Quote:
Originally Posted by TotalKaos
Seriously, where does this guy's income come from?
Do people just give him money to go away?
Rev Al Sharpton - Does he preach at a church and get paid?
Is he on someone's payroll, or on gov't assistance or what.
Someone please help me understand.
Rev Al seems to have supplanted Jesse Jackson as the go to guy to stir the pot. How did this happen?
How did Jesse get grocery money. Is he a Rev. SO MANY QUESTIONS.
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From the start: In case you are interested or wondering, I am a white Jewish male who is a senior now and have varied political/social stances (of which a host of them are in the conservative or libertarian school-of-thought . . . and then others are more moderate or nuanced. I am not, in any case, an ideologue who limits himself to one perspective or party line but just subscribes to what I deem to be right for a particular issue and do not subscribe to that which I deem to be more questionable or even wrong for a particular issue. Read on:
You ask, in effect: "What does Al Sharpton do for a living (or a 'legitimate' living)?"
The answer: The same thing that Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Jerry Falwell (while he was still alive), Sarah Palin, Jesse Ventura, Michael Moore, Ann Coulter, Bill Maher, David Duke, Christopher Hitchens (while he was still alive) and a multitude of others of all political/social/cultural/religious persuasions do. That is:
- He is a TV/radio personality with his own talk show(s)
- He is a writer of books and articles and likely produces mutimedia content as well (videos, et al)
- Unlike at least some of the others, he happens to also be a clergyperson (who draws a salary, as all clergypersons do)
If I wanted to be snooty about it with ALL of them, I could say to all of them: "So what actually do you
do that society-at-large really needs? Do you punch a time clock somewhere (like I do) and actually do something meaningful for and truly needed by society-at-large?" But the fact is that I
wouldn't say that to Rush Limbaugh or Sarah Palin or Ann Coulter (for instance) nor any of the others (including Al Sharpton) . . . for society has always had a place in its history for political provocateurs and polemicists of
all stripes. I am not offering my points here in this thread from a particular partisan viewpoint myself but just asking you (the OP and all others here): Would you ask this same question of Sarah Palin or Ann Coulter or Bill Maher or Rabbi Shmuley Boteach or Bill Donahue (outspoken head of the Catholic League) or Christopher Hitchens or multitudes of others who are or have been some of society's prevailing public polemicists?
The overarching point is: Just because someone doesn't appeal to your particular personal worldview or come from your own societal cohort or constituency, does that mean that he or she necessarily has a questionable livelihood? It would have to be judged on a case-by-case basis for each person being judged on this matter. Can you offer up any other premise to question them (including Al Sharpton) for anything other than personal distaste for their particular viewpoints? For instance, I may not have shared Jerry Falwell's perspectives and pronouncements but I didn't question his livelihood . . . for I understand that clergypersons do almost invariably get compensated for what they do . . . and if they publish works and/or engage in media appearances, give lectures, et al, they tend to get paid for that as well. Just as YOU would if you devoted yourself to a cause of whatever persuasion as they do.
In summary: I don't quite understand the purpose of this thread. To the OP: You know that you already know how Al Sharpton makes a living, which is the EXACT SAME way that all the others mentioned make a living. If you have critiques about Sharpton's particular views, simply express them plainly (e.g., "I don't like him because he is, in my mind, always harping on race issues, represents people that I have a great distaste for, and challenges the societal practices that I believe in"). Now THAT is an honest thread (whether any and all thread readers agree with that expressed viewpoint or not). But why question how Al Sharpton, as the focus of this thread that you started, makes a living when you know that you already KNOW how he makes a living (which is the exact same way that all the other full-time professional political or social partisans make a living)? Are you now going to start multiple separate threads questioning how each of the
other mentioned polemicists make THEIR living? If not, why not? Please explain.
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