If you've never received a free lunch at school, you've avoided the most persistent and institutionalized form of bullying in American society. Because that food that doesn't cost money DOES cost a level of shame that other kids don't have to experience. It's also shame that's often coming from official school rules, doled out by authority figures, because our society has low-key written that into law. Which begs the question: why are we dunking on our own poor kids, when they never asked to be born into that jam?

On this week's episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt gets to sit down with Jason Pargin (better known as David Wong) and John Cheese, for a look at how and why America's arranged itself to make sure poor people feel that way every day. They'll also look back on Jason & John's shared Midwest childhood, explore the idea that destroyed Newt Gingrich, and discover why everyone from people to monkeys freak out in a rigged system. And good news: they'll find a way we can all make life better for every American.

Footnotes:

The Modern Rogue

The Psychology of Inequality (The New Yorker)

The 5 Stupidest Habits You Develop Growing Up Poor (Cracked)

4 Things Politicians Will Never Understand About Poor People (Cracked)

I Investigated Fox News' Poverty Claims (On My Mom) (Cracked)

How Half Of America Lost Its F**king Mind (Cracked)

5 Ways Powerful People Trick You Into Hating Protesters (Cracked)

5 Insane Things You Believe About Money (Thanks to Movies) (Cracked)

Trump wants to slash food stamps and replace them with a 'Blue Apron-type program' (The Washington Post)

Trump's "Harvest Box" (The New York Times)

The U.S. Already Tested Trump's Canned Goods Idea On Native Americans. It Was Bad. (HuffPost)

Should We Drug Test Welfare Recipients? (Snopes)

Shaming Children Over School Lunch Bills (The New York Times)

Five things to know about Medicaid work requirements (The Hill)

Christians are more than twice as likely to blame a person's poverty on lack of effort (The Washington Post)

How do Americans view poverty? Many blue-collar whites, key to Trump, criticize poor people as lazy and content to stay on welfare (Los Angeles Times)

U.S. Poverty Statistics (Federal Safety Net)

How 2 Scientists You've Never Heard Of Redesigned Our Planet (The Cracked Podcast)

Black Jeopardy with Tom Hanks (Saturday Night Live)