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Why do you say "depressingly well?" Charitable people from the upper classes tend to have a naive, cartoonish vision of the noble poor. As someone who has been
by dionidium 9y ago
Why do you say "depressingly well?" Charitable people from the upper classes tend to have a naive, cartoonish vision of the noble poor. As someone who has been poor, who has family members who still are, I can tell you that it's a mixed bag. I know lots of people who could be characterized as benefit "scroungers." They're not bad people. They don't deserve to starve. And I'm happy they're getting the help they need.
But I wouldn't describe any of them as particularly hard-working.
That's feel-good nonsense.
- mrguyorama 9y agoAre they less valuable human beings? Do their lives mean less than the average person, or the supposedly "hard working" millionaire?
- dionidium 9y agoClearly not. In fact, I went out of my way to say as much in my comment (in anticipation of responses like this one). But I guess there's almost nothing you can say to prevent this response (which is unfortunate, because it's a significant impediment to productive discussion).
- mrguyorama 9y agoIs someone who isn't "hard-working" (a non-specific and subjective concept) a lesser person?
- dionidium 9y agoNo. I've now answered your question twice (three times, if you count my initial anticipation of this question). What is this weird impulse? What are you trying to accomplish here?
- sleazy_b 9y agoI don't think anyone was describing anyone as hard-working. I'm sure the rich are also a mixed bag when it comes to how hard-working they are. If it skews more in one direction or the other depending on which group we're talking about, I'm not sure it matters. The perception matters more than the reality, at least for this discussion.
- fredley 9y agoI'm not saying that all rich people are not hard-working, or that all poor people are, I'm saying that the narrative is that that is the case, and depending on how right-wing your newspaper, it can be pretty black and white. Given the scale of damage done by tax evasion by the rich compared to benefits fraud by the poor, this characterisation undermines attempts to try and match the amount of effort spent reclaiming taxes from the rich versus identifying benefit fraudsters to the revenue that could be reclaimed from each approach.
- internetman55 9y agoYup, you have both kinds. You have some people who are trying their best, and you have some people like a relative of mine: doesn't bother to get any jobs he sees as beneath him, has been to jail for dealing cocaine, lives with his mom into his 50s, and molested one of his nieces.