DUNCAN, I'M CAPITALIZING WHAT I'M SAYING TO DIFFERENTIATE FROM YOUR POST, NOT TO SHOUT, OKAY?
>It seems to me that you, and the other people who post over
here who advocate pure libertarian systems, are selfish and short-sighted in
ways that, if your beliefs were put into general practice, would destabilize
society and cause great suffering.
It may seem that way but in actuality it is and has been the left/liberals that have
always proven themselves selfish and short-sighted in ways that, when their beliefs
were put into general practice, DID destabilize society and cause great suffering.
Liberal nostrums:
On Hunger
Referring to people "who are simply not getting enough to eat" because they
cannot "figure out how to make ends meet, how to get food on the table," you
say: "We cannot stand by and let people in this nation starve." Well.
Diagnosable
malnutrition (as distinct from episodes of incidental hunger) is rare and
almost
always associated not "simply" with poverty but with alcoholism, drug
addiction,
child abuse and other pathologies. What is your understanding of America's
starvation problem?
IF YOU ARE REFERRING TO MALNUTRITION IN CHILDREN, YOUR STATEMENT IS ONLY PARTIALLY TRUE. WHILE FAMILIES BELOW THE POVERTY LINE OFTEN HAVE OTHER PROBLEMS LIKE DRUG ADDICTION, ALCOHOLISM AND CHILD ABUSE, MANY DO NOT.
IN ANY EVENT, LET'S SAY THAT EVERY FAMILY BELOW THE POVERTY LINE HAD THESE PROBLEMS. ARE YOU ARGUING THAT BECAUSE THE ADULTS IN THESE FAMILIES ARE DYSFUNCTIONAL, THE CHILDREN SHOULD SUFFER HUNGER?
A Clinton-Gore administration report says that among the American
households
living with "resource-constrained hunger" are 185,000 households with
annual
incomes exceeding $40,000. Can you explain this?
sacbee.com
FIRST OF ALL, JUST BECAUSE GEORGE WILL SAYS SOMETHING DOES NOT MEAN IT IS NECESSARILY TRUE. HE IS WRITING WITH A VERY CLEAR POLITICAL AGENDA. CAN YOU CITE THE "CLINTON-GORE ADMINISTRATION REPORT" WHICH SAYS THIS? I WOULD NEED A PRIMARY SOURCE DOCUMENT TO EVEN BELIEVE IT IS TRUE.
I CAN THINK OF REASONS THAT IT MAY BE, HOWEVER. FOR VERY LARGE FAMILIES, $40,000 IS BELOW THE POVERTY LINE IN SOME PARTS OF THE COUNTRY WHERE IT IS RELATIVELY EXPENSIVE TO LIVE. THE OFFICIAL POVERTY LINE IN SAN FRANCISCO IS ABOUT $30,000 FOR A FAMILY OF THREE, FOR EXAMPLE. THE AVERAGE RENT FOR A TWO-BEDROOM APARTMENT HERE IS $2,003 A MONTH AT THE MOMENT. YOU CAN EASILY CALCULATE THAT IT WOULD TAKE ABOUT $40,000 A YEAR INCOME SIMPLY TO PAY RENT AND BUY MINIMAL FOOD, WITH NO OTHER EXPENDITURES WHATSOVER. IN THE SILICON VALLEY, RENTS ARE SO HIGH THAT HOMELESS SHELTERS HOUSE PEOPLE WORKING FULL TIME WHO CANNOT AFFORD RENT AND FOOD.
MY OBJECTION TO POLITICAL PHILOSOPHIES WHICH EXCLUDE THE GENEROUS FEEDING OF ALL CHILDREN IS THAT THEY ARE CRUEL AND INHUMAN, AND PREVENT CHILDREN (WHO DO NOT CHOOSE THEIR PARENTS) FROM ACQUIRING THE PHYSICAL HEALTH OR MENTAL AGILITY AND ACADEMIC SKILLS TO EVER ESCAPE THEIR FATE.
PLEASE GIVE ME SEVERAL EXAMPLES TO SUPPORT YOUR STATEMENT THAT THE LEFT/LIBERALS HAVE ALWAYS PROVEN THEMSELVES SELFISH AND SHORT-SIGHTED. WHILE THE WELFARE STATE DID INDEED ENCOURAGE DEPENDENCY, THERE WAS WIDESPREAD HUNGER AND SUFFERING PRIOR TO IT, WHICH WAS LYNDON B. JOHNSON'S MOTIVATION FOR THE GREAT SOCIETY LEGISLATIVE AGENDA. PROGRAMS LIKE SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE HAVE NOT DESTABILIZED SOCIETY, AND HAVE ALLEVIATED SUFFERING.
And Can Kill
Killer kids
The real culprit in the recent spate of school shootings may
be the current cult of self-esteem, according to two
psychologists.
"Teaching individual responsibility has been replaced by a
self-esteem movement," Martin Seligman and Roger Weissberg
wrote on the op-ed page of yesterday's USA Today. "Parents
and educators now believe their first duty is to believe mantras,
such as 'I am special.' High self-esteem is supposedly a vaccine
against teen-age pregnancy, depression and suicide, drug
abuse and violence.
"Unfortunately, it turns out that genocidal maniacs, gang
leaders and violent kids often have high self-esteem. We may
yet find out if [accused Oregon killer Kip] Kinkel had the
prototypical recipe for violence -- a mean streak plus an
unwarranted sense of self-worth. When such a boy comes
across a girl, parents or schoolmates who communicate that he
is not all that worthy, he lashes out."
washtimes.com
I AM NOT SURE WHO THESE PSYCHOLOGISTS ARE. I HAVE READ WIDELY ABOUT THE SCHOOL SHOOTINGS, AND MOST PSYCHOLOGISTS AGREE THAT THE CHILDREN WHO SHOOT OTHERS ARE DEEPLY DISTURBED CHILDREN ALMOST WITHOUT SELF-ESTEEM, WHO FEEL SO POWERLESS THAT THEY LASH OUT IN RAGE.
THEY ARE CHILDREN WITH SEVERE MENTAL PROBLEMS WHO ARE CRYING OUT FOR HELP--IT'S TOO BAD NO ONE NOTICES THEM UNTIL IT IS TOO LATE. THEY HAVE IN COMMON A FASCINATION WITH GUNS, A DESENSITIVITY TO THE VALUE OF LIFE, A PENCHANT FOR TORTURING ANIMALS, AND A WHOLE CONSTELLATION OF EMOTIONAL PROBLEMS WHICH ARE ANTITHETICAL TO CHILDREN WHO HAVE HIGH SELF ESTEEM.
THEY ARE EMOTIONALLY DETACHED, OFTEN HAVE BEEN ABUSED (KIP KINKEL'S FATHER WAS A "STRICT DISCIPLINARIAN"), ETC. CHILDREN WHO REALLY FEEL GOOD ABOUT THEMSELVES DO NOT FEEL POWERLESS, AND ARE NOT DESTRUCTIVE. TWO PSYCHOLOGISTS MAKING A QUOTE DOES NOT MEAN WHAT THEY SAY IS TRUE. |
