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Another Krieg Rant...
Krieg
Posts: 5,188 ✭✭✭
Ok, time to get another debate going...here are some of my recent thoughts:
It is stories like this that make me shake my head and worry about the future of this country. Thomas Sowell highlights in his column the story of a graduating senior at Hunter College High School in New York. Hunter College High School get to select its applicants based on their test scores, so you know you are attracting the very brightest. But at the end of the day, it is still a government school. So this young man starts off his speech at graduation with this line, "'I don't deserve any of this. And neither do you.' The reason? He and his classmates were there because of 'luck and circumstances.'"
You know how much it ruffles my feathers to hear a young person subscribing to this liberal idea that life is based on luck, rather than the choices you make. This is part of the liberal mantra today. This is where you get the endless use of the absurd phrase "the less fortunate." It's all very simple to understand .. so hang on my every word here:
If you can convince our society that people are where the are economically principally because of "luck and circumstances," then just how easy is it for politicians to convince these people that it is the job of the government to iron out the inequities caused by bad luck? Politicians are, after all, just evening out the odds, right?
The more the people become convinced that economic winners and losers are decided by luck rather than by individual effort and responsible decision making, the easier it is for them to not only accept, but to welcome government interference in their lives.
It is stories like this that make me shake my head and worry about the future of this country. Thomas Sowell highlights in his column the story of a graduating senior at Hunter College High School in New York. Hunter College High School get to select its applicants based on their test scores, so you know you are attracting the very brightest. But at the end of the day, it is still a government school. So this young man starts off his speech at graduation with this line, "'I don't deserve any of this. And neither do you.' The reason? He and his classmates were there because of 'luck and circumstances.'"
You know how much it ruffles my feathers to hear a young person subscribing to this liberal idea that life is based on luck, rather than the choices you make. This is part of the liberal mantra today. This is where you get the endless use of the absurd phrase "the less fortunate." It's all very simple to understand .. so hang on my every word here:
If you can convince our society that people are where the are economically principally because of "luck and circumstances," then just how easy is it for politicians to convince these people that it is the job of the government to iron out the inequities caused by bad luck? Politicians are, after all, just evening out the odds, right?
The more the people become convinced that economic winners and losers are decided by luck rather than by individual effort and responsible decision making, the easier it is for them to not only accept, but to welcome government interference in their lives.
"Long ashes my friends."
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Blaming everything on luck and circumstances allows the individual to pass the blame on when they should be looking at themselves.
however generally speaking, i have found that most people that take the time to learn how to and then do the right thing, the people who work hard, the people who have personal responsibility, the people who dont settle for the minimum, are the people who have the most good luck.
how do you fix genuine bad luck? you cant.
and whenever the government tries to, it ends up violating the rights of those who have achieved while playing by the rules.
I haven't heard ANYONE say that your position in life is based solely on luck !
i am sick of people telling me how "lucky" i am for having a nice house and a nice car and i am able to smoke expensive cigars or any other luxury good that i partake in.
i am not "lucky"
i work very hard at two jobs (until recently it was three). i take the time to understand major decisions before i make them. i have the attitude of "if im going to do something i had better take the time to do it right"
there is not too much luck there.
the is a lot of work. there is a lot of effort. there is a lot of sacrifice. i earned everything that i have achieved.
i think concept being discussed here is more of an attitude than a statement.
"Long ashes my friends."
I'm more of a Glenn Beck guy but what ever.
;D
we are all brothers of the leaf here; there is no need to insult one another.
i cant think of many liberals that hate that people are successful.
but i have seen that many of the modern day extreme leftists hate that you dont share your wealth with everyone equally and think since you have it you mush have gained it through some sort of deception/exploitation of those who are not wealthy.
plus they feel it is your moral obligation to help others even if you wish to do other things with the money you earn. it can be very socialist in nature. but this is the extreme end of the group.
i should have quoted Vulchors reply to this as well... (same quote as above, very different points)
he was right. it was a blanket statement you made. very few blanket statements can hold true.
the extreme left is a smaller part of the population, much like the extreme right. most of the nation tends to be center to center-right (according to most polls for decades) its probably poor judgment to represent an entire political party by the extremists of its group.
there really are well intended liberals out there. it may not seem that way to you in these frustrating times, but i assure you, there are.
... just as there are well intended conservatives.
i guess it would just be easier to say: "well intended people"
Paris's parents worked hard and made the right choices so that their children could have a better life.
what if she has kids? (God i hope not) she is such a tool, will her kids be lucky or not?
it does kinda look like i was singling you out when i wasnt trying to. i didnt use a broad enough brush. the last line kinda summed it up:
"we are all brothers of the leaf here; there is no need to insult one another."
this is an interesting conversation. id hate to lose interest in it cos someone got mud in the eye.
i, for one, do not find the word "liberal" offensive. i dont find the word "conservative" offensive. however, if people were calling the liberals "moon bats" or equating the liberals in the US to those who ran the Russian Gulags, i would probably make a similar post. but from "the other side" ... seriously, i thought thats what was actually being accomplished.
im ok with paris being fixed like a puppy HA!
have a bit harder sale with sterilization as a policy.
that would be opressive government at its worst.
but back to the conversation at hand....
paris has the opportunity to do the opposite of what i am doing in my life. I am working hard to move up and gain wealth. things are going well for me (a tad slow but im not complaining) i have had no "luck" on my side as far as being born into a family with cash.
She has the opposite opportunity. she was "lucky" to a degree because of the situation she was born into. it isnt too far of a reach to think that she has the potential to screw it all up and LOSE her fortune. is that genuine UN-luck, or is that being lazy and making bad decisions?
where is the point where something becomes offensive?
"liberal" should not be used as a negative. those who use it that way should read up on what a classic liberal is. there are many liberals out there that are liberals, use the title correctly and have much in common with myself.
i cant speak for anyone else here, but i would never use the term "liberal" as a negative, mainly because i share many of the same views as a classical liberal. it would be offensive to myself.
...can we get back to talking about Paris Hilton?
These debates will never change and I should have stuck to my own advice and STFU. I am just too tired of the lame *** that get's said here. If the folks on the right of the political spectrum THINK they are the only ones with the answers then why did the US go from surplus to deficit while under a Right wing party control? After the past 25 years mostly dominated by Republicans... why isn't everything in the US exactly like you guy's seem to think it should be? Why also do you bend over backwards to blame the state of affairs in your country on "LIBERALS". Explain to me how they have so much power they can ruin your country(if you listen to some arguements here) when the Republicans have been in power for so much more time in the last 25 or 30 years?
Too funny.