tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18105492.post672402385340734173..comments2023-03-17T07:18:49.868-04:00Comments on Issues & Views - The Blog: Bribing the poorElizabeth Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06957503056880341197noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18105492.post-59082610731241588302010-05-02T10:39:35.569-04:002010-05-02T10:39:35.569-04:00Adrianna wrote:
My favorite stories that liberals ...Adrianna wrote:<br /><i>My favorite stories that liberals like to tell are "success" stories about poverty. Such-and-such escapes the ghetto by going to school and getting a job. The only catch is that they already have been to prison, had children out of wedlock, and most are *still* welfare- dependent, ... In whose twisted mind are these stories about success? </i><br /><br />Such stories annoy the heck out of me. But if you're a publication, you can count on getting attention by filling your pages with such claptrap. White folks, especially, love these stories when they're about blacks. I've often wondered why anyone would be interested in hearing such miserable tales, instead of hearing the stories about the ghetto girls who did not get impregnated and went on to join the work force and live good lives, and the boys who refused to join in with the losers around them and made a real escape. <br /><br />The radio network NPR just loves these kinds of stories. And the <i>New York Times,</i> on a regular basis, used to regale readers with endless features on these "struggling" folks. In fact, from the 1970s on, newspapers like the <i>Times</i> and <i>Washington Post</i> would do serial features (3- and 4-part) on the downtrodden po', in order to win prizes for these touching stories. Of course, this only fueled the appetites of those black elites who spend their lives profiting off the woes of the poor. The more such stories were published, the more opportunities these affluent blacks had to get funding to set up and "administer" yet another poverty program. <br /><br />I guess it's unprofitable to tell REAL success stories of those who escaped before the illegitimate babies and the jail terms became a way of life. Where's the drama in that?Elizabeth Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06957503056880341197noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18105492.post-6050509484592589272010-05-01T15:19:27.375-04:002010-05-01T15:19:27.375-04:00In all the areas I've lived in, the underclass...In all the areas I've lived in, the underclass was mostly white, but the issues are the same.<br /><br />I never bought the idea that poor children of any race were forced, at gunpoint, to spend time with known gang members, get pregnant, not do homework, or what have you. Nor could I understand why they were unable to take the bus to work, stay inside and do homework, etc. Rather, I got the impression that these negative behaviors were rites of passage for these youths and they were *proud* of these behaviors. <br /><br />You may not have an ideal set of circumstances, and you may not get ideal results right away, but it's better to make those choices and wait for good results that *will* come eventually than to give up and make choices that you *know* will lead nowhere for the sake of paltry instant gratification. It could be in the form of money, approval, any form at all. But in the long-term, those decisions lead nowhere.<br /><br />My favorite stories that liberals like to tell are "success" stories about poverty. Such-and-such escapes the ghetto by going to school and getting a job. The only catch is that they already have been to prison, had children out of wedlock, and most are *still* welfare- dependent, living in the ghetto, raising children in the same environment they were raised in. Why were they not responsible to begin with? In whose twisted mind are these stories about success? <br /> <br />Anyone here is free to accuse me of victim-blaming. If by victim-blaming you mean blaming people who are victims of their own bad decisions, then I suppose they would be right. The only task that remains is to convince me that this is a bad thing.Adriannanoreply@blogger.com