(: This 2020 US President Candidate wants to give everyone $1,000 / month :)

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You’re welcome, don’t waste to much time putting that cementhead in his place... he’s fried!.. I think he use to go by ThunderThor.

You're right. Was hoping to get some insights but doesn't look likely.

 

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It's patently obvious, and you keep making it more obvious with statements like "What prevents someone from getting a good job at the post office or DMV?" that you don't understand the grind of deep poverty. But hey, you know yourself, you're only fooling yourself I guess. The whole point is that there aren't an infinite number of jobs at the post office or DMV, hell there's not even a DMV in most rural towns in Appalachia and usually only 1 or 2 post office jobs, where does everyone else work? They should commute to where there are jobs? Sure, ever drive the narrow valleys of West Virginia where something 3 miles away as the crow flies is 25 miles of twisty road that takes 45 minutes to drive. With what car? Mass transit, forget about it. They should move to the city then? Sure, I'm sympathetic to that. Except who takes care of your younger siblings now? You sick parents?

Your entire argument just amounts to: "They can't because it's hard...might have to commute over some windy roads". So no jobs around, ok, move. Unemployment is at all time lows (admittedly because a lot of people have dropped out of the labor force). The person doesn't need to stick around to take care of sick parents as what would happen if the parents had no kids to take care of them? Do you think the government just lets them die on the street? Same with the other siblings. If the parents can't take care of their children, then sorry, but that's neglect and child protection services would likely intervene at that point. Would it be nice if a sibling could stick around and take care of his or her parents, sure, of course. But any good parent would not want to hold their kids back for personal benefit.

Again, you have demonstrated absolutely no comprehension of what it's like to be grindingly poor in a poor place. Your entire worldview is predicated on your experiences, and you've never been exposed to and refuse to attempt to empathize with or actually learn about what deep poverty is like.

You have yet to provide any valid reason for why an able-bodied person can't get a decent job (such as one of the many that I referenced in link in previous post). Driving down curvy roads or just happening to live in the middle of nowhere is not a valid excuse. Poor people from other countries walk hundreds of miles and climb through ditches, over tall fences, and take a lot of risk just to get a below-minimum wage job here in the US and somehow manage to take care of 5 children (although likely with a lot of government support and services), but at least they are able to work. Why can't US citizens with all the government-supplied resources offered to them handle at least a decent-paying (assuming no college degree) government job? By the way, ever wonder why you never see any homeless Asians? A lot of Asians came to the US and endured discrimination (internment camps) as well as tough jobs -- the Chinese basically built the transcontinental railroad. Why didn't they stay poor? Because they have the right culture and a respect for work. Honestly, I've never seen a homeless Asian in my life. Around here, all the homeless that I see are white. Although strange that I never hear about Asian privilege.

Here's the deal. Nearly everything you and I have, is by accident of birth. By accident of birth we were born in the U.S. and not Somalia. By accident of birth we were born to the parents we were in the social strata they were. By accident of birth we were born with the intelligence we have. You lack the self-awareness to realize this, and in your mind you've achieved what you have because of your efforts and anyone else, regardless of starting point, could easily do the same thing. And anyone who wasn't as fortunate as us are horrible people if they don't do things like give their kids up for adoption. That's just not reality. I'll leave you with the exhortation to do a 1 week volunteer trip with a church mission or secular group to a rural poor area. It will be eye opening to you. And then maybe we can continue this discussion.

You're wrong. Not everything I have is by accident of birth. I didn't have to stay in school. I could have dropped out. I could have tried drugs, got addicted (I have a cousin who grew up in a similar background, probably similar intelligence who became an alcoholic and struggles with drug addiction...actually, I have two cousins who struggle with drug addition), and then I could have ended up dead and floating down the river. I didn't have to study as much as I did in college. I could have stayed in the fraternity, majored in communications or something ending in "studies" and then figured out the rest of my life after college. Probably could have found a decent government job with a pension and never needed to take any risk in life. I took sacrifices. I sacrificed, in many occasions, instant gratification and perhaps some fun times in order to put myself in a better position tomorrow. Likely, you could have taken an easier path too. So no, not everything I have or have done is simply a result of my birth luck. Trust me, I could have REALLY disappointed my parents. And what a logically ridiculous argument (frequently given by the left and Elizabeth Warren) that is. How about the kids who shoot up their high school? Was that just because they happened to be born into the wrong family? What about the drunk driver who maybe killed or severely injured someone close to you at some point in your life. Was that just because they were born into the wrong circumstance? That entire argument is designed to remove personal responsibility while at the same time discrediting everyone who worked hard and took risk or sacrifice in hopes of ending up in a better and more fulfilling place. You say that I'm ignorant about the poor, but one thing I have realized through this conversation by talking to you is that there actually are people who enjoy having the belief that many people are completely incapable of taking care of themselves and whose existence is only due to the benevolence of them -- the self-perceived elite. Strangely, there appear to be people whose ego is inflated by how many people they can look down upon and see as either incapable, deplorable, or both.