[QUOTE=Ranger Unfortunately it is real. A real joke, just like everything else these knuckleheaded, greedy Republicans have done in the last several years.[/QUOTE]
My father is a banker and we used to but heads while I was doing my first Master's (Master of Social Work). I used to spew my one-sided, naive, liberal ideology to him occaisionally. One day he stopped me and said "Troy, if you don't feel that way when you are young, you have no heart; but if you don't think more like I do by the time you are my age, you have no brain!". His point was that my liberal, bleeding heart discussions were fine in principle, but human nature usually screws up a good thing and results in abuse of the system.
Over the years, I have come to agree with him and have completely exited the field of social work. I still give to the poor, but I don't really expect them to do anything but take it and demand more and more. I was disgusted to see 3rd generation welfare recipiants demanding that the government take care of them after Katrina. At some point, a human being worth his own protoplazm has to get off of his A$$ and do something to better his own condition. Sure, solid arguments have been made about the playing ground not being fair; and I agree that it isn't. But to see people insist that others maintain their worthless existance sickens me. I have lost faith in human nature.
It is suprising to me that I feel this way. I watched my own father lose his business and have to rely on welfare for a while when I was growing up. But he did not expect that help to maintain his family indefinitely. Even though he was college educated, he put on a silly twinkie costume and waved to drivers for minimum wage. He stirred mink oil for only slightly more money. He did what could to support his family. I just don't understand what makes some people think they deserve to be maintained indefinitely.
So I guess I jus't don't see that much wrong with expecting people to make use of existing resources to better themselves.
Now the problems in Iraq resulting from the power vacuum we created (that any moron should have seen coming); that is another story.
Last edited by Sawtooth; 02-27-06 at 04:41 PM.