Posted on 01/25/2015 6:20:29 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Why don’t abused women just leave their partners? Why don’t poor people just spend less? Why do people in positions of power ask so many stupid questions?
‘Inequality has become a challenge to us as moral beings’
Last week, I took part in a comedy night to raise money for the charity Refuge, which supports women and children who have experienced domestic violence. It was a great night: partly because it raised several thousands of pounds for the cause; partly because it was sponsored by Benefit cosmetics, and the idea of a benefit being sponsored by Benefit pleased me greatly; and partly because standup comedian Bridget Christie finished her act with a plea for all laydeez to stop waxing, spraying, deodorising, strimming and surgically trimming their – well, let’s call it “that part of ourselves historically judged to be the seat of all our femininity and womanly powers” – and instead celebrate our individuality by thinking of those parts as “unique, special – like snowflakes. Made of gammon”, which was both a new thought and a new image, neither of which has left my mind since.
Less uplifting, however, was the number of times I heard, when I mentioned Refuge to people, some variant of: “But what I don’t understand is – why don’t these women just leave?”(continued)
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
I think many conservatives understand all too well how people fall into poverty.
The difference between us and liberals is that we, as conservatives, believe fundamentally that we have free will to exercise in conducting our affairs and can contribute to deepening or alleviating to a degree poverty we might find ourselves in.
Liberals believe that your choices and actions have no impact on your status, and that you have no choices to make that can affect your poverty level in a positive way. They believe that government can do that for you, what they believe you can never do yourself.
In other words, she is a typical liberal.
She’s very snide toward anyone who “doesn’t understand”, blowing them off as so rich as to be irretrievably disconnected. She falls to address that such poverty, too often, is precisely the result of doing those behaviors she expends so much text excusing.
Doesn’t matter why a bad choice was made, it’s still a bad choice.
I don’t believe that is the issue. I believe that many (not all) view things that should be considered luxury items as staples that they are entitled to.
Houses, computers and internet access, cell phones, cable television, large flat panel televisions, cars, fancy clothes, jewelry, lobsters, cigarettes, alcohol, etc. are considered by many their due, regardless of income.
Obama is throwing college education in there as well, if he can.
My wife and I have tried to live our lives in a way that we could get by if one of us was incapacitated. If things go south for us, we will begin to get rid of things, paring away items until we are eating beans from cans, if we can get that. We are prepared to do that if we are put in a situation where we have to.
I think there are many people who would never think of paring back on even one of the things I listed above, and it is a choice. You may not have a choice about having a job and income, but you do have a choice what you do with money that does find its way into your hands.
The simple explanation is that the underclass who work hard, scrimp, get an education and don’t engage in self-destructive behavior lift themselves out of the underclass.
Those who remain are those who do the opposite.
Consider your average household pet. A border collie for example. Now that border collie would probably be much happier living out of doors, herding cattle on a ranch or pulling a sled in harness. However, if we keep that border collie indoors and provide it with all its basic needs, it eventually becomes lazy and content to lie about the house all day, waiting for mealtime and snacktime.
Well that's what we do for our "poor" people. We send them a check every month and pay for their housing and medical care. All their needs are taken care of. So they become content to sit in front of the television all day, munching on potato chips that they bought with their food stamps.
Granted, it's not a luxurious existence to live on the dole. But it can be adapted to. Especially when you can sleep late every morning and never have to worry about going to work or where your next meal is going to come from.
I have thought about this. It seems to me that poverty is enhanced by bad government that destroys the individuals will and makes them dependent. If people had the hope that they had a chance of succeeding, they would improve thier lives. Unfortunately, we have a growing downtrodden element of society that believes that the only chance they have is bigger government handouts.
It is emotional validation liberals want for these issues.
They don't want people to get out of it on their own, they want government action to make it happen.
people fall into poverty by electing leftists
Your comments in this thread are right on target.
I see this everyday. The three biggest money mistakes I see daily that could be easily cut back are:
3. Cable - most have $200 a moth bills and every channel
2. Cell Phones - got to have the newest phones and all the do dads with bills running $150-$200 a month
1. Eating out every day at lunch (at $7 average a day) and you know they probably eat out before work and after. I figure over $500 a month
You might like this then: “The $3500 Shirt” http://www.sleuthsayers.org/2013/06/the-3500-shirt-history-lesson-in.html
TL;DR - For most of human history, making a simple shirt entailed an enormous amount of effort which, if paid for in modern minimum wages, would cost nearly $3500. Wool or cotton, growing & processing thereof aside, had to be spun into thread, woven into cloth, and then hand-assembled - all taking upwards of 500 hours just for a basic tunic.
Having been simplified by the Industrial Revolution to the point of grabbing a cheap yet entirely decent shirt from Walmart for $5 (the cost of clerking such sales for an hour, taxes included), methinks a core problem is the continuing redefinition of what constitutes “poor”. Success is practically offered everyone on a silver platter, but if they won’t reach out and take it then, well, what can others do for them?
In my experience, many, maybe most truly poor people are low functioning. When your IQ is borderline retarded it’s unlikely that you will make wise decisions in life.
My brother was adopted out of foster care. He is an adult living on his own who gets a great deal of guidance from my parents and still manages to make plenty of dumb choices. He is still ahead of his friends (about the same or lower IQ than him) who have no one higher functioning to help them.
I challenge people who tell me that they are having financial trouble yo cut their budget 10%. They always claim they can’t when the real answer is they won’t.
Cutting back is pain and they won’t do it.
Let's have a hearty shout-out to Free Republic's very own “Jack (Deep Thoughts) Handey.”
Unfortunately, among the incompetencies the incompetent as burdened with, the most damaging is their incompetency in judging their own competence.
“Stupid people” blame others for their circumstance. “Smart people” take responsibility for it.
The conservative viewpoint is to convert as many as possible to the responsibility side. Hence, there are less to burden others and more ability to innovate, adapt, etc.
Sorry, Lucy. I have been there and done that. I slept in my car when I had no place else. I went hungry two days every week for two years because I didn’t have enough money for tuition, gas, insurance, AND food.
Getting out and up can be done. You just have to WANT to do it.
Sell that horsesh*t to someone else.
Yeah, I know lots of women like that. I tend not to want to be around people like that. For example, this gal Liz I know, she's been unlucky the last few decades in marriage, her job, her finances, her sons, and on and on. Every time me or my wife give her advice she gets upset and won't take it. For instance, her sons in their thirties still living with her. I suggested she push them out the door and they get jobs and pay her bills. She went livid, accusing me of being uncaring about her sons. They are in their thirties! Advised her to get a lawyer about her legal ownership problems with her home between her and a brother, and how to have him do a quit-claim. Refused to take the advice, and complains she doesn't know what to do. Other than complain!
Idiots who dig their own holes they can't get out of!
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