I Have No Pity For The Poor

The Hostile Opposition ^ | 12-03-08 | The Angry Capitalist

[absolootezer0]

check your local bar. if you look for it, you’ll find it.
maybe i see it firsthand more than others as i bartend, but i see and hear these people all the time.

[fr_freak]

However, I’m still not buying this definition of poor. Most the poor people I’ve known in my life had nothing, or at best next to nothing. They all worked. I’ve yet to actually meet these poor people who don’t work.

I don't know if things are just different in Texas, or if you are simply old enough to remember the Great Depression, or what, but where I live, MOST of the so-called "poor" don't work. They pay next to no rent either through Section 8 vouchers or Public Housing (both federally-funded programs), they get TANF, or various forms of SSI, and possibly food stamps. Most of them are young, officially single mothers who can't seem to keep their legs closed long enough to actually get a job. I also say "officially single" because a great number of them will have some guy living with them. He may not be one of the guys who fathered one of their children, but he is there nonetheless, and is likely as not to be mooching off of the welfare queen's government income as he is to have a job. Even if he has a job, chances are he'll stick around just long enough to knock the girl up.

I'm afraid your view of the poor in this country is way, way outdated. In this country, with relatively rare exceptions, we no longer have rich and poor. We have producers and parasites. Period.

[Constitutions Grandchild]

I know, but I couldn't resist. ;-) Son had a similar encounter last night (and he couldn't be more like fr_freak and 2ndDivision Vet). He was in his Media class at the University and took in the DVD the Marines sent him when he was accepted to OCS. I can't remember the name of the Ad Agency that does all their work (but he can). His intro to the disk ended with, “if this doesn't rock you're world, you have no pulse.”

At the end of his presentation (which was on the effects of advertising) another student stood up. He was from the “hood” and had neither understood the assignment or come in prepared. He pointed to my son and said, “Those like him will travel to the other side of the world to defend us, so they say, but they won't do a thing to stop the gang violence or end the drug usage in our neighborhoods.” The next young woman also from the same racial, socioeconomic background stood up and also didn't understand the assignment, came unprepared and managed to work in “slavery” and “reparations” while sneering at son.

He said he was so angry, but just looked down. He said this morning, “You know, life ISN'T fair. Everyone is going to be dumped on. It's not that you just keep on feeling like a victim, it's how you respond to the bad breaks that makes the difference.”

After he left (he works full-time and goes to school full-time), I walked down the hall and said to his dad, “When you hear him talk like that, doesn't it just make you proud and at the same time go, ‘Whew!’ I can't believe he turned out like that.” His dad, just smiled and said, “Like Churchill said, “Never give up. Never give up. Never give up.” I think some folks never even try and others don't get back up.

[Crystal Cove]

I work with the homeless in Orange County, CA. Most of them are families with children where one or both of the parents have lost their jobs. They ran out of savings and eventually lost their homes or got evicted from rental units. They were never looking for a handout before now. How long would you last before you needed assistance if you lost your job?

[CindyDawg]

A lot of diseases are contributed to by behavior but I hear you. Can I ask you to try something though? Pick one food and beverage that you really like and go without it a year. I did. I used to work on an A/D unit and could not relate to their situation. (Why didn’t they just stop?) I went cold turkey on sodas and sugar for a year. At the end of the year, did I crave them, still? UH huh. I can still remember that muffin I bit into. Now, I’m just talking about sugar and caffine. Imagine if it was something much, much stronger and you were told you could never have it again, for the rest of your life.

[Tahoe3002]

STRONGLY AGREE.

One cannot choose a even a cold, how long it lasts, how many days of work is lost.

One does chose to pickup the bottle, daily. And nothing can make that person stop, until they decide to stop (or die). No other “disease” is by personal choice. (Same with smoking, because one’s parents do the same.) Alcohol and drugs are Choices. The consequences, of physical and mental addiction, may not be so easy.

[Revolting cat!]

The obsessions in the media, and in turn in the society, are: poverty, so-called "racism" (also an obsession here), pedophilia (an obsession here as well.) The mediots promote them, we swallow them hook, line and sinker.

Bill Gates is sending his billions to fight poverty in Africa. Good luck Billy boy, but you won't make a dent. I sympathize with the poor, with the homeless, I don't sympathize with those who allow themselves be manipulated by the mediots!

[Drawsing]

Poor is a state of mind

I agree. I grew up in a milking barn with a tin roof that had been converted into a house (of sorts). My mother taught school and my Dad worked part time and went to school working on his Ph.D. We were poor, but I didn't know it. Nobody talked about it or complained. We just worked hard until we could do better.

[fr_freak]

I work with the homeless in Orange County, CA. Most of them are families with children where one or both of the parents have lost their jobs. They ran out of savings and eventually lost their homes or got evicted from rental units.

Before we could properly analyze the situation you are describing, we'd have to know a number of things about these people's circumstances. Up until now, I would say that there is no reason that any family with two healthy parents should be homeless. Period. We may be heading into another Great Depression soon, one where the jobs simply don't exist anymore, and we may find many people like the ones you describe who are in genuine need, but up until today, I'd have to say that there is no reason for this to happen to anyone. I strongly suspect that some people end up with their hands out because they fail to plan, prepare, or work to improve their circumstances simply because they know that the government will give the handouts, should they end up broke.

[dalereed]

“Who saves them?”

It’s up to their parents.

I don’t believe in charity or welfare.

[Melas]

You can meet poor people any day of the week serving you at Denny’s, working at McDonalds, etc etc.

[strider44]

So if a 1 or 2-year-old kid has f*ed up parents, abusive, drug-addicted parents, he just has to suck it up. He gets no charity. That makes sense. The obviously brought it on himself.

[CindyDawg]

Yep. I used to work at DQ. I would get so excited when someone rarely left a tip. I felt like I had just got a compliment. Years later I leave money on the table at McDonalds and give the people at Sonic a tip. They always seem appreciative too, unlike a lot of restaurant service.

[OKSooner]

Thank you.

Your post illustrates that human nature doesn't change.

I know some Scrooges personally and it's sometimes tempting to wish for them to have a cathartic experience of some kind.

[CindyDawg]

He deserves a home with loving, nurturing people, preferably his grandparents

[fr_freak]

You can meet poor people any day of the week serving you at Denny’s, working at McDonalds, etc etc.

I think you and I have different definitions of "poor". I've been in situations where I have $5 for food for the rest of the week, but I never considered myself truly poor, because I had a roof over my head and clothes on my back. I only considered it a temporary condition. I always knew that there was ample opportunity out there for me to improve my situation.

As far as I'm concerned, we don't truly have poor people in this country. Our poor people are fat and live comfortably, even those who work, as compared to the classical definition of "poor" in the spectrum of human existence. People try to use the concept of poverty and the sympathy it evokes to push their agendas, or to create a boogeyman for people to fear so they can get elected. In reality, even our so-called "poor" are better off than most of the developing world.

The call for Christian charity, in particular, is abused regularly by the Left to convince people that socialism is the Christian way, but that's BS. The "poor" in the time of Christ were those who were in very real danger of dying from starvation at any time. We don't have that here. What we have here, in practical terms, are people calling for using the government to take from the well-off to give to the government and the slightly less well-off. It is more about achieving equality by killing your neighbor's goat rather than raising one of your own, which is a decidedly unChristian attitude.

[This Just In]

I believe my grandmother did this, in part, to gain sympathy (she was also notorious for embellishing stories to family members in order to gain sympathy. Just one of those things). My grandmother was no dummy. She and my grandfather earned every dime to purchase that property, and to build that house, and they migrated to this country without speaking a lick of English.

Your example is the perfect solution. Budget your expenses. We do the same, and all you need to do is possess a basic knowledge in math, and discipline.

I often talked with a friend whose been trying to keep up with the Jones for quite some time. I feel sorry for their family. Mom and dad are running themselves ragged just to boast that they own a house, cars, toys, kid toys, private schools, etc.

[jwalburg]

Matthew 25:41-44

[jwalburg]

Oops. Missed the end. Matthew 25:41-45