Originally Posted By RoadTrip #140 responded to #138, but makes some sense in reference to #139 also.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip What kind of help am I talking about? Job training. Subsidized auto loans so people have transportation to work. Subsidized daycare so children can properly be cared for while parents work. Yes, in the beginning this will cost FAR MORE than what we are spending now. But I think programs that provide a real way out would in the final analysis be much less costly. Or we can just keep building jails.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >> Job training. Subsidized auto loans so people have transportation to work. Subsidized daycare so children can properly be cared for while parents work.<< Realistically, what chance do you think programs such as this stand in the current political environment? There is a level of greed today with many at the upper reaches of our society than is hard to believe. They seem unable to ever have enough, even if it means tilting the playing field so far in their favor no one else can stand on it. I mean, many in the GOP don't want to "waste" money on fixing our crumbling infrastructure. Unless it is attached to defense spending, they're against it. In fact, they are still trying to drown government in the bath tub. They don't like government because it gets in the ways of profits sometimes.
Originally Posted By ecdc I agree completely, RT, with your ideas. The failure to understand root causes of poverty in the 1960s greatly hindered Johnson's programs. But ultimately I think Kar2oonMan is right. We have a large wing of people in this country who think government is the problem, full stop. Look at the response to Obamacare. It is, by any way you measure it, one of the most successful pieces of major legislation in the past 100 years. It cost less than projected and helped more people than projected. But there are people who seem to think that any law that doesn't fix everything for free overnight is an abject failure. These are the people who say the Koch brothers buying an election for a billion dollars is free speech but someone using food stamps to buy a steak is destroying the Republic. The demonizing of the poor in our "Christian" nation is something I will never understand.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>It is, by any way you measure it, one of the most successful pieces of major legislation in the past 100 years.<< And the part that astounds me is that much of it is MODELED ON THE GOP's IDEAS! I mean, it gets everyone who can paying into the for-profit system, it reduces people showing up at ERs for treatment of things that might have been prevented with earlier care, and did I mention it gets everyone who can paying into the for-profit system??? It's maddening. The GOP loves patriotic window dressing -- weepy country songs, professing a love for anything that explodes, defiant waving of the flag whenever possible. And yet when it comes to actually doing things to better the lives of actual Americans, to make the country's infrastructure better, no dice. Grand ol' phonies.
Originally Posted By Tikiduck The solution is awareness and the time for it to soak in. But people are aware of evolution and climate change, and the utter nonsense of religion, yet they still choose to ignore these, along with multiple other facts of life. As long as a strong conservative base exists, ignorance and racial inequality will exist.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>The demonizing of the poor in our "Christian" nation is something I will never understand.<< Exactly! But that's been the real American story for nearly 240 years: Pretending to follow Jesus and acting absolutely opposite of Him. It's funny because many of these same hypocrites are scared to death of atheists, because they "have no moral compass to guide them." Heaven help us.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<Realistically, what chance do you think programs such as this stand in the current political environment?>> Absolutely none, and I acknowledged that in a prior post. <<Unfortunately I am the first to know it cannot be done in today's political climate. Current Congress would just abolish what is there and not replace it with anything.>> Until poor people in rural areas realize that making more millionaires will never lift them out of poverty, probably not much will change. And that may not even do it. Many down here know that when they vote Republican they are voting against their own best interest. But you know, Republicans support Patriotism and Godliness and that is more important than anything else.
Originally Posted By TomSawyer “Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires.” --John Steinbeck
Originally Posted By utahjosh <As long as a strong conservative base exists, ignorance and racial inequality will exist.> Ummm. no.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>Ummm. no.<< The current GOP is the anti-science party. That alone equals ignorance. But in fairness, the current GOP is actually reactionary, not conservative. The meaning of the word conservative has been warped to mean something other than "conservative."
Originally Posted By ecdc >>Ummm. no.<< Yeah, today's Republicans are totally thoughtful and sane. <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/07/us/conspiracy-theories-over-jade-helm-get-some-traction-in-texas.html">http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05...xas.html</a>
Originally Posted By Tikiduck >>Ummm. no.<< So Josh, the political denigration of African Americans is a myth?
Originally Posted By ecdc >>The comment said conservatives, not republicans.<< Very true. They are not the same thing, though they sometimes overlap.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip I can't even remember that last true Republican Conservative. Probably Barry Goldwater.
Originally Posted By ecdc <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/05/17/us/ap-us-waco-shooting.html">http://www.nytimes.com/aponlin...ing.html</a> White-on-white violence devastates a small Texas town. I don't understand why these people don't care about violence in their own community.
Originally Posted By ecdc I blame absentee fathers. The census shows Waco has a high-rate of single-parent families. But where are the leaders of the white community to speak out against this? And why are the people in Waco tolerating this? They must be too scared to speak out.
Originally Posted By skinnerbox Sorry, dar, but you're the one being obtuse. You show absolutely no restraint at blaming African-American citizens for the black-on-black gang violence that occurs within their communities. Why is this any different? Gang violence is gang violence. One group against another. Makes no diff if the gangs are organized around drug sales or motorcycle rides. It's the "us" vs "them" mentality that keeps perpetuating the violence. So why is the media being so nonchalant about this? Simple. THE. BIKERS. ARE. WHITE. If these were African-American black gang members, there would be 24/7 non-stop coverage in the media. Guaranteed.
