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You can be a hard worker with your own goals and still understand that the American Dream is a myth.
you are completely correct.
I don't lie to my kids. I don't direct them to life awfulness nor rub their faces in it. But i certainly show them the economic truth of life in the USA.
It is a winner takes all nation, almost zero support or chances for the poor and the system is designed to reward wealth and to punish poverty.
Taxation is geared to allow those with money to pay few taxes and has many structures to do so throughout life. My money is allowed to make money tax free, my profits are allowed to be pushed from one spot to another in order to pay much less tax.
Many on the left and many on the right actually want the same things, the big difference is many on the right have been fooled into thinking social programs are bad and will bankrupt the USA. But the truth is we have the biggest wealth gap of any free democratic developed nation.... hmmm maybe that means we are taxing unfairly..
Then write to your congress member. Don't act like taking more of my money is going to solve their inadequacy.
There was a thread on UHC where I addressed this issue.
If you look at the numbers regarding how much you pay in taxes, healthcare benefits/premiums, copays, etc. you'd see that we are paying nearly the same amount as countries with a plethora of social benefit programs while not getting the same return.
IOW, we might not have to pay anymore. Just reallocate money and to whom we pay it.
A large portion of Americans seem to be against social programs even though it may be for the common good. When there is talk of the (on average) much better social programs in many European countries the general response is "well, they have to spend more on taxes". To which I ask.....so? If it meant far better health care, far better maternity leave, etc. isn't that worth it? Do not the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one?
1. Forcing people at gunpoint to pay for your own compassion is never acceptable.
2. Forcing people at gunpoint to pay for your own responsibility is never acceptable.
3. There are far better ways to help the poor people than just simply giving them money.
4. If you aren't willing to spend your own money to help others, please don't ask others to do it. Pool your money together and create a fund to fund any social programs you like.
5. Supporting a party that wants to import millions of poor illegal immigrants is essentially to screw the poor Americans.
Yes, this is definitely part of the problem. But this starts with us citizens. We need to stop being so apathetic and downright ignorant about what our government representatives are doing with our money.
My reasoning is entirely rational. A more egalitarian society is a more stable one. If wealth and power is slowly concentrated in a smaller and smaller group, those who have very little will grow in numbers. They will notice an abuse of power is being done to secure their wealth, and they will take action, almost always in the form of some radical leftist revolution. It's happened in many countries throughout the last few centuries. The French overthrew the monarch and you saw how that ended. The Russians overthrew the Czar and you saw how that ended. Is this really a path you want to even risk? I don't. Which is why I feel a democratic (or republican; let's not debate the difference right now since we all should be smart enough to know what I'm saying) system is best preserved when policy is made that allows those with less an actual chance to get ahead. It's not saying "**** the rich" or "fix all your problems." It's saying those with more can pay a little bit more so that those with less have an opportunity to make something of themselves.
I understand that, even though I disagree. I've usually found you to be pretty reasonable. Still doesn't mean it's not a violation of property rights, but from the perspective of someone who isn't dedicated to maintaining the idea of property, that would be a logical conclusion.
Maybe I should have said "often" instead of "always" in my post. It's just extremely common that people ignore my ACTUAL issues with it and throw out the old "you're just using that as an excuse to be selfish and heartless". They can't accept that someone can care about people as much as they do, but find their means of doing it totally unacceptable.
I don't think people are against social programs, I know I am not. What I am against is the abuse of them. That is the kicker, how do you control that ? For instance, Welfare. I live near Detroit, and like many that live in or near large cities , we see the worst abuse of the system. I think this jades many of us because we see the abuse first hand.
I don't have an answer on how to fix things, I do know I am not in favor of helping those that really can help themselves.
Definition of American Dream: the ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative.
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oh please
my family started out dirt poor
my father taught me to work...taught me a skill
my father was a wise man
work hard, learn hard, and you WILL achieve...you will succeed ... and a 6 figure income is not a measurement of success.
I have learned many skills... and worked hard.... loved hard... blood, sweat , and tears....
everyone has that opportunity... even those who unfortunately are born with disabilities...even those poor into a poor family.....
my son was born , with a learning disorder.... just graduated from Hofstra university
my daughter has severe dyslexia... and is succeeding in high school... lot of hard work and perseverance on her, and my wife and I..... my daughter is determine not to have the disability keep her down
why are you such a negative nelly??
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