From Rags To Riches.....Or Not

PoliticalChic

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Oct 6, 2008
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1. In this thread, an exemplar of the indoctrination that is central to the ascendancy of 'Liberalism, Incorporated.'

Why in 'Politics'? For this For this reason....every political endeavor in our society recognizes, and attempts to confront, poverty.
Some actually desire ending it.

The defining characteristic that divides conservatism and Modern Liberalism is the role played by government in attempting to end poverty.


Two quotes which set the stage:
a. The nine most terrifying words in the English language are "I'm from the government, and I'm here to help."
Ronald Reagan

b. "You do not take a man who for years has been hobbled by chains, liberate him, bring him to the starting line of a race, saying, "you are free to compete with all the others," and still justly believe you have been completely fair... This is the next and more profound stage of the battle for civil rights. We seek not just freedom but opportunity—not just legal equity but human ability—not just equality as a right and a theory, but equality as a fact and as a result. "LBJ in the Commencement Address at Howard University on June 4, 1965 on affirmative action

Of course, the difference between the two views is stark...but I contend that a look at the results of the two views makes it impossible not to see the former as the correct one.



2. The impetus for this thread is a new series on NPR radio, "Busted: America's Poverty Myths." Based on the perspective one has come to expect from NPR, and the fact that it dines at the government trough, one would expect a one-sided support for the Liberal perspective.
Nay, nay! An excellent, professional job....sloped toward the Left, but, still, quite even-handed. Listen here: http://www.wnyc.org/series/busted-americas-poverty-myths

3. NPR gets right to it; "The upward mobility myth....where everyone has an equal chance to surmount any obstacle..." Well...they may label it a 'myth'...because they have slanted the language to prove their contention. Only a fool expects the CEO position to be given out randomly, sort of like the Dalai Lama position is.
In fact, upward mobility is a attainable.... for all... if one places the goal within a real-world framework that includes hard work, the proper discipline in the choices one makes, and rational expectations. That means, do the right things.



4. The show starts by....'blaming' Ben Franklin for the 'myth.'
I said 'even-handed'....and quote is provided: "... the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. I observed...that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer.” Ben Franklin

Now...they do point out how exceptional Ben Franklin was....but it's hard to find any errors in that quote.


How does NPR soften the blow to the Liberal perspective?
Next.
 
Poverty is a state of mind...If you don't mind it..You're not poor..


I believe it was Thoreau who said 'That man is richest whose needs are cheapest."


And...the famous bumper sticker...'Work...the curse of the fishing man.'
I don't have as much as many, and I don't care to..In the 1980's I stopped playing the materialistic game of keeping up with the Joneses....
 
Poverty is a state of mind...If you don't mind it..You're not poor..


I believe it was Thoreau who said 'That man is richest whose needs are cheapest."


And...the famous bumper sticker...'Work...the curse of the fishing man.'
I don't have as much as many, and I don't care to..In the 1980's I stopped playing the materialistic game of keeping up with the Joneses....


What???

You were about to join 'JonesTown'????


Whew! Just think...the board would have half as many posts.
 
Poverty is a state of mind...If you don't mind it..You're not poor..


I believe it was Thoreau who said 'That man is richest whose needs are cheapest."


And...the famous bumper sticker...'Work...the curse of the fishing man.'
I don't have as much as many, and I don't care to..In the 1980's I stopped playing the materialistic game of keeping up with the Joneses....


What???

You were about to join 'JonesTown'????


Whew! Just think...the board would have half as many posts.
I did join, but I hated Kool Aid so much I came out alive...
 
Poverty is a state of mind...If you don't mind it..You're not poor..


I believe it was Thoreau who said 'That man is richest whose needs are cheapest."


And...the famous bumper sticker...'Work...the curse of the fishing man.'
I don't have as much as many, and I don't care to..In the 1980's I stopped playing the materialistic game of keeping up with the Joneses....


What???

You were about to join 'JonesTown'????


Whew! Just think...the board would have half as many posts.
I did join, but I hated Kool Aid so much I came out alive...



Lucky you....er,....us.
 
Poverty is a state of mind...If you don't mind it..You're not poor..


I believe it was Thoreau who said 'That man is richest whose needs are cheapest."


And...the famous bumper sticker...'Work...the curse of the fishing man.'


Thoreau is one of the greats.


Y'know, Brownie....I bet Thoreau would be a one-question Litmus Test to divine whether one is a Liberals or a conservative.
He sure wasn't a big-government devotee.

Thoreau went to jail for refusing to pay a tax to the state.
His pal, Ralph Waldo Emerson passed by the jail and saw Thoreau in there, and queried
"Ralph....what are you doing in there????"

Based on what he believed any moral man would do....Thoreau replied, “Waldo, the question is what are you doing out there?”
 
5. According to his autobiography, Ben Franklin gives himself total credit for his success, and as for any who helped him, or on whom he depended, he erases them from the picture. And that becomes the 'lyric' or the American poverty myth.
You can hear the same in Barack Obama dumping on that view, here: “If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.”

If you stand behind that view, well,
either you believe it aids those not successful to tear down the accomplishments of those who have achieved upward mobility...

....or you have the need to claim that the bigger government is, the better it is for all Americans.
Sort of like this: Every liberal gets up in the morning saying "The answer is bigger government. Now....what is your question."




6. Let's take a quick look at the folks who did build that successful business...and why they deserve all the credit, and a better shake from their President:

Entrepreneurs of all types rate their well-being higher than any other professional group in America.
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/16/the-self-employed-are-the-happiest/


Think it’s because they’re making beaucoup bucks? Wrong. Small business owners make 19% less than government managers.
http://www.cbsalary.com/calculators/


Comparing Federal and Private Sector Compensation
http://www.aei.org/papers/economics/fiscal-policy/labor/comparing-federal-and-private
sector-compensation/



“WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Nearly half of self-employed Americans (49%) report working
more than 44 hours in a typical work week, compared to 39% of American workers overall
38% in government and in private business, …”
Self-Employed Workers Clock the Most Hours Each Week



The average small-business owner earns $44,576 per year.
http://www.cbsalary.com/national-salary chart.aspx?specialty=Small+Business+Owner&cty=&sid=&kw=Business+Development&jn=jn037&edu=&tid=105988



How'd that happen, NPR????

Liberalism gave them their success?????


Hardly.
 
Poverty is a state of mind...If you don't mind it..You're not poor..


I believe it was Thoreau who said 'That man is richest whose needs are cheapest."


And...the famous bumper sticker...'Work...the curse of the fishing man.'
I don't have as much as many, and I don't care to..In the 1980's I stopped playing the materialistic game of keeping up with the Joneses....


What???

You were about to join 'JonesTown'????


Whew! Just think...the board would have half as many posts.
I did join, but I hated Kool Aid so much I came out alive...



Lucky you....er,....us.
Don't choke yourself with so much elation...
 
I believe it was Thoreau who said 'That man is richest whose needs are cheapest."


And...the famous bumper sticker...'Work...the curse of the fishing man.'
I don't have as much as many, and I don't care to..In the 1980's I stopped playing the materialistic game of keeping up with the Joneses....


What???

You were about to join 'JonesTown'????


Whew! Just think...the board would have half as many posts.
I did join, but I hated Kool Aid so much I came out alive...



Lucky you....er,....us.
Don't choke yourself with so much elation...


I was NOT laughing.
Sort of.
 
This liberal hates big govt. and hates high taxation.....Welfare workers need to be working if capable and the politicians need to be held accountable for their actions...We need to reduce the debt, reduce expenditure and live frugally...
 
I don't have as much as many, and I don't care to..In the 1980's I stopped playing the materialistic game of keeping up with the Joneses....


What???

You were about to join 'JonesTown'????


Whew! Just think...the board would have half as many posts.
I did join, but I hated Kool Aid so much I came out alive...



Lucky you....er,....us.
Don't choke yourself with so much elation...


I was NOT laughing.
Sort of.
Better than a frown..
 
This liberal hates big govt. and hates high taxation.....Welfare workers need to be working if capable and the politicians need to be held accountable for their actions...We need to reduce the debt, reduce expenditure and live frugally...


"This liberal hates big govt. and hates high taxation."

Reality is defined by actions, not by words: I've need seen a post of your criticizing Obama.


"Welfare workers need to be working if capable and the politicians need to be held accountable for their actions...We need to reduce the debt, reduce expenditure and live frugally..."

Hallalujah!!!
 
7. NPR continues: "Some impediments are just too hard to break through, and potential squandered through an accident of birth."
There is no doubt that that is true.

But...nor is there any doubt that government has not proven an anodyne, and...in fact...makes things worse.

a. ‘Welfare’ as a wholly owned subsidiary of the government, and its main result is the incentivizing of a disrespect for oneself, and for the entity that provides the welfare. As more folks in a poor neighborhood languish with little or no work, entire local culture begins to change: daily work is no longer the expected social norm. Extended periods of hanging around the neighborhood, neither working nor going to school becoming more and more socially acceptable.

Since productive activity not making any economic sense because of the work disincentives of the welfare plantation, other kinds of activities proliferate: drug and alcohol abuse, crime, recreational sex, illegitimacy, and family breakup are the new social norms, as does the culture of violence. Peter Ferrara, “America’s Ticking Bankruptcy Bomb,” chapter five.



b. "...since President Obama took office, federal welfare spending has increased by 41 percent, more than $193 billion per year. Despite this government largess, more than 46 million Americans continue to live in poverty. Despite nearly $15 trillion in total welfare spending since Lyndon Johnson declared war on poverty in 1964, the poverty rate is perilously close to where we began more than 40 years ago.

Throwing money at the problem has neither reduced poverty nor made self sufficient." http://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/88767476




It sure seems that Ben Franklin was correct:
"... the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. I observed...that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer.”


And that's exactly what has happened.
We'll get to NPR's explanation..and you will be amazed.
 
Ironic OP started this thread as she comes- off as the ultimate trust fund brat who got pushed through school like W no doubt
 
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8. With just a little bit of a sneer, NPR continues "The self-made man has been the avatar of the American spirit."
So....we're not really the 'land of opportunity'???


Look closely and you will recognize a tip of the hat to one who never worked for a living....Karl Marx.


Our radio pals trace the 'myth' to Horatio Alger, who they describe as 'a de-frocked Unitarian Minister'....
...see the back-of-the-hand slap there? Seems to be saying 'how reliable is the 'wisdom' of his novel?'
This wisdom:
"...hard working, loyal, devoted, not lazy, won't tell a lie..."

The message from Liberalism, Inc., is that these values are insignificant as far as becoming a success.

Really?

Seems to me, a society based on these wouldn't be so bad.


Or this:
"...We were taught to work jolly hard. We were taught to prove yourself (sic). We were taught self-reliance. We were taught to live within our income. You were taught that cleanliness is next to godliness. You were taught always to give a hand to your neighbour. You were taught tremendous pride in your country.. All of these things are Victorian values. They are also perennial values.” Margaret Thatcher's views in the Evening Standard of April 15, 1983.

Let's remember this: Liberalism, Incorporated stands for the antithesis of these traditions; hence, the failure of Liberals welfare policy.



But...if you feel the need to grow government, well, insisting that no matter how one acts is immaterial to success,...
.... seems to be the way to go.
 
This liberal hates big govt. and hates high taxation.....Welfare workers need to be working if capable and the politicians need to be held accountable for their actions...We need to reduce the debt, reduce expenditure and live frugally...


"This liberal hates big govt. and hates high taxation."

Reality is defined by actions, not by words: I've need seen a post of your criticizing Obama.


"Welfare workers need to be working if capable and the politicians need to be held accountable for their actions...We need to reduce the debt, reduce expenditure and live frugally..."

Hallalujah!!!
I don't have to publicly announce my disapproval every day at every moment to think...
 

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