Yeah. I’m been leaning towards liking you but this pegged my douchbag-o-meter. I was referring to the 38 million Americans who live in poverty. As measured by the U.S. Census Bureau, so let’s not get into a pissing match about the definition of poverty. These are Americans who can’t afford to take off 2-weeks from work.
I'm a big believer in personal and financial responsibility. I wear shoes until you can see my toes sticking out of them.. I carry a $30 flip phone and drive a 20 year old truck that is half rusted out. My shirts have holes, my pants have stains, and I cut my own hair to within a 1/2 inch of my scalp.. When I walk into a hardware store, people look at me as though they think I'm either homeless or one step from being homeless.. Metaphorically, I'm the guy who walked into the bank and asked for his parking to be validated.. (if you're familiar with that one)...
I'm also a landlord and was a business owner with 200+ employees....
And I'm not alone as my wife walks around pretty much the same way.. more or less. No makeup, no useless jewelry, and cuts her own hair..
When the wheels to her 18 year old car LITERALLY fell off.. (ya.. it actually fell off).. we bought a new car for her.. and paid cash.
And by the way, when I got out of the Air Force, I had no money and had to accept a handout of food from a friend a couple times. I know what poverty feels like.
I have no problems with people who live in poverty for whatever unfortunate reasons life has thrown at them. I feel sorry for people who have not had the opportunity to rise up a bit and make their lives more comfortable. I could rant on about the pitiful state of our public educational system and its failures, or how racism and bigotry have persecuted so many people and put nearly insurmountable obstacles in their way... but that's another conversation..
The fact is, while so many people do live in poverty, I would question how many of them made bad choices. Which then begs the question: who should be responsible for those choices and lifestyles?
The problem has been going on for so long that one could even question who's at fault. When parents raise a child to be responsible and the child grows to adulthood and makes bad choices, its easy to pin the blame on the person making those bad choices. But how do we blame someone who was raised by irresponsible parents who taught them to make bad choices? Hence, the problem has gone from one of personal responsibility, to a systemic one.
It is nearly impossible to escape the values and perspectives one is raised with as a child. For these people raised in such a way, I feel very sorry for them.
Thing is, that probably accounts for less than half of those poverty numbers. While I don't think its wise to espouse the fallacy of small numbers, the fact is, I know several people who are on one form of welfare or another.. mostly food cards.. and not a single one of them has a responsible bone in their body. They buy food for their families on the taxpayer dime and walk around with gold jewelry and $500 cell phones... and what stuns me, they are proud and think they are being responsible with their lifestyle.
Sorry man, I only have so much compassion to give out, and I'd rather save it for the sick, the elderly, and those of random unfortunate circumstances who deserve compassion. The drug addicts, groupies, and lazy people are not my problem. If that's your definition of a douchbag, then I'm fine with it.
Here's a footnote.. (EmpireTecAndy will like this one) Go research and see what percentage of Asian American's are on welfare or living in poverty.. Their culture has a strong work ethic with a priority on education.. Now compare them to the average American under the same variables..
Like I said, I put a lot of value into personal responsibility. I don't blame McDonald's when I spill hot coffee on myself and I don't sue stores when I'm being irresponsible and slip in their parking lot. We American's have become lazy, entitled, and stupid.. and I don't want to pay for it.
I sincerely apologize if I strike you as a douchbag. This douchbag stocks hundreds of pounds of extra food that will probably never be needed, just so he can feed his neighbors if something bad ever happens.