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elitism, snobbery,.....why?

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Simone_m

Skilled Investigator
I looked into a socialnetwork page of a ufo person. Is an educated comfortable individual who most likely (far as I can tell) never experienced the chronic adversity wrought by poverty. This person had put, If you can afford alcohol and cigarrettes, you shouldn't have foodstamps. (Just like I put in my page, a link to an article that Republican brains are fear-based and closer to the primordial).
Here is my reaction. How about, "If you can afford to gamble with privatized 'social security' life savings from the shiney casino called Goldman Sachs, over exotic hedgefund instruments, while a guy's outsourced job went to China, and house was foreclosed upon, You shouldn't have trillion dollar bailouts."
"If you are The Military Industrial Complex, you shouldn't be ongoing-allocated incomprehensible amounts in 'black budget slush funds' which could buy every impoverished (smoking) person in the US, their own house and vehicle. (Who drink, due to a lifetime of traumatic chronic adversity.) I say, those who say "Let them eat cake", "Off with their heads!" (Ya know, so-to-speak, etc. (proverbialy....)
I have seen alot of back-and-forth about this over at like, ATS, but I am curious with you Paracasters. Especially non-Americans. Many US people, who lean conservative Libertarian, express a lot of disgust-targeting toward people who recieve a couple of hundred dollars a month in assistance of one form or another. I am certain that in my lifetime, my social security money will never come anywhere near a welfare infusion for 'the black budget' or a transnational corporation or international banker.
I know that you might say, "the weakest most powerless in your society are the easiest to pick on and scapegoat." But how can an intelligent educated grownup with children knowingly be like that? I have noticed that a --lot-- of my (close and long distance) encounters with (what I call "ufo-llywood") struck me as --quite-- elitest and snobbish. It makes me want to refer to ufology as, "The Vril Society" instead. Know what I mean? Otherwise, how can an intelligent grownup person with kids knowingly be like that? HONEST, I DON'T UNDERSTAND.
 
Oh boy, another political thread. I'm conservative but like you I disagree with her about the cigs and alcohol. I think that what she fails to understand is that less fortunate people don't have the cash flow to do exotic things like travel, go to nice restaurants, take a leisurely sail in their boat, etc. For a lot of people defiling their bodies with tobacco, alcohol, and drugs is about the only thing they can afford to do. And as strange as it is to some people those things can be quite effective in relieving the boredom that a tight budget can bring on.
 
Thanks Wick I respect your intelligent and empathetic answer. It seems like --empathy-- is in accutely short supply these days.
 
I guess I'm a little left of center. I always said I was Left of Limbaugh and right of Teddy Kennedy. Anyway, I've never been one to have a problem with a person on food stamps getting a steak or buying a specialty item. We all rich or poor need a little pleasure or distraction at one time or another. Well, I say need but maybe I should say we want a little pleasure at one time or another. We all wake up in our own skin everyday. :-)
 
This made me keep recalling a song by Three Dog Night called Easy To Be Hard. I found this video of them, and I instantly noticed when their lyrics talked of those who only "care about the be-in crowd". Is from 1970, I think. Have you all noticed what an incredibly real and effective time machine music is? Also, do very many people here remember 1970? Everything felt and smelled different than now. The junk food was good and nutritious even. The air, the humidity, the clouds, the snow. Fresh. I would prefer to physically go back there. I believe I would not miss anything from this time. even this internet!
 
Also, do very many people here remember 1970? !

In 1970 I was in 8th grade, jr. high school. I remember the very first Earth Day, several of us "Young Radical Hippie Wannabe's" made posters and clandestinely hung them around the school. Scandalous , earned my detentions.
 
I think I was in the 7th grade. Long time ago. I do sometime think I left something behind in the 70's and want to go back and find it. Sigh, I guess it's just getting old and looking back. But, I have to admit that sometime I think the air was cleaner and the sun brighter back then. But, then again my "earth suit" was newer back then. :-)
 
My big memory of Earth Day 1971 was it being the first time I worked up the nerve to ask a girl out. And the first (of many) times I got turned down...
 
"Reason not the need: our basest beggars are in the poorest things superfluous."

...from King Lear, by William Shakespeare.


Shakespeare agreed with you 100%, Simone.
 
I've got no problem with helping people who really need help, these days that's a lot and i do mean a lot of us. One thing I don't know is if food stamp pay for cigarettes. This hits home for me personally as i have an uncle fighting an extremely aggressive form of lung cancer and its all due to years of self inflicted damage through smoking.

As a funny political aside i once heard this joke.

"What's the definition of a conservative?
A former liberal that's been mugged."
 
I am a Lefty who has been mugged, and a lot of other horrible experiences in this harsh life. I just don't understand WHY a foodstamp card would allow the cash register to authorize non food items. I do not have 'foodstamps' but I assume they would only purchase food?

---------- Post added at 02:56 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:52 AM ----------

By-the-way, I do NOT approve of smoking and alcoholism, I was trying to counter this disturbing trend to scapegoat the least 'powerful' instead of the most so. Probably because rightwingers are at their feet waiting for all those goodies and blessings to trickle down. ( After they get done being trickled on by the powerfuls' pee...)
 
Note, "he cries, explaining that humans would be no different from the animals if they did not need more than the fundamental necessities of life to be happy." And, "his identity, both as a king and as a human being." Very moving. Must be the genious of Shakespeare!

That just about sums it up. Another wise soul is claimed to have once said "Man cannot live by bread alone" which is essentially the same thing.
 
Hi,
First-time reader/poster here...
Just thought I would provide info on foodstamps. You can only buy food with foodstamps, and actually you can buy seeds with which to grow your own food also. Some states (like where I live, in Pennsylvania) provide a state supplement of about $20/month so people can buy toilet paper, pet food, or non-food things they need. You can take this money out of your account (cash back option on your card) to use as you will - so you could buy cigs or alcohol if you wanted to. Or toys for your kids. It's a helpful thing, I think. It lets people have a bit of dignity and control over their lives.
By the way, I found this site by Googling "corruption fraud in the ufo community", so you kinda see where I am coming from. I am an old fart who has been watching/reading things that would qualify as "high strangeness" for many years, and consider myself open-minded with a healthy dose of skepticism and humor. I like this site - keep up the good work!
 
Simone
RAGING LEFTY as in on fire here!

I think it has something to do with a natural desire for a pecking order.. some people fall for this much more then others.... Probably the authoritarian types.
We are animals after all, and a pecking order may very well be hardwired in our brains. In order to have a pecking order you have to have some form of superiority.

There really isn't any logic to it.. it is all motivated by hate, fear, anger. Primitive emotions. Not saying that there are grains of truth in this argument or that, but often the grains of truth are turned into a rule rather then an exception.
And I would guess most people haven't taken a cultural anthropology course, or understand Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

I guess perhaps it is easier to elevate your pecking order by putting someone down, then by doing the work??

There will always be lazy people, there will always be sick people, there will always be people who are not motivated by money.... and there will always be sociopaths.
 
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