I believed all that, truly. I still do to a certain extent.
But the whole capitalist-market system got screwed around when big companies decided the American worker was overpaid. As a highly qualified professional I couldn’t get a job - the big companies preferred to go to India and China for cheap labor. So I downsized.
I’ve never bought a new car. I always look for second-hand goods now. And I grow my own food. To hell with the big companies. I can do without you, too. Sorry the economy is going south but you didn’t want me and I can do without your products.
You have hit the nail right on the head with one magnificent shot.
“Sense of community is rapidly becoming a quaint ideal practiced only in small town America, where, according to certain elitists, the benighted hicks cling to their racism, guns and bibles.”
D@mn straight. And as long as I’m breathing, it’ll stay that way for my little Cow Town and family. :)
I know I’m not alone in this. When the Revolution comes, we will turn out in droves...but I’m not convinced that now is the time to strike. ;)
We are not in a capitalist economy. Politically, we’re in a global corporatist economy with regions (Europe) that are mercantilist and others fascist (much of south America, Africa, the middle east) and a moronic ruling class in the U.S. which clings to the illusion of free trade.
I figured out at a very early age that my life could be heaven or hell, and there was only one person who could or would make it heaven--ME!
To quote another highly successful person, Sofia Loren (when asked how she had been so successful): "Maybe I'm just smart."
(Lots of smart people wind up posting here on FreeRepublic.)
My wife figured out the same thing when she was very young, and she was born and raised rich.
We have never expected a handout from anybody. We've given lots of people lots of handouts!
(I have no idea how many people I've educated through scolarship programs I set up.)
(This very day I'm going to GIVE $5,000 to someone who needs it for health care insurance.) (I don't make loans. If I've got it I GIVE it and expect NOTHING back--not even gratitude. The giving is a gift to myself as well.)
I couldn't go to an expensive college; so I went to the local junior college and the state university. Unlike Michelle Obama--I'm not still paying for my education. I lived within my means. I always have.
(I'm also not particularly impressed with Ivy League schools. Look at the top CEOs and highly compensated executives. Most of them came up through the ranks like I did--and went to regular colleges.)
Also unlike Michelle Obama--I am not resentful. I have always been proud of my country--with its imperfections right there in my awareness!
And unlike Michelle--I'm not ANGRY!
Michelle would profit immensely from the gifts of the Angel of Gratitude--if she were intelligent enough to solicit his help. But, on the other hand, if she were that intelligent she would already be grateful.
"Give me the keys to the Beemer, Dad."
Last year, I made the mistake of inviting my younger sister out to live with me in California. She'd suddenly started contacting me, after years of silence, and was miserable back in the midwest. Lonely, depressed, life going nowhere.
I let her come out, and only then found out what a chaotic creature she was (drugs, debt, lazy & irresponsible). First I was sympathetic. Then concerned. Then horrified. Finally I had to get away from her before she pulled me down with her.
But from the beginning, she had the attitude "Give me the keys to the Beemer." It took a while before I noticed. I went looking for my iron and she said, "Oh, I loaned the iron to my friend downstairs."
"I downloaded my pictures onto the computer."
"I loaned the Pride & Prejudice DVD to the other neighbor" (in return for the new Harry Potter.)
The iron. The computer. The DVD.
Finally I said, "It's not THE iron. It's MY iron! MY computer! MY DVD." She never thought of these things as mine and not hers. They were, to her, simply the community possessions. She wasn't there the day I found that iron at a garage sale and with great satisfaction, brought it home. She wasn't there the day my employer issued me that laptop and I thought "Eeeee!! A mac! YES!" She wasn't there when I got that DVD for Christmas.
To her, that stuff simply existed. It was there when she got there, like the rocks and the trees, and she availed herself of it without hesitation. She had little concept of working to obtain the things she wanted. Things are not bought. Things are found. Generally on other people's property.
This mindset is the essence of liberalism. They come, they see what others have built up, and they demand "their" share. As for what happens to the stuff, they aren't concerned. "So the DVD hasn't come back? Oh, I hadn't noticed. I've already seen it, so..." (shrug)
It's been 8 months since I got away from her. She's back with our parents now. I still notice things missing.
Waht scares me about MIchelle is that hse seems ust like Eva Peron (Evita). Filled with some sort of all consuming hate against the world and I don’t think she’ll restrain herself ot being a pretty ornament. I sincerely believe she will do what she can to get as much power as possible and then rip society to shreds to satisfy some vengeance filled mania.
Waht scares me about MIchelle is that she seems just like Eva Peron (Evita). Filled with some sort of all consuming hate against the world and I don’t think she’ll restrain herself to being a pretty ornament. I sincerely believe she will do what she can to get as much power as possible and then rip society to shreds to satisfy some vengeance filled mania.