Scott Santens: For Want of A Dollar

Posted by admin on Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Scott Santens Money Quote paraphrasing Benjamin Franklin’s ‘For Want of a Horseshoe Nail to illustrate how lack of basic income can destroy a life when human necessities aren’t paid. Scott Santens said:
 

 

For want of a dollar the bus ride was lost. For want of a bus ride the job was lost.
For want of a job the paycheck was lost. For want of a paycheck the housing was lost. And all for want of goddamn dollar
— Scott Santens

 

 

Scott Santens is highlighting how a single dollar can have cascading consequences when someone lacks even a small amount of money. In this quote, he describes how the lack of a dollar prevented someone from taking a bus ride, which then led them to lose their job because they couldn’t get to work. Without a job, they no longer received a paycheck, which caused them to lose their housing since they couldn’t pay rent.

So Santens shows how being short just one dollar can set off a chain reaction resulting in much greater problems like homelessness. His point is that living on the financial edge, even a shortfall of a single dollar, can be precarious and have far-reaching implications.

The quote underscores the vulnerability many face without some kind of economic security blanket like a basic income that acts as a buffer against small shortfalls multiplying into major difficulties.

 

Categories: poverty Tagged:dollarjobpaycheckscott santens