Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Oil, oil, and more oil

[MDixon6569]

In a message dated 10/21/06 10:21:59 A.M. Central Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Until a poor person breaks that mind set that > > keeps him down he will always be poor and miserable. > > Nobody can break it for them. They have to do it > > for themselves. You can give the poor a hand out > > or a hand up or all the help you want but until they > > do what they need to do to break out of poverty they > > will remain miserable. > > Actually, far more people have been able to do what > they need to do to break out of poverty because > they've had a hand up (or sometimes just a handout) > than have managed to do so by dint of their own > heroism or good luck. > > I can't disagree with you here at all. I'm not saying don't > help a poor person. You can help them all you want but until > they do something worth *celebrating* they will remain in > poverty and miserable. Not sure what you include in "worth celebrating." I'd say simply moving into the middle class is worth celebrating. Look at welfare for example. > You can raise generation after generation on welfare but until > somebody decides they are going to finish school and learn a trade > or go on to higher education and develop a valued skill, they will > just be another welfare generation, miserable. Do you not understand that finishing school, learning a trade, or going on to higher education and developing a skill are usually *not possible* for someone on welfare without a handout or a hand up? It's one thing to have the motivation to better oneself; it's quite another to have the *means* to do so. Some few are able to overcome the lack of means, again, through heroic effort or good luck. Most are not. > YOU can't *make* somebody else be happy and productive. Of course not. But you can make it possible for them to make themselves happy and productive. All > any of us can do is help to sustain them and try to coax > them out of their poverty. They have to make the move. One more time: For most, the help has to come first. Judy, can you show me one statement in this thread in which I have said "don't" help the poor? However, I have said help from your side or my  side is not enough, the poor have to  do something worth celebrating, which can be something as simple as getting that high school diploma, and might require a little discipline on some peoples part. It might be something as simple as not getting knocked up or knocking somebody up and finishing school and maybe learning a trade before starting to raise a family.Yes, moving into the middle class is definitely worth celebrating but only if it is an upward move. Opportunities abound in the United States for just about anybody that is trying to get out of poverty. Just reaching out to try to take advantage of these opportunities is a cause for celebration. But until they do, they will always enjoy their  misery.  __._,_.___ To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required) Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe __,_._,___