Posted on 02/12/2020 7:00:41 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez famously took to the House floor last week to quibble over the origins of the old maxim about “pulling oneself up by the bootstraps.” “You know this idea, this metaphor of a bootstrap started off as a joke,” she said. “Because it’s physically impossible to lift yourself up by a bootstrap, by your shoelaces. It’s physically impossible!”
She obviously believes this to be some sort of profound observation, but perhaps someone could have taken the time to explain to her that the difficulty of the physical act is kind of the point of the metaphor. According to Writing Explained, the “expression originated in the 1800s,” and “refers to the ability of a person to lift himself or herself up by pulling on the laces of his or her boots. Of course, this is impossible, so in order to do it would take very hard work.” [emphasis added]
It’s always a lot of fun when Sandy O makes a ditzy spectacle of herself, though, this time attempting to literally dissect and discredit a traditional metaphor that promotes hard work, persistence, and the obvious individual empowerment that comes with both of those virtues. Nonetheless, her message was heard loud and clear -- poor Americans shouldn’t be expected to be able to care for themselves, no matter how hard they work or struggle to succeed, because the free market and the wealthy class have stacked the deck against them. That’s why we need the federal government to step in and forcibly equalize economic outcomes for everyone, as she and her radical socialist cohorts routinely demand.
But is it really likely that individuals in poverty today will be trapped there forever if the government doesn’t intercede?
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
I’ve had some times earlier in my life when I might have qualified.
Never been on food stamps or welfare, but I do recall digging through the couch cushions for loose change in order to buy a meal close to payday.
Things do get better.
There are people out there who are so discouraged, so beaten-down, and have always been told that they’re ‘no good’, ‘worthless’, and will ‘never make anything of themselves’. They are the ones who stay impoverished.They never try because they’re convinced it’ll never work. They fall into drinking or drugs because it helps them ‘forget’ the pain of life, even if fleetingly temporarily.
These are among the ones who rely on the government for their provision.
There are also the lazy ones. They have potential, but they never try to exercise it because they don’t have to, thanks to the safety nets that were never meant to be permanent.
If you take away the ‘safety nets’, there are some who might decide to try to make it, and they may indeed succeed in doing so. However, there are those who may try and fail, and there are those who may never try at all. For them....
The system is rigged for poor to stay poor. One simple example:
There are tens of millions on Social Security. The cost of living raises are given as percentage of current benefits.
So, those getting $2400/month get 3 times bigger raise compared to those getting $800/month. So I get 3 times the raise money compared to my mother-in-law who never earned big paychecks.
Hey Sandy, forget bootstraps and think, bra straps or G strings.
That’s how you did it in your bartending days.
As a first gen. immigrant from a commie country, who didn't speak the language, I call BS!
My family was pretty poor growing up. All of us eventually got out of that level.
The want of what other people have as status is the drive of the modern economy. If it was about food and roof Bernies Commune in Vermont would be enough, the halls of the ivy league would be empty.
Good thing even liberals in daily life see that working for “the man” is easier than planting, cutting firewood and building a log cabin.
Yet, I lived in a duplex with a full kitchen, washer/dryer, etc and was driving a new car.
Of course I had roommates.
You did not understand my point. I am first generation immigrant as well, and I am living the American dream. But people like my mother-in-law who is 4th generation American, are destined to remain poor. Even the social security discriminates against her, while favoring the richer person such as me.
Jesus said:
The poor will always be with you.
John 12:8
Why is your mother in law destined to remain poor, and how does social security discriminate against her?
Social Security benefits are based on what the worker paid in. Surely we don't think those who pay in the least should draw the most out?
There are other, endless programs in the welfare system for that.
I was very poor while in college and worked crappy jobs. I remember frequently eating ramen, rice, and beans. Never got on welfare; it didn’t even occur to me. Somehow I made it to my current state of making six figures. Paid all of my college loans back too. Was it hard and sometimes unpleasant? Yup. Was it worth it? Absolutely. AOC is full of crap.
Buck toothed bar maid, you’re the only joke here.
Poverty is a choice. An accidental choice. People make poor decisions in life that they do not overcome.
Because she had 6 kids, husband was paralyzed, she had to work minimum skilled jobs to raise the kids, and now the social security pays her lowest raises. So her earnings were low.
You would think a NATIONAL retirement program should be an equalizer of some sorts, not an investment program.
BS, my mother-in-law had unfortunate situation, when her husband came back from WWII with serious health problems, so he could not earn much money, and she was forced to feed the family with her low-skilled jobs.
Now she is very old, and social security is discriminates by giving her 1/3rd raise I get, in $ amounts.
But she has 6 kids to help her out.
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