The Biggest Transformation of Our Times

[Leviathan]

[exploited]

Just because Mommy and Daddy gave you opportunities doesn't mean those opportunities exist for everyone. You can pretend that being poor is just a state of mind all you want, but those of us who step outside the bubble of privilege know immediately that is bullshit.

And let's be honest here: if you have no sense of social justice, even if poor people do form movements, which they do, and even if the middle class supports some of those movements, which they do, you still won't give a shit. If you gave a shit you wouldn't be acting as if "stacking cash" is the result of your efforts, when it is clearly just a function of class privilege. "I had to live the high life at university, supported by my rich parents, and get a good job due to credentialism, I deserve it!"

As for the ideals you speak of, what are they? Are you certain they ever actually existed?

[Leviathan]

Hilarious how the best you can do is post whenever something substantive is said, but all of a sudden you are a master debater when I want to rant.

That said, I relish the opportunity to teach you the difference between right and wrong. First of all, I spend PLENTY of time around low income and minority people. 90% of the time their problems are self inflicted. The poor have an awful culture, and I've noticed poor people in general are awful at planning for the future. That said, cultural issues are usually learned at a young age, and poors often learned their awful habits well before they had full agency. I also recognize it's harder to plan for the future when you have less to consume today.

But none of that is going to improve their position. Even if it is harder for you to save, you should still recognize if you don't you will always be poor. If you have bad habits ingrained at a young age, you should be making every effort to change. Poor people today simply don't do this. Their life is quite comfortable on the public dole and it's easier to just vote yourself more from others than it is to change. I can't do anything to solve that, that's a culture that needs to be crushed before we can have progress.

I'm not sure what material opportunities I had that others didn't. I went to public schools, I'm on loans for law school, and I've never had tutors or test prep until the end of college. Plenty of poor people have the exact same opportunities I did, and plenty take full advantage of them. I'm sick of people making excuses for the poor when I see dozens of Asians who came here broke and not speaking English succeed in a generation. Poverty makes it harder but it's not locking anyone out. This mentality of its harder for the poor so you can't blame them at all is bullshit.

I also am doing well for myself regardless of class. I had to work my ass off to get here, and I'm still working my ass off to get here. And you know what, it's no wonder people like me don't want to help those who belittle any success or accomplishment. Hell, I still see poor and middle class people insisting the rich barley work, when I can tell you personally high income earners work harder than any other group.

We don't have the same values. We are not in this together. If you want to work hard, take responsibility for yourself and your family, and sacrifice today for a better tomorrow...I'm willing to go to bat for you. But most poor people aren't, and the ones who are are almost always immigrants. This is why I spend my time in high school tutoring migrant workers and not the kids in the ghetto. One group appreciates it and uses it to get better, the other wastes your time and doesn't want to be their in the first place.

This is why the idea of protecting Americans is abhorrent to me. Everything I've seen and all the data suggests that foreigners who come here will do a significantly better job of taking advantage of the opportunities available to them. But Americans that have been here for generations...they are entitled. They are happy with their section 8 housing and don't give a shit if their kids go to school. I'm not going to encourage that culture and help people who won't take advantage of it. I'll spend my time advocating for immigration reform or lower taxes for people who work for their high incomes.

I'm in the law, I have an acute sense of social justice. Most of the poor are getting what they deserve, and I do bust my ass to help those who will take advantage of opportunities and are poor due to circumstance and not their own actions.

[gla22]

[Kane]

Trillion dollar deficits? Whrere are you getting these numbers...

[gla22]

[Kane]

Meh, it's trending down. And yeah, if it continues like this what's the worry? The deficit shrank by an enormous factor last year, and this last month saw the lowest deficit numbers since 2008. That's generally indicative of an increasing revenue base due to expansion as well as exporting more and/or importing less.

Your recession talk is odd, deficits alone don't constitute a recession.

[gla22]

[Leviathan]

[Gremlin]

hows your garden doing?