I didn’t see anyone saying that.
That’s even more extreme. No one said anything like that either. We can argue all day about why some people are able to escape the poverty cycle and why some aren’t, but at the end of the day this still applies:
A poor person that turns to crime will soon see the error of their ways, if they have any personal integrity at all. Those that don’t either have addictions to feed, or they find that crime is easier than hard work, or they get a rush out of continually breaking the law. Or all three combined. I don’t buy much of this lack of education angle. I know plenty of poor folks, and most of them are much more spiritually upright and honest than most of the white-collar so-called intellectual chaps that I’ve ever met.
It’s just a basic matter of knowing what is right and wrong. This transcends all class, education and monetary divides.
[quote=“TheGingerMan”]A poor person that turns to crime will soon see the error of their ways, if they have any personal integrity at all. Those that don’t either have addictions to feed, or they find that crime is easier than hard work, or they get a rush out of continually breaking the law. Or all three combined. I don’t buy much of this lack of education angle. I know plenty of poor folks, and most of them are much more spiritually upright and honest than most of the white-collar so-called intellectual chaps that I’ve ever met.
It’s just a basic matter of knowing what is right and wrong. This transcends all class, education and monetary divides.[/quote]
I would personally define it as being about being able to consider the topic of right and wrong, rather than know what’s right and wrong. We can, ultimately, choose to accept society’s norms, or we can choose to reject them. The latter is often far more interesting to regard.
#1 USA! #1 USA!
I didn’t see anyone saying that.[/quote]
Actually, I would say that. I would say people choose to be poor, at least in the West. I believe it’s a different situation in most other parts of the world, but not in the West.
In the West, there’s basically free, universal education. Obviously, it differs in standards, but people can choose to take that and make something of it, or they can choose to waste the opportunity.
Likewise, people can choose to take what they earn (be that a little or a lot) and use it sensibly, or they can piss it away on cigarettes, booze, gambling, flashy cars, over-sized houses, expensive holidays, etc. The biggest obstacle to most people being wealthy is not income level, it’s spending. Obviously, if you make more to start with, you’re ahead of the game, but it doesn’t mean anything if you’re not sensible with your money. Likewise, just because people don’t earn a lot doesn’t mean they can’t save and invest it. Many of the so-called poor in the West are obese and have Playstations. They indulge their poor impulse controls and engage in stupidly self-destructive behaviours that anyone and everyone knows are stupid, and they pay other people vast sums of money to engage in these self-destructive behaviours. It makes a mockery of the concept of poor compared to real poor people in this world.
That’s even more extreme. No one said anything like that either. We can argue all day about why some people are able to escape the poverty cycle and why some aren’t, but at the end of the day this still applies:
I actually wouldn’t go so far as to say working hard has much to do with anything. The secret is to work smart. A case in point is some of my friends who slog their guts out working inane kindy jobs. They work ten times harder than I do, and I’ll be the first to admit it. In one sense, it’s a testament to the human ability to put up with bullshit. In another, it’s so absurd. What’s even more absurd is that they work these jobs to basically fund their hedonistic lifestyles, and they live their hedonistic lifestyles to block out their crappy jobs, and so the cycle goes around. To blow my own trumpet, as I like to do, I figured out that was bullshit and got right off that merry-go-round quick smart. I have a slack job that pays just as well, and I have a lot of free time. I use my free time for self-improvement (working out, reading Benjamin Graham, etc.), including organising private group lessons that pay me 2,000NT/hour. Partly because I’m not half up the wall by the end of the week, and partly because I’m just this way, I don’t feel the need to go out and drop 10,000NT on a weekend. I thus save over 50,000NT/month.
It’s not rocket science. Work smart, not hard. Pay yourself first and live within your means. Simple as that. Those last two are brilliantly expounded in The Richest Man in Babylon. a book your average kid could understand, but most adults seem unwilling or incapable of understanding. I’m supposed to feel sorry for these people? Fuck 'em, they’re morons. I mean, I’m glad they exist because they make me look good. I’m not saying I’m actually really that good at anything, but because I’m not a complete fucktard, I’m already probably at least one SD to the right on the bell curve.
This is all ridiculous. Black people and Hispanic people are clearly committing more crime in the US than other minorities. The reasons for it are moot for the purposes of this thread.
I for one am impressed that the US has the resources to lock them all up. Jia You.
Remember what NYC was like before the zero tolerance policies? It was a pariah with people around the globe scared to visit. Now that all those gang bangers are safely locked away NYC property values are once again sky high and white folks can walk safe on the streets of Manhattan.
3 strikes and you are OUT baby. Way to go!
Oh and the poverty thing! Screw you all I’ve lived on eggs, toast and noodles when we couldn’t afford anything better and I won’t do it again - and I didn’t rob anyone to get here.
Yep they could just bring back the instant death penalty and shoot them right on the spot. That would save wasting time with going to court and also with filling up jails.
“People choose to be poor”, “lock 'em up”, “shoot druggies on the spot” :blah: :blah: :blah: Worse than the letters page in the Daily Mail.
Play the ball, not the man. No, that would require you to actually address the arguments instead of getting on your liberal high horse about what a bunch of barbarians we are.
Death to whitey!
Play the ball, not the man. No, that would require you to actually address the arguments instead of getting on your liberal high horse about what a bunch of barbarians we are.[/quote]
There is no “ball”. The trouble with you Guy is that your arguments are simply rhetorical, there is absolutely no substance. Your attempt to add a substantive example through a teaching English in Taiwan story is simply laughable, and only shows the narrowness of your outlook.
Play the ball, not the man. No, that would require you to actually address the arguments instead of getting on your liberal high horse about what a bunch of barbarians we are.[/quote]
There is no “ball”. The trouble with you Guy is that your arguments are simply rhetorical, there is absolutely no substance. Your attempt to add a substantive example through a teaching English in Taiwan story is simply laughable, and only shows the narrowness of your outlook.[/quote]
No, you’re just as narrow-minded, but refuse to admit it. At least my jaded world view is the result of many years of dealing with the dregs of humanity (namely, working in public education). As I always say, nothing will make one a misanthrope faster than the unadulterated horror of a classroom full of teenagers, which is one of several reasons I’ve abandoned teaching in the West, not to mention living there. I got sick of seeing it falling over itself in its attempts to both apologise for being great, and then becoming little as if to atone for being great. Your kind of world view, which is unfortunately shared by far too many people, is a large part of the problem.
I don’t know your experiences on the matter, but it does seem that no amount of stating the obvious (that choices people make in life have an outcome on their lives), whether backed up by anecdotes, research or just plain reasoning will get through to you. The reason is because in your particular version of a liberal world view, you’ve assembled or accepted a whole lot of sacred cows that are simply off limits for discussion. Anyone who so much as brings them up is immediately to be laughed down as some ignorant redneck, despite the fact that you have not actually substantiated your claims either, or actually engaged in any meaningful dialogue at all. It’s easy to sit on the sidelines and name call.