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I think it's poor for people to be forced to take jobs that are questionably unethical to them. Jobs that require twisting and bending of truths. That is poor. I would much prefer if people had total free entry into the market, and they didn't have to risk going broke just getting through the red tape. Poor us, we are screwed.
Oh, I'm not a conservative in the modern sense. Nor am I a republican.
This is generally true. And it's backed up by a left leaning author who had to admit that conservatives gave more to charity (both secular and religious) than liberals, by and large.
Okay, I've read a lot of posts here the past couple of years, and I've often put out the accusation that most conservatives hate poor people. Conservatives, of course vehemently deny it and say that they don't know anyone who feels that way, so I thought I'd start this thread and ask this honest question. What is your attitude toward the poor?
1. Are they mostly people who have had hard luck?
2. Or are they worthless scum and are a drain on society?
3. Is there such a thing as "working poor" in your mind? And if so, about what portion of America's poor do you deem to be "working poor."
4. What would you do if you witnessed poverty in your own life--not if YOU became poor, but if you came into contact with a poor person, child or family?
5. Do you or have you done anything to help relieve poverty in your community? If so, what do you do? I'm not asking you to brag, but just share if you do.
You might think I'm trolling, but I'm actually curious, since you all deny that you hate poor people. I promise I'll read your responses with an open mnd. I swear.
Thanks
mackinac
1 and 2: It is both. My family grew up in poverty based on some of their decisions. I was very poor in the early 2000s because of some of my own personal decisions. There are also people who experience tough life. I would say even in my life, I have had a few of that as well. Then there are those who are just plain leaches on society.
3. Yes of course there is. But I think what do we define as poor? When I was really poor, I could still eat although it was pretty miserly. I was able to put a house over my head and my mother's. So we did not have heat or air-- and we struggled to pay many bills and sometimes just didn't-- BUT I don't consider that really poor. It is less rich, it is part of the lower class, but I had a shelter that was not made from cardboard or corrugated metal. There are people in this world who are TRULY poor, living in landfills, cemeteries. They are actually starving and don't even have access to water. I have no idea what is the amount of working poor-- it is subjective. I know folks who get food stamps, WIC, HUD housing, etc and they still have nice cell phones and big televisions. When I worked in the projects for a cable company-- (I was in the projects or HUD housing BECAUSE people were ordering cable and paying for it), I was shocked how much better some of these people lived when I was making minimum wage plus any commissions and eating Ramen 3x a day. Who was really the working poor? SO like, I said subjective.
4. I help those that I believe need help personally, i feel that is far more advantageous as it helps someone directly that I know.
5. I have donated food, clothing, money, pet food to the local pet food pantry, etc.
I still have a hard time believing people who are "poor" have no way out of poverty, at least in the US.. although some people may need to try harder than others depending on their circumstances.
Please give me an example of a person who is poor, spends almost every single day making an honest effort at getting out of poverty, and still remains poor 10+ years later.
When I visit Wilkes-Barre I occasonally walk past a soup kitchen, not very far from the local Welfare office, and a hotbed of the usual (suposedly-)Liberal sentiments. On more than a few occasions, I have enountered the ugly pattern which seems to drive too much of welfare dependency -- women with low self-esteem used and manipulated by "slacker" males on the fringes of the economy, who know too well how to "work the system" and are fully aware that most job opportunities for which they qualify will put them on a treadmill on the lower rungs of the economic ladder ... where they're likely to stay.
I sincerely wish I could offer a positive alternative to this. But the unfortunate fact is that the globalization of the economy has eroded the monopoly on a technically-savy, fully-developerd industial complex which only the United States, plus minor players like Canada and Australia, enjoyed for two decades following the close of World War II. Also the unfortunate fact that technological progress sometimes tends to eliminate what are viewed as "good" low-demand, low-stress jobs and push more people back toward the bottom rung of the ladder.
But far too many of the idiots I encounter when I venture into that neighborhood are too eager to buy into all Der Happikrap about "income inequality" and "redistribution of wealth" (as opposed to its creation) by the Usual Suspects. My respect is reserved for the people willing to start with the McJobs which are characteristic of the New Economy (and at which I work). The pace is fast and the standards demanding, but as with the military, this is a place where no one gives a rat's backside about your race or background, and a place, albeit sometimes not very satisfying, is found for anyone who keeps trying.
My sympathies go to the innocents, mostly women and children, who are trapped in this obscene arrangement. But most of the men who are benefitting from it only need a fast trip and a long stay in a place where they can't get out, liquor and drugs can't get in, and any contact with those affected with the "frivolous lawsuit mentality" is subjected to a tight scrutiny.
Last edited by 2nd trick op; 05-12-2013 at 10:15 AM..
Does the op suggest there are no poor conservatives?
Huh, what are they doing to not be poor?.. if you believe the op's premise.
We know how the Dems feel from their legacy control of cities like Newark. Nj, Trenton and Camden.
They see the poor as votes and dependants and like it that way.
Many homeless people have untreated/undiagnosed mental illness as their primary issue.
A lot of the mentally ill can work. They benefit from working - one of the worst things for someone with mental illness is to just lay around doing nothing all the time.
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