America Before The Entitlement State

[Justin00]

Im old enough to remember the vietnam era pretty well ( 56 ) & the ONLY reason anybody in my lifetime would have been selling pencils to survive is because their sense of pride & self worth wouldnt allow them to get on welfare,here in MICH it was called "general assistance",a healthy able body man would recieve $200 a month cash & $100 a month food stamps,big money in 1976.

Welfare was a last resort back then,now its where young folk start their lives,with a food stamp card as soon as they turn 18.

"true" pride is a thing of the past man, sure ppl have pride theses days.... the new definition is synonymous with arrogance and egotistical.

back in the day Americans would only be carried if they were completely unable to walk..... crawl.... or even roll there way on there own. now they will jump on your back if you let if get weighted down far enough for them get on without excreting much effort.

 

[UncleBuck]

Sorry but your little neighborhood doesn't speak for America.

you are very right.

where i live now, i have gotten in very nice with my neighbors. i always bring them veggies from the garden, eggs from the chickens, they invite us over for barbecues and get togethers, the whole nine yards.

but where i used to live in apartment complexes, a passing 'hello' is all that you might expect.

now, when i go to LA, that is another world. last time i was there, my phone died and i was not sure if my hosts were home. not knowing where the nearest pay phone was, i asked a stranger to call a number for me. not only did he not help me with a simple favor, he acted lie i wasn't there. of course, being the asshole that i am, i mocked him while he walked away, telling him that just because he acts like i'm not here does not make it so.

anyhoo, situations like nodrama describes are in the vast minority in this country.

and aside from how the autor tries to act like this is the grand solution, let's take a survey: how many people out there have a landlord that would let the rent slide in hard times? how many out there have a credit line at their local grocer?

 

[canndo]

Emphatically, you give humanity a bad name because you see yourself as a individual owing nothing to no one and certainly not a cup of sugar. If a person was wounded at your doorstep you would carefully step over them and go about your day, BUT you want government to take my hard earned money and get a bureaucrat to tell you that you have to help the guy on the doorstep. You assume that everyone is as heartless and unsympathetic as you are, but i can tell you that isn't true.

Nice two step NoDrama, shall we get back to the original argument? I say that it is sparingly uncommon that the majority of citizens in this country can go knock on their neighbor's door and borrow rent money or money for food for their family for a couple of months. You claim that things are different in "your neck of the woods". I say that neck is rather unique in America. This has nothing to do with my generosity but I assure you, I would assist a wounded person at my front door. If my neighbor knocked on my door, however, and asked to borrow a thousand dollars or so, I am not so sure I would accomidate him, nor he I. That is the specific of our current discussion.

 

[canndo]

But Canndos does? LOL circular logic fault. Stop filling your life with hate.

the fact is that we hear all too often of neighbors standing by as neighbors are raped or robbed or beaten. Given this sort of behavior it is none too likely that these people might loan each other more than the price of a gallon of milk. Just because I point out a thing does not mean I agree with it.

 

[canndo]

"true" pride is a thing of the past man, sure ppl have pride theses days.... the new definition is synonymous with arrogance and egotistical.

back in the day Americans would only be carried if they were completely unable to walk..... crawl.... or even roll there way on there own. now they will jump on your back if you let if get weighted down far enough for them get on without excreting much effort.

Fascinating, how people of pride claim that pride is a thing of the past. Could they mean to say that everyone but they are devoid of it?

 

[NoDrama]

no, not really. read exactly how SS works and its investments then find a ponzi scheme that works exactly the same way, similar yes, same no.

Tis closer to Canndo's explanation than the almighty WIKI's first sentence or 2.

Well wonderful, because Canndo went and 100% agreed with me by further elaborating on the difference of Motive.

 

[redivider]

um, NoDrama...

the study actually pretty conclusively proves that once per capita social security expenditures grow past a certain point, elderly poverty starts decreasing. as long as per capita social security expenditures don't pass that 'trigger'... social security is pretty much worthless...

it goes on to show how social security expenditures have stabilized elderly poverty rates regardless of economic conditions....read em and weep!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[NoDrama]

the fact is that we hear all too often of neighbors standing by as neighbors are raped or robbed or beaten. Given this sort of behavior it is none too likely that these people might loan each other more than the price of a gallon of milk. Just because I point out a thing does not mean I agree with it.

I bet for every murdered neighbor there are 100 cups of sugar being borrowed. Even in your little shit-hole neck of the woods. You can point out that bad things happen but that does not make them the rule, only the exception. People are more willing to help a stranger than you think and even more willing to lend a helping hand if only given the chance.

 

[NoDrama]

um, NoDrama...

the study actually pretty conclusively proves that once per capita social security expenditures grow past a certain point, elderly poverty starts decreasing. as long as per capita social security expenditures don't pass that 'trigger'... social security is pretty much worthless...

it goes on to show how social security expenditures have stabilized elderly poverty rates regardless of economic conditions....read em and weep!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Want me to make a graph showing the proliferation of Color television? It correlates much better than SS does to poverty levels.

 

[redivider]

i see you chose to ignore how this study refers only to poverty rates among the ELDERLY.

you want to know why poverty rates among the population in general doesn't behave in a manner similar to poverty rates among the elderly?? million dollar question....

 

[redivider]

i'll go ahead and answer. it's because the per capita expenditures on welfare for all the americans living in poverty haven't reached that 'trigger' point.

BOOM.

 

[NoDrama]

i see you chose to ignore how this study refers only to poverty rates among the ELDERLY.

you want to know why poverty rates among the population in general doesn't behave in a manner similar to poverty rates among the elderly?? million dollar question....

You hear voices in your head? just wondering because you seem to be replying to someone who made an argument that only you can see.

 

[tomahawk2406]

But Canndos does? LOL circular logic fault. Stop filling your life with hate.

filling my life with hate? lol bro your the one who wants to shun the less fortunate because your neck of the woods is fine and dandy

and please please tell me where in my comment you found this hate?

 

[tomahawk2406]

entitlements don't actually help people, they just make life easier!!!!

 

[Carne Seca]

Our society must make it right and possible for old people not to fear the young or be deserted by them, for the test of a civilization is the way that it cares for its helpless members.~Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973), My Several Worlds [1954].

The test of the morality of a society is what it does for its children.
~Dietrich Bonhoeffer

A decent provision for the poor is the true test of civilization.
~Samuel Johnson, Boswell: Life of Johnson

The most certain test by which we judge whether a country is really free is the amount of security enjoyed by minorities.~John E. E. Dalberg, Lord Acton, The History of Freedom in Antiquity, [1877].

"...the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; those who are in the shadows of life; the sick, the needy and the handicapped. " ~ Last Speech of Hubert H. Humphrey

"A nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members." ~ Mahatma Ghandi


"Any society, any nation, is judged on the basis of how it treats its weakest members -- the last, the least, the littlest."
~Cardinal Roger Mahony, In a 1998 letter, Creating a Culture of Life

The greatness of America is in how it treats its weakest members: the elderly, the infirm, the handicapped, the underprivileged, the unborn. ~Bill Federer

 

[NoDrama]

filling my life with hate? lol bro your the one who wants to shun the less fortunate because your neck of the woods is fine and dandy

and please please tell me where in my comment you found this hate?

Actually just the opposite is true, I think you are referring to Canndo and his give a shit about anyone but himself attitude. Shun the less fortunate? I would give them a cup of sugar, not employ a government agent to steal it from them first. I give a homeless person money from my pocket, not shake down all the others nearby do you can give a fraction of it to the homeless.

 

[NoDrama]

Our society must make it right and possible for old people not to fear the young or be deserted by them, for the test of a civilization is the way that it cares for its helpless members.~Pearl S. Buck (1892-1973), My Several Worlds [1954].

The test of the morality of a society is what it does for its children.
~Dietrich Bonhoeffer

A decent provision for the poor is the true test of civilization.
~Samuel Johnson, Boswell: Life of Johnson

The most certain test by which we judge whether a country is really free is the amount of security enjoyed by minorities.~John E. E. Dalberg, Lord Acton, The History of Freedom in Antiquity, [1877].

"...the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; those who are in the shadows of life; the sick, the needy and the handicapped. " ~ Last Speech of Hubert H. Humphrey

"A nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members." ~ Mahatma Ghandi


"Any society, any nation, is judged on the basis of how it treats its weakest members -- the last, the least, the littlest."
~Cardinal Roger Mahony, In a 1998 letter, Creating a Culture of Life

The greatness of America is in how it treats its weakest members: the elderly, the infirm, the handicapped, the underprivileged, the unborn. ~Bill Federer

So does a great civilization exist because Government forces care of the less fortunate on you or that you care for those people out of the goodness of your own heart?

 

[Carne Seca]

So does a great civilization exist because Government forces care of the less fortunate on you or that you care for those people out of the goodness of your own heart?

Why don't you talk to the great minds that generated these quotes? You might learn something.

 

[tomahawk2406]

Why don't you talk to the great minds that generated these quotes? You might learn something.

wait wait............"so they're great minds because YOU SAY SO???"

 

[Carne Seca]

wait wait............"so they're great minds because YOU SAY SO???"

That has to be the most ignorant post I've ever read. Seriously.