-Caveat Lector-
I stand by my statement.
A man or woman's character is meaningless in America. It is the
possession of wealth that matters. Of course, you or I might judge
individuals differently; but for the most part, Americans judge and
evaluate one another on the basis of material possessions: the clothes one
wears, the car one drives, the house one lives in. WHy do I believe that?
Well, I've lived in California, Washington, Kentucky, New York, Washington
and North Dakota..... In my own experience, it is money that talks,
bullshit that walks.
There are individuals who scrub toilets for a living, who work hard,
struggle against incredible odds to provide for their families, and in
this country, they go unrecognized and unrewarded. Do you think Americans
care about these honest, hardworking individuals who play by the rules?
Not really.
No. Americans are interested in and fascinated by those who possess
wealth... and as a society, we encourage our children to "get up there"
by whatever means necessary, so that they won't have to know the
day-to-day indignities of what it's like to be poor.
To be poor and without property in a society that worships property and
possessions means that your life is at the disposal of others. So, if you
lack property, and your mom and dad were not loaded, you have to sell
whatever you can to survive. Well, what can be sold? Talents, skills,
labor... some sell their bodies, Mr. Johnson. In Thailand, poor moms and
dads sell their female children to brothels.
Given the fact that if you don't sell yourself to others in order to
survive, you won't eat, it's not surprising that the majority of those who
sell themselves are VERY interested in doing anything and everything to
make their masters happy.
Whatever ethical or moral concerns one might
have, become less important in the struggle for survival.
Not surprisingly, crime has always been a very problem...among
all social classes. Remember the success of the Godfather movie? The
line
between criminal and legal behavior is a fine one... many saw the Corleone
family as heroes....misunderstood entrepeneurs who were only supplying
people with what they want.
And so human beings become commodities, things to be bought and sold in
the marketplace of life, to be bought and sold by those who DO have the
money. The transformation of human beings into things bothers me...
SOmehow, I don't find it inspiring.
Perhaps, it's because I believe human beings have a spiritual
nature, and there is something fundamentally wrong about reducing human
beings down to the level of objects. And there is something fundamentally
wrong about a society that values money more than they value the wellbeing
of their own children.
I would suggest that if we truly were so concerned about the poor and the
problems of poor children, we would change our priorities. But that's not
likely, is it?
Regards,
Wm
On Sun, 6 Jun 1999, M.A. Johnson wrote:
> -Caveat Lector-
>
> William Hugh Tunstall wrote:
> Whenever this government tries to help people, it does a
> miserable job. Why? Because in case you haven't noticed,
> for the most part, Americans, in general, hate the poor
> and the working class.
>
> BULLSHIT.
>
> Regard$,
> --MJ
>
> A man receiving charity always hates his benefactor -- it is a
> fixed characteristic of human nature. -- George Orwell
>
> Starting from this foundation of our constitutional faith
> and proceeding to inquire in what part of the Constitution
> the power of making appropriations for internal improvements
> is found, it is necessary to reject all idea of there being
> any grant of power in the preamble. When that instrument
> says, "We, the people of the United States, in order to
> form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure
> domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense,
> promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings
> of liberty to ourselves and our posterity," it only
> declares the inducements and the anticipated results of
> the things ordained and established by it. To assume that
> anything more can be designed by the language of the
> preamble would be to convert all the body of the
> Constitution, with its carefully weighed enumerations
> and limitations, into mere surplusage. The same may
> be said of the phrase in the grant of the power to
> Congress "to pay the debts and provide for the common
> defense and general welfare of the United States;" or,
> to construe the words more exactly, they are not
> significant of grant or concession, but of restriction
> of the specific grants, having the effect of saying that
> in laying and collecting taxes for each of the precise
> objects of power granted to the General Government
> Congress must exercise any such definite and undoubted
> power in strict subordination to the purpose of the common
> defense and general welfare of all the States.
> -- Franklin Pierce _First Annual Message_
>
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DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic
screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters
and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright
frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects
spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL
gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers;
be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and
nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
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