Ravenwood - 12/16/02 09:22 PM
Neal points out a disturbing rant on Democrat Underground. It is entitled "It's official, I'm a socialist at heart."
Last night a friend drove my husband and I around after dinner to look at the Christmas lights. One area we went to, where my friends in-laws live, had multi-million dollar homes. These houses look like office buildings or hotels and most have only two people (rich, old, white couples) living in them. I can't stand it. In a country where people are homeless, children have no medical insurance, and families go hungry how could anyone sleep in a home that would hold a small town. Aaarrrggg. My friends in-laws do not give to charity unless it puts their name out in public or helps them somehow. And they sure as hell don't do anything just to help someone else. These people have so much stuff they can only fit one of their cars in their 4 car garage because its full of the expensive crap they buy & don't have room for in their mansion. They travel all over the world, by can't pay for a day nurse so an elderly relative can stay in their own home. I really cannot stand rich, selfish people. I do believe in redistribution of wealth. Rich people do not get that way by themselve, they do it on the backs of others. Thank you for allowing me to rant.Reading the message board shows that there is an overwhelming support for these ideals, which is a major reason why Libertarians and Conservatives often refer to Democrats as Socialists.
Rational thought and logic doesn't seem to work with these folks. They don't realize that purchasing large homes, multiple cars, and countless knick knacks and furniture drives this economy. Think about how many people make their living building these multi-million dollar homes. There are the countless carpenters, masons, and people that manufacture the tile, bricks, and wallboard. Then there are the truck drivers that bring the material to the site, and the drivers that haul the waste away. Don't forget about the decorators, the landscapers, and the people that manufacture, sell, haul, install, and service all the furnishings and appliances that are needed for such a large house. Not to mention that homeowners of such large mansions pay 10 times as much property tax, even though they use roughly the same amount of city services.
Socialists would put all these folks out of work, just to satisfy their idea of equality and fairness. Then they'd go home and sleep with a big grin on their face, just because they had such 'good intentions'.
It makes me sick just thinking about it.
Socialist - ignorant, envious, arrogant, condescending, masochistic, dreary, self-loathing, short-sighted, lazy, entitlement mentality, hateful, immature, foolish, easily misled, slanderer, ungrateful, rude and disrespectful.
Posted by: Brent at December 16, 2002 11:29 PMI agree. They make me sick as well! That was very well put.
Posted by: John Mays at December 17, 2002 11:14 AMBottom line: Socialism kills.
Posted by: Robert Speirs at December 17, 2002 2:44 PMDon't even make me bust out Ross Perot: "Trickle down DIDN'T trickle!" He was right. Damn Reaganites.
Posted by: The Rust One at December 17, 2002 4:58 PMGod, I hate commies.
parasites all of them..
Posted by: Jim Acitelli at December 17, 2002 6:20 PMTrickle down didn't trickle? Did you sleep through 18 years of almost uninterrupted economic growth?
Quoting Ross Perot runs the danger of being considered as big a nutcase as he is.
Posted by: Steve at December 18, 2002 11:18 AMso, the middle class houses and tenaments just build themselves?
Posted by: skippy at December 18, 2002 1:50 PMI love the delusion of economic conservatives... Always think the market-based system is working out right, because it is for those in power who make the rules... How about this: the gap continues to grow between the richest and poorest. The rich will continue to make excuses or explanations about why this is, but no one can deny that this is a fact. And, yes, Ross Perot is a kook, but even a broken clock is right twice a day... the previous quote was half of Perot's all-time correct statements (the other being "I'm all ears.").
Posted by: The Rust One at December 18, 2002 6:08 PMLook guys, its not about money and the writer want even addressing it. To say that the rich drive the economy may or may not be true but to say that because the rich run the economy its ok to have great social inequality is wrong. The writer was appealing to our sense of injustice and the irony of wealth if you cant see that your an idot but on the flip side money is power agreed and there is a more proper way to use that power. There are effects of power that reach beyond an individuals consideration like if I but this car its gonna get me xyz but no one thinks I buy to further the economy and one thinks if i buy it will further diaparity. Really its just dont be an a-hole think of otheres be respectful and even the rich need to be humble.
Posted by: E-Nuf at December 18, 2002 6:49 PM"Not to mention that homeowners of such large mansions pay 10 times as much property tax, even though they use roughly the same amount of city services. " Thats a fucked up thing to say the rich recieve tons of services the poor never get like legal protections and business power. If money is power then the rich are what 10 times more powerfull as well. And if you go to a poor neighborhood vs a rich one you can see that they dont recieve the same amount of city services. I guess with conservatives "Rational thought and logic doesn't seem to work with these folks."
Actually, the poor are not getting poorer. The economy has been so good over the past 12 years that even the poor are getting richer. Anyone who uses the 'rich get richer and poor get poorer' mantra is probably just trying to exploit the 'poor' for their support.
Posted by: Ravenwood at December 18, 2002 9:55 PME-Nuf, the rich pay for those legal protections, they don't receive them from the state. On the contrary, the poor have the right to 'free' legal council, paid for by working taxpayers.
As far as buying things to 'further the economy', I do that all the time, and I'm sure others do as well. I've heard more than one person try to justify their indulgence by saying "At least I'm doing my part..."
Socialists would not only have it be illegal for them to indulge, they'd stick a gun in their face and take their money to ensure they can't indulge.
Posted by: Ravenwood at December 18, 2002 10:00 PM"How about this: the gap continues to grow between the richest and poorest. "
Say you have two people: one making $1,000,000 per year and the other making $10,000 per year. The first one increases his earnings by 10%. The second one increases his earnings by 100%. The "gap" is bigger in absolute terms, but the second one improved his life much more dramatically than the first.
The poor in this country enjoy a much higher standard of living than the overwhelming majority of the rest of the world. And that's because this nation AS A WHOLE has gotten wealthier.
"Trickle down" worked, and to deny it is just plain idiocy.
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