On Jan 5, 10:00*pm, David LaCourse wrote:
On 2010-01-05 17:21:22 -0500, "Tom Littleton" said:



"David LaCourse" wrote in message
news:2010010508470016807-dplacourse@aolcom...
the only answer you have is
to turn away and ignore them?

no, I'm saying generation to generation poverty has been part of our economy
since this nation started. Nothing 'pathetic' about it, it's built into the
system. It's good that you do something to help. I try to do likewise.

It's not built into the system, you yo-yo. *Every kid in my
neighborhood "made it", even the few the went to jail at 18 yo. *Sure,
there must be someplace, probably in WV or Kentucky where poverty
continues generation to generation, but what I see, the people I see
and try to help, are habitual. *Many of them have become accustomed to
their way of life. *And, like David has noted, there is no male, no
father or grandfather, in their lives. *Many of the woman, as I have
stated, have multiple children by multiple men. *THAT is a decision. *
That is a choise they have made. *That is what makes them pathetic
(sad). *That is only part of the problem. *We have more men and women
(as a % of the over-all population) incarcerated in this country than
any other. *Many of those at the pantry have someone behind bars.



*Shame on you. *I call them pathetic
meaning sad, not *your* usual meaning of the word contemptuous pity. There
are five food banks/pantries available to them once a month. *They visit
all of them and get enough food for an entire month. *That is sad. *A five
year limit on welfare? *There is no limit on how long these sad souls can
live in subsidized housing or visit the food pantries.

no. And, while you might backpedal now and parse your use of pathetic, you
are all too willing to guess about their politics/voting(as if you really
know) and pass judgement elsewhere.

I'm not parsing my use of pathetic. *I have always used it when
describing the people that I have come in contact with, and its meaning
has always been sad, not contempuous pity like you always use. *I may
pity some of these folks, but it is not contempuous. *I have no contemp
for them, just pity and sadness.

We have literally lost three generations of peope because they rely on
government entitlements.

this is where you let politics get in the way of clear thinking.

What politics? *That several generations of poor people have become
reliant on the U.S. Government for their existence? *Sorry, but that's
not politics, Tom. *That pure American history.

We've had
poverty, generation-to-generation poverty, and you apparently only started
noticing it in the past 20 years.

I started noticing it when I was a kid and my father brought home to me
argyle socks, *woolen* argyle socks, that his boss' children wore. *I
started noticing poverty when it dawned on me that I had to get a paper
route if I wanted things. *And if I really wanted things, like my *own*
argyle socks, I had to pick shade grown tobaccoo at age 14. *I noticed
it when we turned on the hot water heater to take a bath. *Don't talk
to me about poverty, Tom. * *But I was more fortunate than many kids in
my neighborhood. *My father wasn't a drunk and worked hard, until dying
at age 67 behind the wheel of his tanker rig. *He and my mom taught me
to fish, both spin and fly, and I was the only kid in the neighborhood
to go on a vacation every summer with his parents.

Hell, the same families that were poor in
VA in 1800 still are today. Sure, there are a few that break the cycle, but
the system is set up to make that a challenge.

Horse caca. *Yeah, there is generation to generation poverty in the
coal country of WV, VA, and Appiliatia in general. *And if those kids
were taught better in school that they too could become someone, if
they were taught that serving in the military is a great way to break
out of the same poverty routine they've seen all their lives, perhaps
they could. *Challenge, smallenge. *Who the hell has NOT been
challenged in life? *All of life is a challenge and if you don't learn
that early in your life, you probably are doomed.

One of the greatest crocks o'
crap ever sold is the Horatio Alger ideal. By and large, our nation just
doesn't work that way.

Another horse caca. *Tell that to Hector, Norman, Ralph, Richard,
Junior, et al. *All kids I grew up with in poverty. *We all made it. *
Tell that to my two nephews who got bad conduct discharges from the
Army and Navy and have grown up to be successful tradesmen. *Tell it to
Bill Gates.

Perhaps, in Obama, they felt they
saw someone who might effect a change in that. In my experiences, most of
the folks who I've encountered receiving welfare, food stamps, going to the
food bank, etc., don't like that situation, and work like the devil to
change it. Sometimes, they get discouraged, but by and large, it is not some
sort of lifestyle choice.

More caca, Tom. *Periodically, maybe three or four times a year for at
least a month, we have to fill out some paperwork for each of our
clients. *One of the questions is, "Do you work." *All answer no. *The
next question is "Are you capable of working?" *Some say yes, most say
no. *Yes, some break out of the system and become self reliant, but as
a whole, most do not (not including elderly in that). *That's why we
see them week, month, year after year.

And, it is going to get worse, Tom. *Count on it. *Unemployment is
going to rise because nothing is being done to check it. *You do not
raise taxes in hard times. *You lower them. *The best Dem in my life,
JFK, was aware of that little economic tid bit. *Perhaps that is why I
voted for the man.

Dave

Has it ever occurred to you to wonder whether is anything at all in
this world that you understand? Have you ever wanted to understand
something......anything?

Moron.

Pig.

g.