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It occurs to me that people who don't want their tax dollars to support food for others-- on the off chance that those other might be lazy-- are not so much conservative, as they are selfish.
Today is Thanksgiving, and I have seen more repulsive posts about the supposed ner-do-wells who are leaching off the system, and complete ignorance of the hundreds of thousands of children who are fed from school lunch programs and food stamps... It really gives me a depressed view of humanity. It seems the RWNJ's have no sense of community, no sense of humanity. It's always about "me" and taking care of yourself and no mention of assisting in the care of others....
I'm sure this post will be lambasted by the usual suspects with faux-intellectual justifications for their selfishness-- But in the end, that's all it is. "I want more for me and you're on your own." Selfishness. And it's sad.
I'd much rather have my tax dollars support food for poor children than war. I wish churches spent less money on fighting boys kissing and more on housing for the indigent.
This is Thanksgiving. Before you repsond with your usual justifications and screeds about "liberals", stop and think. I wonder if the spirit of the holiday might give you pause and perhaps catalyze a change of heart.
The core of conservatism is exclusion.
Human beings form tribes, some tribes get so big that they become nations, some nations get so big that they become empires.
The one constant is that those nations and their laws functioned to the benefit of a small elite group of the population.
Two things to understand, human beings on some level seem to want extremely unequal societies in which a majority of citizens are excluded and poor since those kinds of nations are the norm throughout human history.
Number two that ruling elite in every nation uses the laws and the government to enrich themselves and exclude others from help.
The great fights over political power in the West were to first get the boot of the government off of citizens that forced them to do things in service to the rich and powerful.
The second fight was to get the government to not only do things just for the rich and powerful but to expand what the government does for all people.
conservatives come down on the side that sees expanding government to certain citizens as immoral, dangerous, and wrong.
conservatives seek to exclude those citizens from government. conservatives seek to protect and promote the interests of a small elite.
My stance on assisting the poor is that as much as possible should be done privately and individually, and lean on the government to help the truly needy, those who are honestly disabled, etc. Expecting the government to take care of the poor rather than giving or volunteering yourself is just shifting the responsibility to the government and the rich (taxpayers), which is far more selfish than someone who wants to cut back on generous entitlement programs that simply trap people in poverty.
Our system is too easy to take advantage of and it reduces the incentive for the individual to better themselves, get more education or learn a trade that can net them a middle-class income. Politicians prey on the poor and promise them this or that in exchange for their support. And they stay in power by keeping those people poor. Once they rise out of poverty, they become more Conservative. For Democrats who act like they care the most about the poor, all of their actions seem devoted to keeping them poor.
It occurs to me that people who don't want their tax dollars to support food for others-- on the off chance that those other might be lazy-- are not so much conservative, as they are selfish.
Today is Thanksgiving, and I have seen more repulsive posts about the supposed ner-do-wells who are leaching off the system, and complete ignorance of the hundreds of thousands of children who are fed from school lunch programs and food stamps... It really gives me a depressed view of humanity. It seems the RWNJ's have no sense of community, no sense of humanity. It's always about "me" and taking care of yourself and no mention of assisting in the care of others....
I'm sure this post will be lambasted by the usual suspects with faux-intellectual justifications for their selfishness-- But in the end, that's all it is. "I want more for me and you're on your own." Selfishness. And it's sad.
I'd much rather have my tax dollars support food for poor children than war. I wish churches spent less money on fighting boys kissing and more on housing for the indigent.
This is Thanksgiving. Before you repsond with your usual justifications and screeds about "liberals", stop and think. I wonder if the spirit of the holiday might give you pause and perhaps catalyze a change of heart.
As defined by the Tea Party - the extremist forces that have displaced most rational conservatives and marginalized them in their own party, yes selfishness is the goal. One need only look at their beliefs to understand this.
1) They don't want their tax dollars spent helping: the poor, "those people" (n-word more commonly used), or funding anything they don't specifically use. Of course, they no doubt still expect Social Security and Medicare to be there - for them, funded by others, and will throw a fit if *their* roads aren't pave ASAP, even if somebody else pays for it.
2) They believe that *their* religion is the only true one and are quick to condemn others: Islam is suddenly a "religion of evil" - while the hypocrites ignore the insane wrath in the Old Testament, and all other religions are "false" to them. So, again, selfishness - they want to establish their religion as the state's religion, but feel nobody else has a right to worship.
3) They believe that they should have civil rights, but various minorities should not: gays should be shunned and forbidden from civil unions, blacks and other minorities should be marginalized, etc.
4) They believe that economically, "nobody owes anyone anything," but they sure will throw a fit if they don't "get what they earned" in life. Most right-wing lunatics are older people, and they are too ignorant to understand how the economy has changed in their lives and why so many decent people are suffering these days. But they'll be quick to take full credit for every success in their own lives, of course - luck never plays a role in anything because most of them believe in the Just World Fallacy.
Now, various right-wing extremists will pop in here and deny all of the above, but you need only look the posts on this forum and the behavior of Tea Party favorites to realize that all of the above is true. Just because a party of extremists doesn't officially call themselves that doesn't mean that it isn't an accurate definition of them.
Last edited by Rambler123; 06-05-2014 at 08:27 AM..
That sort of depends on your definition of selfish doesn't it? It is arguably selfish to go by the thinking that I earned this money, and absolutely no one else deserves it. But at the same time, is it wrong? Most do work for the money they have. I don't know that statistic, but since that's the case, I assume the number of people who simply inherit their wealth is very insignificant. If you earned it, it's yours, and not wanting to share it isn't technically wrong.
I do have a bone to pick with the religious conservatives (we all know which religion). Jesus has a relatively clear position on wealth and charity. Certainly he would say giving the poor is a good thing. The Bible has some contradictions on wealth as a whole, but that's kind of how the Bible works. And let's be realistic, many of the Christians conservatives (at least the elected ones) have probably not actually read the Bible anyway, so they probably only know the Jesus stuff.
As far as the other end, do other people really have a right to tell others how to spend their money (or rather how it should be used since we aren't really talking about voluntary spending). Is that somewhat of a form of selfishness? Saying my cause is more valid that yours so your money goes where I want isn't exactly selfless.
Just food for thought. I'm not giving my opinion on this. Except for my opinion on Christians conservatives, which is low, as I've seen very little about the group (or the most vocal ones anyway) that suggests any level of thought or, really, Christianity.
Conservatism is like Communism. It looks good on paper and sounds good in theory, but doesn't work in the real world.
Really? compare the state of Texas, and the state of California shall we?
Which one has more people moving to it then from it?
Which one is attracting more businesses?
Which one has a rising GDP?
Furthermore when was the last time people were arrested with out charges and taken out to the middle of no where and shot in a Conservative nation? Then compare that number to the time it has happened in a Communistic nation..
It occurs to me that people who don't want their tax dollars to support food for others-- on the off chance that those other might be lazy-- are not so much conservative, as they are selfish.
And you don't think it's not selfish to want government to take from others who have earned the money to give to those who didn't?
It occurs to me that people who don't want their tax dollars to support food for others-- on the off chance that those other might be lazy-- are not so much conservative, as they are selfish.
“I have never understood why it is "greed" to want to keep the money you have earned but not greed to want to take somebody else's money.”
Thomas Sowell
No its the doctrine of those able bodied should work and contribute. Its the fakes and other liberals who want free stuff that take it out of the mouths of those disabled who need the help.Where is my free stuff? is the watch word of liberals.
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