giving, not for anyone in a perilous enough position to take.
If you wear a nice outfit, you brag about how you got it for 3$ at the thrift.

If you have a new phone or kindle, you immediately let people know it was a gift.

And yes, your food ought to be both visibly healthy and visibly cheap.
If you've never been poor enough to need financial help

(whether that's from the government, your family/friends, or church/charity)

-- if you've never been that poor --

I don't think you can realize the INCREDIBLE OBLIGATION you carry to be both Respectably Poor and still Visibly Poor.
i thought the joke in the grey poupon commercials was obvious but then again i'm not an economic conservative ("racist")
these ghouls want folks on SNAP to cook every meal completely from scratch, with healthy macros.

But they balk at poor folks getting Dijon mustard (a vital ingredient in homemade salad dressing) b/c they associate Grey Poupon w fancy commercials from the 90s, so The Poors shouldn't have it.
Reposted by Erica Wilkinson
There is not a single day that goes by that i don't think about the vast majority of Americans reading below a sixth grade level
I’ve been thinking a lot about a new kind of polling I’d like to see. We have polling that measures public opinion, which is obviously important, but I’d love to see a little more empirical work on public knowledge: what do voters know about politics and policy?