The author's EEG.
Posted on 08/15/2011 9:11:21 AM PDT by no gnu taxes
LEFT OF THE RIGHT: Why Republicans Hate The Poor
The first and foremost reason Republican’s hate the poor is that the poor are a constant reminder that someone had to lose for them to win. And the saddest part is that it isn’t true. No one lost in order for them to succeed, but that’s the way they see the world. For Republican’s, we live in a dog eat dog, survival of the fittest world. How sad it is that they don’t see the world we so-called liberal’s see. We see a world where there is more than enough for everyone. All we need to do is change our priorities. But they see a world of finite wealth and you better get yours or you might get left out.
But there other reasons Republicans hate the poor. These reasons have to do with the habit of dehumanizing your enemy in order to ease your conscience. And the best way to do this is to invent myths about your enemy and then repeat them until you believe them yourself.
Myth #1. The poor are poor because they are lazy. This is the biggest myth of all. The typical “poor” person in America works 40 or more hours a week. He also spends countless hours commuting to and from work and tending other tasks because when you’re poor you have to do everything for yourself. And the jobs they typically have are among the most physically demanding there are. Compare this to the average Republican business owners I’ve encountered in my travels who typically spend as much time on the golf course as they do hanging out at their businesses brow beating their employees, I think you’ll get a different idea of just who is lazy.
Myth #2. The poor are poor because they are irresponsible with their money. It is true that most poor people have what is known as “bad credit.” But what is one to do when your monthly expenses constantly outpace your income. I’ve heard Republicans complain that if poor people would stop spending their money unnecessarily and put some away they wouldn’t be so poor. Gees, how clueless can you get. Poor people pay their bills until there isn’t anything left. They agonize every single month over what to pay and what not to pay. There’s no “what do we do with the left over money” because there isn’t any.
Myth #3. The poor are subsidized by welfare. Wrong, most people who are counted as “poor” don’t get any public assistance at all because they don’t qualify. Those who do mostly receive some kind of food assistance, but only of they are severely disabled or have children. And the vast majority of those people work full time at jobs like police officers, firefighters, and members of the U.S. military. I personally believe that welfare does not subsidize the poor; it subsidizes the employers who refuse to pay an equitable wage.
I could go on, but I think I’ve made my point. I know this is going to stir some of you up into a fit, but like it says in my byline, I have a deep passion for issues dealing with the poor. In my travels as an engineer and now as a stand up comedian, I’ve met and gotten to know dozens of Republican business owners. And with few exceptions they all seemed to have a deep seated distain for working people and thought even less of the poor. I’ve actually seen men shake with indignation over how much they were “forced” to pay those “lying, thieving, simpletons.” I’ve seen them slam their fist down in rage over their taxes going to pay for those lazy good for nothing bum’s liquor and cigarettes. I’ve got to tell you that the complete lack of even a hint of compassion from these Republicans I’ve encountered has filled me with a sense of dread concerning the future of our country. I got to see this side of the Republican world because I am a middle aged white guy and I don’t volunteer my politics. They assumed I was part of their good ol’ boy club freeing them to speak truthfully. I’ve had the same experience with closet white supremacists.
We talk a lot about hate and intolerance between races and religious groups. But I think we need to add to the discussion the kind of hate I’ve described here. Until we change attitudes, economic change will be on hold.
At which point you know you are dealing with a totally brain dead author and no future reading of the article is need.
[ But they(republicans) see a world of finite wealth and you better get yours or you might get left out. ]
That is the liberal stance projected onto republicans.. by this liberal..
Capitalism creates wealth, socialism uses that wealth up...
They want to re-distribute available resources out of an available pie.. not create MORE WEALTH..
He displays liberal concepts of republicans well.. inaccurate but well..
A “firing line” discussion of these things would do well on TV..
Who can make a bigger pie democrats or republicans?..
And who even WANTS TOO..democrats do not know how..
This drivel makes sense to most RINOs... thats why they are RINOs..
Socialism was, is now, and will always be parasitism..
Socialists are parasites.. even scavengers.. like hyenas..
RINOs are not beyond consuming financial and economic carrion..
And democrats, well thats just who they are..
Good article displaying parasitism...
The author's EEG.
I don’t “hate the poor”, but I do detest illogical liberal’s (sic) who bombard us with drivel such as this.
Well, fits of laughter, yeah.
...but like it says in my byline, I have a deep passion for issues dealing with the poor.
How many "poor" do you know?
I know second-graders who could write better papers than this. LOL
Imputing one set of axioms to results created from a different set of axioms doesn’t work.
“Myth #1. The poor are poor because they are lazy.”
This may often be right, but is obviously incomplete. Some rich are lazy; some poor work hard. It’s not about laziness, it’s about consequences of choices, and that those consequences may ripple beyond the one making the choice. Much of the time, the choice is “be lazy” and the consequence is “become poor”; not always, but often enough to warrant the sweeping generalization.
“Myth #2. The poor are poor because they are irresponsible with their money.”
Author proceeds to validate the “myth”. Responsible choices may be very difficult to make & follow. A person may not even know what the responsible choice is, or that there is a choice - doesn’t mean that the option they do take isn’t irresponsible. A person may not know that they can make dinners for a buck a plate (pimp my website: http://abuckaplate.blogspot.com/) and buys a bag of chips instead thinking that’s the best option, but it’s still the irresponsible money choice.
“Myth #3. The poor are subsidized by welfare.”
Author proceeds to obfuscate the definition of “poor”. Half the world lives on less than $2/day; if you’re making more than 20x that (the US official poverty line) you’re not poor - life may be hard, and choices unpleasant, but you’re not poor.
Oh, the author is a stand-up comedian. Yeah, real heavy thinking there.
Is this guy saying that lazy, irresponsible people do not exists or that lazy, irresponsible people somehow make enough money to not be considered poor.
Oh man, you nailed it. That article is going to become Exhibits 1 through 30 in the Museum of Self-Regarding Liberal Narcissism. This is some kind of self-preening kryptonite wholly antithetic to rational thought. This is weapons-grade pomposity. Man, what a rush!
I hope for the author’s sake she’s a 6th grader.
WORK?!? You don't OWN it? What kind of Republican are you? Or do you mean you spend half your day "working" by browbeating the real employees, like the guy you describe; and the other half schmoozing on the golf course?
What a pant load that article is.
Oh, and in town, every business owner we know is Conservative, either Republican or Libertarian, and spends their day WORKING ...right alongside their employees, if they have any... unlike this "stand up comedian" author.
The only Democrat business "owner" we know is the newspaper "publisher", who inherited the town's formerly independent newspaper: he drove it into the ground, then sold it to a media company in return for remaining as "editor".
There was another one a few years ago, a developer. He cheated the city by downsizing the golf course expansion by building the new back nine at 90% scale of the plans; skimming off of, and double-biliing ("accounting errors") on, the club house expansion; and (totally stupid) under reporting his income to IRS--he is now a federal felon...or maybe now a member of Obama's administration.
The poor are not poor because they are lazy?
The poor in my family certainly are.
What does he call a refusal to finish high school or get a GED?
What does he call a refusal to take career training fully funded by another?
What does he call a refusal to take driver’s ed when half of it is paid for?
Contrast these choices with the excellent example set for these people by a family member who took a full semester load of nursing classes for two years while working three jobs to suppost herself and pay her tuition so she had no debt.
Poor people have poor ways.
This guy was an engineer? Remind me to stay away from anything he designed....
This attitude about Republicans is especially prevalent among college students, because they get a full dose of this from their (usually liberal) college professors. The best we can do is counter this with the truth. We DO care for the poor, it's just that we want them to gradually become LESS poor. It is not in our political interest to KEEP them poor, unlike Democrats, who derive much of their power from said poor.
ROTFL!! That’s hilarious! I’m fixing to read “Eats, Shoots & Leaves”, a grammarian’s take on the woeful state of punctuation in today’s world.
First I agree with you this is a stupid article. However, it is also 4.5 years old.
Second it is really democrats and progressives (liberals) that truly hate the poor. They have conspired for the last 50 years to keep the poor dependent on government handouts (read entitlement programs.) None of their programs to help the poor and downtrodden become self sufficient have ever worked for an extended period of time. They usually get one or two people that the program actually helped and then promote them as poster children to increase and continue funding for said programs.
He’s saying that sweeping generalizations are invalid outright because nuanced exceptions exist.
Sure, there are some hardworking responsible people who are poor, and there are some lazy irresponsible people who are not.
Sure, some people have hard choices and pick easier options with unpleasant consequences.
Sure, some people aren’t poor but still seem like it.
The exceptions do not invalidate the rules, much to his annoyance.
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