brawn wrote:
The guy who said reallocating to resources to those who "haven't earned" them, not only has no idea what it is like to grow up poor but also seems to have little understand of what it takes to remove oneself from the devastating cycle of poverty.
You know brawn, some of what you write is actually compelling, but this isn't one of your finer moments, and this 'compassionate' way of thinking and making excuses is precisely what keeps people in the "poverty cycle" to begin with.
How about this for an example? A kid grows up in a shithole in California known as Roland Heights, where gunfire is as common a noise as locusts during a Midwest summer. This kid's father leaves when he is three years old, but the mother perseveres, works two jobs, and babysits kids on weekends to make ends meet (if you want to call it that). Eventually, the mother is able to buy a home in a nicer suburb farther to the west to provide a decent, but lower middle class life for her children. The children end up having to work full-time and live at home to put themselves through college, but they get it done. Eventually, one of the children goes to law school and puts in a dreadful 100 hours per week, but manages to graduate at the top of the class. Now, this individual has a hell of a student loan to pay, but he manages to still tithe to his church every year, as well as help people who are otherwise marginalized. This person also does some pro bono work for the ACLU, only to find it an organization with its own dogmatic agenda that is doing very LITTLE to actually improve society. Oh, and this person is passed up for a judicial clerkship in favor of a quota student who pulls a stellar 2.8 GPA.
This person has a heavy tax burden, health problems and expenses that are high enough to be onerous, but not so high as to qualify for a tax deduction. This person is caught in the middle with debts up to his eyeballs, health issues, and an income high enough to be heavily taxed, but not so high as to afford an extremely comfortable living.
No brawn, you and your cohorts are absolutely wrong on this issue. Regardless of your circumstances, America is one of the few places you can actually improve your living standards if you are willing to cast aside the victimhood platitudes, the excuse making, and the all-too-easy dependence on handouts of any form. The private sector is not always a flawless allocator of capital, and it is inherently vulnerable to white-collar crime, but it is a much more efficient allocator of capital and creator of jobs and the ability to improve one's financial condition than the government will ever be. This country does provide safety nets and entitlements, which provide little incentive for one's own accountability. The government doesn't have to provide these at all, as they are not God-given rights, but the US government does anyway.
As for the pension reform issue, promises were made in a bygone era when the playing field was heavily tilted in favor of America, the demographics were favorable, and Americans were educated and had a solid work ethic, with no entitlement attitude. But times have changed drastically. Just look at your neighbor's kids. Sure, there is still some cronyism in corporate America, but what is forcing change to occur more rapidly than people are WILLING to accommodate to it is not corporate boards of directors but the global economy and productivity standards themselves. The sooner people swallow their medicine, the sooner they will get off their soap box and get to work.
Nope, I'm afraid I am absolutely correct on this one. You are not guaranteed ANYTHING in this life. It is entirely up to YOU to improve your situation. To steal from the rich and give to the poor when so many rich people are charitable to begin with (and, worse case scenario, their fortune is sitting in a bank, when government policies don't force it offshore that is, to be lent to people to start businesses, create jobs, and enhance productivity).