11-07-2016, 12:56 AM
Recognizing the often racist, sexist, and other 'deplorable' characteristics of the post to which Ragnarök_62 replies:
When politicians win on identity instead of quality, then we have a big problem. Identity politics often manifests itself in patronage schemes that drain the Treasury and ultimately those who pay the taxes and get little in return. Yes, poor white people get little from government except perhaps welfare -- which is terribly ungenerous. Education? If they get it as do all others, then they generally do not use it well. Just check the thread comparing the achievements of the states in quality of life. Statistically, Hispanics in Virginia and blacks in Maryland fare better in quality of life on the large scale than do white people in West Virginia.
Welfare exists to keep people from being seen starving on the street. People on welfare can stay inside and watch TV in an apartment in a housing project while getting fat on chips and sodas that ensure that one will not reach retirement age. The kids may know nothing else.
(Yes, there are poor kids who may subsist on welfare for a significant part of their lives but have parents who insist upon achievement in school, which may explain large parts of minority contingents of the middle class. Act in contradiction of degrading conditions and one might escape them).
If Barack Obama found himself in a cozy relationship with the military-industrial complex to the surprise of us all, it is because he was trustworthy and decent enough that if he needed a political favor that served the national interest, like whacking Osama bin Laden, he could get it. Hillary Clinton promises much the same. The military-industrial complex might distrust Donald Trump as reckless and mean-spirited.
Many of the 'upper class' are well-paid government employees like public defenders, school administrators, and hospital personnel who know where the money comes from. Some well-off small-business owners may be grocers whose income comes heavily from food stamps or medical professionals whose income comes from Medicaid and Medicare -- and they are not going to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.
When politicians win on identity instead of quality, then we have a big problem. Identity politics often manifests itself in patronage schemes that drain the Treasury and ultimately those who pay the taxes and get little in return. Yes, poor white people get little from government except perhaps welfare -- which is terribly ungenerous. Education? If they get it as do all others, then they generally do not use it well. Just check the thread comparing the achievements of the states in quality of life. Statistically, Hispanics in Virginia and blacks in Maryland fare better in quality of life on the large scale than do white people in West Virginia.
Welfare exists to keep people from being seen starving on the street. People on welfare can stay inside and watch TV in an apartment in a housing project while getting fat on chips and sodas that ensure that one will not reach retirement age. The kids may know nothing else.
(Yes, there are poor kids who may subsist on welfare for a significant part of their lives but have parents who insist upon achievement in school, which may explain large parts of minority contingents of the middle class. Act in contradiction of degrading conditions and one might escape them).
If Barack Obama found himself in a cozy relationship with the military-industrial complex to the surprise of us all, it is because he was trustworthy and decent enough that if he needed a political favor that served the national interest, like whacking Osama bin Laden, he could get it. Hillary Clinton promises much the same. The military-industrial complex might distrust Donald Trump as reckless and mean-spirited.
Many of the 'upper class' are well-paid government employees like public defenders, school administrators, and hospital personnel who know where the money comes from. Some well-off small-business owners may be grocers whose income comes heavily from food stamps or medical professionals whose income comes from Medicaid and Medicare -- and they are not going to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.