I hate poor people

[Charlemagne]

Your choice of words might be a little ‘off’, but apart from that…

I really don’t have any sympathy at all for someone who’s poor because of his or her own fault. I wont give money to a homeless guy on the street with an empty cup in his hand. (If he’d sing me a song it would be a different story, that goes without saying.) The other day I’m watching TV and I see this couple being poor and in debt, and it turns out the woman is a shoe-addict and has over 80 pairs. Maybe that’s not the only reason of them being poor (probably not), but that doesn’t matter, cause its stupid! Those people deserve to be poor, or maybe somebody should smack some sense into them (mom and dad, this is your cue), but why should we (everybody else) pay taxes to help them out?
By the way, I live in the Netherlands, and believe me, its way worse here, I honestly believe it is impossible to die of poverty here even if you tried. We pay way higher taxes here. Welfare is so ‘good’ it can even be a step down to get a (kinda crappy) job instead of staying lazy. And I don’t mean because of the loss of time, but purely because you might make less money then you’d get in welfare and government subsidies on for instance; rent.

[Los Feliz Slim]

[ QUOTE ]
What hand were you dealt?

[/ QUOTE ]

The "starting hand" analogy doesn't withstand even the briefest scrutiny. You've got a much better chance with the worst starting hand in hold `em (72o for the sake of the argument) than you do in life (homelessness, poverty, abuse, etc etc etc). 72o at least stands a chance of flopping two pair against AA, but a child born to homeless alcoholics has almost zero chance whatsoever of getting where a wealthy heir STARTS. The problem I have with the comparison is that one could say "yeah, but if you play that 72o well you can beat the AA." Not true in life.

[JackThree]

[ QUOTE ]
Those people deserve to be poor, or maybe somebody should smack some sense into them (mom and dad, this is your cue), but why should we (everybody else) pay taxes to help them out?

[/ QUOTE ]

You don't have to, you choose to, the government has figured this out(which likely means the majority of the population has as well), and is thinking on a much higher level than "it's their own fault if their poor".

As long as people do not know they have a choice, they do not have one. If people's consciousness is not raised to a level where they become self-aware, it is nearly impossible to change a subconscious motivation.
Example:
Take the scenario of a man who cannot hold a job because he is habitually late. He doesn't have a problem waking up, he doesn't have a problem going to bed at night, he just has a problem getting ready on time and getting out the door. He decides to read a few more posts, or he decides he can take longer in the shower and speed to be on time. "Sometimes the boss isn't there until later, I can lay here a couple more minutes" Thoughts like these likely are going through his head.

Now we can say(most of us): This is stupid, he just needs to get off his ass and go to work, stop screwing around. It's his own fault because he's just not DOING it.

But there is something we are overlooking by saying this, he thinks these ridiculous rationalizations are completely reasonable, he doesn't think they're stupid. Why? Who knows, but 99% of the time, he is a victim of circumstance.

Almost everything you do is done in your subconscious.
This guy is living on what he has learned, this has been taught to him, he has a very valid reason. Poor people have a very valid reason for being poor, they're not stupid(although some can be), they are trapped in a level of consciousness that does not permit enough self-awareness to change the subconscious that controls them.

Another example: Driving, almost every one of you has driven a long distance and been thinking about something and then realized you just drove 20 miles on the interstate and don't remember a moment of the trip. That's because you've taught your subconscious(or your parents) how to drive.

Referring to the previous example of the guy who is late for work, he is most likely afraid of the situation at work and is at the same time emotionally dead so he does not recognize it, stupid rationalizations sound good to him because that's what his mind DOES. His mind tries to subvert emotions by creating irrational situations that keep him from experiencing what he doesn't even know he is afraid of.

If people knew they could make a difference in their lives, AND thought their lives meant something, then they WOULD.
Have sympathy for victims of circumstance, if you can.

One of my specific problems I had before I became okay: I would never take showers. Why? Because I never saw it as a useful thing, it was just something to avoid punishment from my parents. After I moved out, hell why should I take showers? So I never did. But all my friends were like "You don't need to think about it just take a damn shower, it's not hard just DO it." And I'm like... why? And they're like "because". The reason they do it is because it is programmed into their subconscious by their parents.

For me it was not. I had to teach myself how to take care of myself, my thoughts started out as "God wants me to take a shower because He loves me, so I will take a shower." then it got to "I love myself because God loves me, I will take a shower for me" And then finally it just became internal and now I just DO it, I no longer have to think about it.

Note: getting to where I could say to myself "I will do this because reason1, reason2, reason3" was insanely difficult.

So we are paying taxes to help them because they are unable to help themselves. Laziness and stupidity has nothing(if little) to do with it.

[M2d]

[ QUOTE ]
The "starting hand" analogy doesn't withstand even the briefest scrutiny. You've got a much better chance with the worst starting hand in hold `em (72o for the sake of the argument) than you do in life (homelessness, poverty, abuse, etc etc etc). 72o at least stands a chance of flopping two pair against AA, but a child born to homeless alcoholics has almost zero chance whatsoever of getting where a wealthy heir STARTS. The problem I have with the comparison is that one could say "yeah, but if you play that 72o well you can beat the AA." Not true in life.

[/ QUOTE ]
How about: I was dealth 7-2 off, but a seven was exposed by the dealer and another 7-2 off was mucked face up in front of me.

[superleeds]

[ QUOTE ]
America isnt divided into two camps "rich" and "poor"

[/ QUOTE ]

Not yet

[Bataglin]

I hope for your sake that you are kidding, and trying to be kind of funny (which fail).

If not... wow, ignorance on the highest level.

[morgant]

a simple twist of fate and you would be these people you hate.

rhyme not intended

[Kailia Marie]

Hi Alobar,

Before I read any of the responses in this thread, I just wanted to tell you a part of my story. In 1982, my parents somehow managed to immigrate to the U.S. when I was 10 months old. Unable to speak English very well and lacking any white collar skills, my father had to work two jobs each paying mininum wage while my mother stayed home to nurse me. Our low income housing had problems with molding on the wall and I became very ill and my father's wages were not enough to keep a roof over our heads, feed us, and pay for doctor expenses. Had it not been for kind neighbors, who themselves were not very wealthy, helping us out, I would have probably died as an infant.

My father died when I was five years old and my mother was left alone to care for me and unlike my father she was not able to work more than one job. Had it not been for kind neighbors (and welfare), things could have gotten real bad for us.

I don't think any two people were as honest, hard working, and loving as my parents. Maybe I'm a little biased, but I certainly feel that we "deserved" a little bit of help or at least a little bit of empathy, and without it we simply couldn't have survived. So I take a little offense when I read comments like "the poor should be able to help themselves out" or "the poor are poor because they don't work hard enough" or other such generalizations. There are plenty of poor people out there who genuinely cannot help from being poor. Sorry for the rant.

[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]Kailia

[utmt40]

LMAO

[ImCrazy]

saw a disheaveled, sgraggly looking old guy off the freeway with a sign that read "need money for beer (why lie)" I admit i gave him a buck, as it made me laugh.