You know, I have long witnessed this in various capacities. However, one that I see very transparently on a daily basis is that of people’s personal property.
I work in a downtown mid-sized city. During lunchtime strolls I regularly walk past the property of those whose income appears not to be high. The houses are modest but still decent, yet the yard and their surroundings are a complete disheveled mess. Weeds everywhere. Trash and junk all around. “Grass” high and unmowed. Trees and shrubs way overgrown.
I mean what does it take to have a modicum of self respect to clean up your own property? Cleaning and maintaining your property doesn’t take a high income. Why do you choose to live like a disheveled slob and bring down the entire neighborhood.
I’m not talking about the old or disabled who may struggle with upkeep, I’m talking about otherwise able bodied people who no doubt grouse and complain about “the man” keeping him down and demanding yet more government assistance. (And in this neighborhood, in this specific city, these people are empirically hardcore Dem voters.)
I never understood this.
I mean what does it take to have a modicum of self respect to clean up your own property? Cleaning and maintaining your property doesn’t take a high income. Why do you choose to live like a disheveled slob and bring down the entire neighborhood.
I’m not talking about the old or disabled who may struggle with upkeep, I’m talking about otherwise able bodied people who no doubt grouse and complain about “the man” keeping him down and demanding yet more government assistance. (And in this neighborhood, in this specific city, these people are empirically hardcore Dem voters.)
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Totally different culture and values.
I notice the cultural values difference when I travel from New Hampshire to Quebec.
Northern New England homes and properties are generally picked up but not prettied. The farms have equipment out, but no one breaks their necks making things attractive. They are maintained.
In Quebec, everything is pretty. There are few eyesores. If there is an oil tank attached to the house, it is hidden with fencing and plantings. I know I am generalizing here, but all of the homes have landscaping and flowers. It is a culture with a totally different value that is culturally encouraged to make things “nice.”