Posted on 01/28/2012 8:40:19 PM PST by fight_truth_decay
You’ve played by the rules. Worked hard to put yourself through school. You’ve gotten a decent job and you pay your taxes. You’re faithfully paying down your mortgage and saving money in a 401(k) – all to secure your finances and your future. But now there are a lot more “takers” than “makers” in this country – and the impact is systemic and long-lasting.
A prevalent new “moocher culture” is changing the character of this nation – that’s the core message of A Nation of Moochers: America’s Addiction to Getting Something for Nothing, a new book by Charles J. Sykes, senior fellow at the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute and the author of six previous books.
“This has been the flash point in American politics for the last several years,” Sykes told The Fiscal Times in an interview this week. “In the wake of the Great Recession, we’ve shifted from a culture of celebrating and encouraging those who are productive and hardworking, to a culture where handouts, bailouts, freebies and entitlements dominate. You start to wonder, Why am I paying the freight for those who have been reckless and irresponsible, whether it’s on Wall Street or in Washington or anywhere else in the community? I think we’re becoming a very different nation.”
Excerpts from our conversation with the author follow:
(Excerpt) Read more at thefiscaltimes.com ...
The “moocher culture” is KILLING America.....KILLING it.
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Hell, I’ve been beat up by FREEPERS for opining that unless someone had some sort of work history over the last 6 months, they wouldn’t be hired, and rightly so in most cases. Those that want to work will find something even if it’s only some day jobs to supplement themselves. I also got beat on for “demeaning” a guy and his father for hiring them to do my lawn and for other work. I was asked if I gave them minumum wage to rub it in - actually paid $15/hr for unskilled labor and paid $75 to do the lawn which takes me less than 2 hours by myself.
Why does the media give Buffet a free pass?
Wow...How did Ayn Rand know about Mittens? LOL! She described his path to wealth to a “T”.
Welfare is small potatoes. The author of this piece is a coward to focus on it. The elephants in the room is Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. The solutions are simple but unpopular - reduce benefits, raise taxes to pay for said benefits or a combo of the the two. That's it.
I didn’t call anyone a liar, but badly misinformed, and sounding a bit envious.
There’s not much to envy. Just this year, I matched the private sector salary I left in 2002, for the same job. The executive secretaries at that private sector company made a great salary, as much as the middle level managers, and they earned it.
Government doesn’t have cashiers, waiters, or factory workers to lower the workforce salary average. Almost everyone is well educated doing a complex job.
The smack talk about other Americans working on your behalf is getting old. While there may be jobs and even agencies that are not necessary, attacking the employee, based on class envy, is so very leftist of you.
I didn’t call anyone a liar, but badly misinformed, and sounding a bit envious.
There’s not much to envy. Just this year, I matched the private sector salary I left in 2002, for the same job. The executive secretaries at that private sector company made a great salary, as much as the middle level managers, and they earned it.
Government doesn’t have cashiers, waiters, or factory workers to lower the workforce salary average. Almost everyone is well educated doing a complex job.
The smack talk about other Americans working on your behalf is getting old. While there may be jobs and even agencies that are not necessary, attacking the employee, based on class envy, is so very leftist of you.
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Funny when I read you in my Ping I had just been discussing in Mail with another FReeper that "beat up mentality" scenario going on in the extreme. Have changed the types of stories now posted to get some real discussion not a frantic feeding frenzy on any one who does not opine as they do. Sorry off subject
I have given home remodeling jobs I would not have done if a person I know and sometimes a helper were not suffering so, and I invest more in the house. They spent what they made over the years when times in construction were great for them and they could pick and choose jobs, often taking a high profile client over an average homeowner, did not even call back clients--now these snubbed clients, which are many, are not calling [their payback], and they are broke--really broke ..so being the talented craftsman I know one to be, and a good person, just bad business sense..I gave him work..but that was all last year..and am done. I paid them well, but have in the quote timeframe negotiate at ballpark quotes. I pay the lumberyard separately. Then there are these construction guys who banded together, as were friendly in the same field..they treat every customer big or small with professionalism. They are booked solid on big projects..in fact one client [we have a lot of CIA in our area] was giving them work and called and said think I need a stair case here, this builder said you do not need this staircase, and the client said I want to keep you working, the builder said I have plenty of work and will be available when you really need me. Story goes some have burned too many bridges that cannot be rebuilt as before.
So I applaud you for giving work, and am sure they appreciated the extra money. Lawn work can pays well. Falls under Landscaping for a more PC term. ;)
#1 builder is a Republican. #2 builders are Independents. There is definitely hypocrisy going on here.
The people I know hired off other companies in the last few years had backgrounds in engineering, in one case along with that a masters in finance; are in sales on the Telecommunications supplier side with big salary increases to come on with. Those people are always being called by head hunters and would say are in the late 30's, 40's age group. They can pretty much make decisions now on where they want to stay and raise a family, work from the home a good amount of the time with some travel, but can still coach a youth soccer team and spend quality time with the family.And as often as possible, Church on Sunday Morning with contributions of time and money to that church. They have taught their young children about charity. They find themselves paying more and more in the form of taxes in their percentage:income etc taxed to support entitlements or just wasteful spending continuing as in past stimulus programs etc.
I don’t disagree with your assessment (that the moochers are wrong and should be cut off). It’s just that once we have arrived at practical gridlock and can see that some force outside of ourselves is the only way to break through, raging against the “unfairness” of it all can lead to a shrinking, cowardly bitterness. Accepting the reality of life’s tough unfairness is positive, I believe (and I’ve had a hard time coming to this!).
I work as a lab tech for a fairly large hospital. I see a lot people able to work coming in on Gateway or Medical Assistance and they get whatever the doctor ordered paid for. Then you have the elderly come in on medicare and we have to go test by test to see if that test will be paid by medicare or will it be out of pocket by the patient. Its screwed up.
Families should take care of each other....that means kids should help out their parents in their later years, instead of the government doing it.
Well I don’t see anything changing any time soon.
So you dumb racists pay your taxes - the moochers need the money. :)
/sarc(????????????)
You bet, millions of government employees and their government unions demanding high wages, life time lottery style retirement pensions, life time top shelf medical benefits.....
And now the country is bankrupt and broke....
I always wondered why some people chose to become Xpats.
This is nothing but lies and utter bull s**t.
Those running government are so "well educated" the country is now flooded with millions who entered illegally during war time, those in government have looted the national treasure, borrowed trillions from Communist, bailed out the corrupt with trillion in tax dollars, leaving tens of millions of Americans homeless, jobless, with a standard of living plummeting, for those in the private sector.
Now we have more unionized government employees than in the private sector, as government becomes more corrupt, bloated and controlling by the day.
And you people have the arrogant nerve to tell the American private sector how well educated those in government are?
Read down..#37. You do what you got to do for you, for family..for the future. No one is looking out for you, but you. You can color it “that’s just the way it is”..I broke that crayon not too long ago.
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