Perhaps this is the way our country intends to fight off the draft - if you're homeless, hungry, without health insurance and without a job that pays a sufficient amount to support your family, you are much more likely to volunteer for our "all volunteer Army" aren't you?
I spoke to a conservative about this hunger issue the other day.
His main concern was that the poor often spend money intended for food on things they don't need, and on things which are harmful to them. He cited cigarettes, alcohol, drugs and lottery tickets. That's why he opposes welfare.
I'll grant that those are legitimate concerns, but I doubt it's the real reason for his aversion for helping the poor. He uses a self-righteous but morally defensible position to cleverly attack a superior moral position, which is our obligation to help the poor.
That's why I hate conservative ideology. They use human frailty as an excuse to ignore Christian values. Jesus didn't differentiate between the deserving and undeserving poor, only conservatives claim the righteous to do that.
Which conveniently allows them to ignore both.
by
rabblerowzer (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 227 comments)
on Friday, November 24, 2006 at 10:50:57 AM
The concerns he has are certainly legitimate, but I don't think that anyone can ever begin to truly understand the plight of the poor in this country until they have walked in their shoes.
Most people that are poor don't really want to be in that position, but are caught up in a vicious circle. It takes money to get ahead in life, and they have none. Most of them live paycheck to paycheck (if they are fortunate enough to have a job) and need every penny they earn to purchase necessities.
Maybe they do spend money unnecessarily on cigarettes or alcohol or even possibly drugs which are certainly harmful to their health, but my guess is that part of the reason is to possibility break the monotony of lives that don't vary from one day to the next, one week to the next.
Last month Muhammad Yunus won the Nobel Peace prize for his micro-credit loans. Small loans to assist the very poor get started in whatever business they choose – granted the people in Bangladesh are far poorer than most poor Americans, but the process is the same. They need a start in life.
Thank you for your comment.
by
Patricia L Johnson (24 articles, 0 quicklinks, 4 diaries, 32 comments)
on Friday, November 24, 2006 at 11:25:41 AM
2 comments
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