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Man this kind of attitude pisses me off to no end. This privileged way of thinking that anyone who is less well off must have a flaw in their character or thei

by HNJohnC 13y ago

Man this kind of attitude pisses me off to no end. This privileged way of thinking that anyone who is less well off must have a flaw in their character or their morality. If you took the time to talk to "those people" you would likely find that more often than not they are victims of circumstance out of their control, plain and simple. Just as much as the supposed "wizards" of new tech startups are in reality about 90% lucky and 10% self determined.

ahomescu1 13y ago
> If you took the time to talk to "those people" you would likely find that more often than not they are victims of circumstance out of their control, plain and simple. I have talked to "those people" (I'm from a far less privileged background than you think) and, while I do admit there are some good people who drew the short stick, I have also seen a lot of assholes. Not everyone who is poor is that way because they're "unfortunate", many of them actually have bad habits and work ethic.
- lhc- 13y ago
  I know tons of people who are more well off who are assholes and/or have a poor work ethic. But since they get lucky in life and got dealt a good hand (say, upper class parents and private school, for example), then they count as contributing members of society in your eyes, while those who grew up poor are useless. To me, that says a lot more about the effect of society on people's situation than on their own personal merit or lack thereof.
  - ahomescu1 13y ago
    That completely misses the point. Are those well-off assholes you talk about actually contributing something to society (like art, science, leadership, labor, money, anything at all)? If so, then good for them, they are contributing members of society; if not, they're parasites. Context (for example, poverty) isn't relevant, what matters are an individual's achievements and contributions (plenty of poor people have achieved great things in life, as well as plenty of rich people).

by HNJohnC 13y ago

ahomescu1 13y ago

> If you took the time to talk to "those people" you would likely find that more often than not they are victims of circumstance out of their control, plain and simple. I have talked to "those people" (I'm from a far less privileged background than you think) and, while I do admit there are some good people who drew the short stick, I have also seen a lot of assholes. Not everyone who is poor is that way because they're "unfortunate", many of them actually have bad habits and work ethic.

lhc- 13y ago
I know tons of people who are more well off who are assholes and/or have a poor work ethic. But since they get lucky in life and got dealt a good hand (say, upper class parents and private school, for example), then they count as contributing members of society in your eyes, while those who grew up poor are useless. To me, that says a lot more about the effect of society on people's situation than on their own personal merit or lack thereof.
- ahomescu1 13y ago
  That completely misses the point. Are those well-off assholes you talk about actually contributing something to society (like art, science, leadership, labor, money, anything at all)? If so, then good for them, they are contributing members of society; if not, they're parasites. Context (for example, poverty) isn't relevant, what matters are an individual's achievements and contributions (plenty of poor people have achieved great things in life, as well as plenty of rich people).