Looks to me like he was referencing "lazy slackers". While most are, NOT all poor people are lazy slackers.
My God man, look at the way Mexican people work. Most of them don't make 12,000 a year. My GF is a machine, she doesn't make much either. My parents are mules, they never made any money. Most poor people work their ass off. What a horrible misconception, one that I don't understand where it comes from.
It comes from lazy ass slacker welfare queens nitro. Hence my emphasis on NOT all poor people are lazy.
Don't know if you have read it, but recommend the article referenced in this old thread: http://www.elitetrader.com/vB/showthread.php?threadid=161690 Think Simon Johnson has a clear view on what you describe.
It's actually founded upon a widespread idea that the economy is a giant pizza and if someone takes too many slices all you have to feed your family is the box. I kid you not (still). People honestly believe that if you make a dollar more, that means somebody else made a dollar less. Don't believe me? Watch `em rise to argue this point. Used to be that we (in the States) believed in a concept called "making money". Not any more. By "losers" I mean people who have absolutely no desire to do anything to improve their situation, their current standard of living, even to earn a meal. If you have been so fortunate as to never have met these people, I envy you. But I assure you they exist. They have no inclination to even take the trash out of their apartment, preferring to enjoy the stench rather than the trouble of disposal.
See my quote above on losers. Actually, read a lot of my stuff, you'll learn some things. Nowhere have I ever said that someone without money is a loser. Have you ever read that quote about assuming things?
And finally for tonight, I'd like to point out that absolutely nobody is arguing the central point of my post: Not only do few people care, but pretty much everyone does. It might have been (probably was?) different back when this country was formed, but now folks see a dollar in your pocket as a dollar that should have been in their's.
Very nice article. Thank you. And yes, that is exactly what i was eluding to, but perhaps it was too subtle for some ET readers. I have commented in other threads about how the capitalists, and I consider myself to be one of them, have through financial power been able to bend government toward their own objectives. There is good capitalism and there is bad capitalism. We should do our best not to confuse them!
Well, even animals in safari have to hunt in order to survive. So, yes, we live to work and work to live. Holidays and evenings are our downtime. Much like when lions lying around doing nothing most of the day. When you think about government systems. Dump it down to a few people. Like 5 people on an island. Who is doing what and you get a clear trade off of different systems. Free-market socialism. All countries have some of both. Whether it is 90% free-market 10% socialism , or 10% free-market and 90% socialism, each country draw their line differently.