What's the obsession with poor-bashing here?

reply to post by counterterrorist

Who said anything about pitying the Illuminati or big sheeple in the sky?

Goodness you're going over the top and grasping at straws.

Please.... stop complaining...

Oh wait, complainers doesn't exist. My mistake.

nine-eyed-eel: the book, "The Bell Curve", full of statistics, [point] towards the conclusion that your IQ is more highly correlated with your income than any other identified factor.

counterterrorist: IQ is not a measure of being stupid ... in the way you meant. Low IQ is NOT the kind of stupid you were talking about. You were equating poverty with stupidity.

nine-eyed-eel: and is it your experience in everyday life that poor people are somehow unjustly or by magic deprived of the fruits of their intelligence?

counterterrorist: First of all, the money-issuing powers should be taken from the private bankers. Get rid of fractional banking, get rid of interest, get rid of stocks and the stock market ... and there will be no poverty. (We're talking about U.S. at the moment.)

nine-eyed-eel: because my experience, thoroughly soaking in the poor milieu, is that poor people are always doing something wrong (wrong here means self-defeating, self-indulgent, short attention span...the type of errors that intelligence may offer some chance of avoiding)

counterterrorist: Try going to Church sometimes ... maybe you unfortunately were stuck in a place where you were victimized by violence and extorted ... being a bully is not a function of I.Q. or of richness, or of poverty.

nine-eyed-eel: stupidity is not generally recognized as helpful in most areas of life, why should being stupid not negatively impact your earnings? is it just a big lottery, therefore, your actions, and your choices, and your brains to guide your choices, that doesn't come into account?

counterterrorist: You have a gentle tone of voice. However, I think you're confusing stupidity with ignorance. A person with high IQ and lots of money can be ignorant, and they can do very stupid things.

A person with low IQ and no money can do very intelligent things. Again, it sounds like you grew up in a tough neighborhood, and you're talking about the real world, maybe in the ghetto ... being around thugs. I'm glad you're doing as well as you are.

asmeone2: Who said anything about pitying the Illuminati or big sheeple in the sky?

coiunterterrorist: I did. That's my line, but you can use it: THE BIG SHEEPLE IN THE SKY. Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?

[edit on 22-10-2008 by counterterrorist]

counterterrorist: You have a gentle tone of voice. However, I think you're confusing stupidity with ignorance. A person with high IQ and lots of money can be ignorant, and they can do very stupid things.

What's the difference between stupidity and ignorance in the many cases when they can lead to the exact same detrimental effects?

Ignorance is nothing more than temporary stupidity.

I am one of the poor but not a "professional poor."

I was poisoned by a company i worked for.

This left me with a severe autoimmune disease and on government disability.

Yes i have played a "professional poor." and have panhandled for extra spending money.

I took a vacation a few years ago by panhandling for gas money for my trip.

Being a "professional poor." is not easy. every cop out there believes that anyone that is poor and will not (or can not) work is a criminal.

Yes i could work but for me to be able to work i would have to take narcotics for the pain.
And if i took narcotics no one would hire me because i could not pass a drug test.
And yes i understand that if you take prescription drugs it does not count on drugs test. But that does not count as companies in the US will still fire you even if you have a prescription
When they find you are taking prescription narcotics they will just find another reason for laying you off.

So i will live off the tax payers and spend my time having fun posting on ATS.

asmeone2: What's the difference between stupidity and ignorance in the many cases when they can lead to the exact same detrimental effects?
Ignorance is nothing more than temporary stupidity.

counterterrorist:
Ignorance is a measure of education and spiritual enlightment.

Stupidity is a measure of brain damage, or spiritual decay.

Ignorance refers to consciousness.

Stupidity refers to doing evil.

Stupidity is not a state of ignorance.

[edit on 22-10-2008 by counterterrorist]

reply to post by counterterrorist


My point is that while the mechanism may be different, the result is the same.

Someone may be too "stupid" in the sense you define to balance a check book, so he overdraws. Another person may be "ignorant" and not even realize that he should keep a balance.

What's the difference?

They both suffer the same fate of $25 per returned check, even jail time if they continue.

That's just one example, but the same kind of logic applies.

In terms of outcome, there's no difference between someone who is literally too stupid to succeed, and someone who doesn't have the education or knowledge to succeed. At the very most they will reach temporary "success" but then blow it all with mismanagement and bad decisions.

reply to post by counterterrorist


thanks for the kind words as to my tone
and we are in complete agreement as far as the federal reserve, fractional reserve banking and so on
but also I must mention that fascists and nazis can as easily be intelligent as can buddhists and communists...if there is a world-view that can only be held by the intelligent, where they at?

reply to post by LostNemesis
hello there,

I'm an indigent fellow myself. Some of us just don't have a choice. Like I've been railroaded, and couldn't head anywhere else but where I've ended up. People's situations are different so we should be more considerate

Originally posted by ANNED
And yes i understand that if you take prescription drugs it does not count on drugs test. But that does not count as companies in the US will still fire you even if you have a prescription When they find you are taking prescription narcotics they will just find another reason for laying you off.

So i will live off the tax payers and spend my time having fun posting on ATS.

Uhhh....that is complete crap. Unless you are operating heavy machinery, or working for an unusually uptight company, there are PLENTY OF JOBS that do not require drug testing of any kind.

If you enjoy sitting around and living off of the hard work of tax-payers then just admit it, do not try to claim you are "unable" to work because you take prescription meds.

reply to post by Sonya610


And I beleive there is legal recourse that can be put into action if a company refuses to recognize an employee's prescription. I don't know the exact details though.

That is assuming it is a legit prescription slip, not a cover for addiction

Originally posted by asmeone2
And I beleive there is legal recourse that can be put into action if a company refuses to recognize an employee's prescription. I don't know the exact details though.

That is assuming it is a legit prescription slip, not a cover for addiction

Heck even if you are a drug addict, if you can be responsible and do the job you can still do quite well! If they started banning people that use or abuse drugs they would have to fire 50% of the top computer programmers and 90% of the advertising execs in the country!


[edit on 22-10-2008 by Sonya610]

reply to post by LostNemesis


Good topic, I have noticed the poor bashing by the way.

In the US the opportunity to better yourself is available. I think people just get annoyed when people don't bother to try.

That being said poor is relative. One person may think they are comfortable when another might think the same person is dirt poor.

As long as you live within your means and carry as little debt as possible and don't want handouts from the government your not poor in my book.

reply to post by LostNemesis


I have been considered poor, and at times consider myself poor. It isnt that I choose to be poor. I actually am in college trying to better myself. After a couple more years I will be in a great job hopefully, paying more than any job I have had since. Until I get a job I'll be poor. I don't think this makes me any less of a person. I havn't seen this trend since I havn't been on very often, due to school. This trend, as you say, makes me uncomfortable since I would think that here I should be able to argue with my peers without being victim to character assassination because of my income level.


[edit on 23-10-2008 by acewilliams]

reply to post by drock905


Thank you, you made the point that I meant to before I went shopping, and came back to see what the thread had turned into! lol
So much for keeping up.

Some just want to work their arse off, to be ahead of others. I respect that, and wish that taxes were more fair to those people.
I realize that someone can make as much money as they want to in this world, when they know how, and want to.

I think most of us can say we are happy to have what we have. And not put down others who are happy to have what they do.

NOT directed towards drock905:
And I think bragging about how many houses with how many rooms you have, while comparing the poor in one country to the poor in another, is very counter-productive.

But, we are all different.

reply to post by acewilliams


I hope that a costly education will be worth it, in the end. No matter what though, you are bettering yourself, as you put it. IMO, money does not and should not define your self-value.

Some are content to have freedom and friends, not selling your life away to some corporate agenda. The word 'Yoshi' comes to mind. And I know you know what I mean.

Yes i could work but for me to be able to work i would have to take narcotics for the pain.

For me its the decision not to take narcotics just to be able to work.

Plus once you start taking legal narcotics you have no recourse if you have to change doctors and you find that your new doctor will not proscribe them for you.

I know all about this with doctors I am not new to dealing with doctors as i was a Vol firefirefighter/Emergency Medical Technician for over 30 years and have seen doctors even without warning and for no reason refuse to give terminal cancer patients new proscriptions.

reply to post by nine-eyed-eel


Well don't you have a great view on life. I'd like to know what you will think of yourself when the company you work for downsizes and you are in the same position as many of us are in today. Will you see the world differently if you are the poor one? How will you see yourself when you are about to lose your home? Then will you say that the poor are garbage? Or will you feel compassion like the truly poor do? Maybe you will find one of us, and we will help you as we do for each other. When one of us steps up the ladder we don't step on each other, we push each other. When you have felt the sting of being poor, the hopelessnes of being unable to get that toy your child wants, the pain of going hungry so those you care about will have food and a place to live. When you experience these things, you can say something about being poor. Till then watch FOX and believe them, when they say everything is Alright. And truthfully, I dont wish this life on anyone.

It's something that they don't talk about in Congress, and certainly in the corporate media. But the wealthiest one percent of the population earns more income today than the bottom fifty percent. Top one percent own more wealth than the bottom ninety percent. We have, by far, more inequality, in terms of income and wealth, than any other major country on earth. We have the highest rate of childhood poverty and we have more billionaires. I don't think that's what America is supposed to be about. There is hate out there, and it's often among white guys. And you know why they're angry? They're angry because they're working really hard; their standard of living is going down; they're working really hard and the world is passing them by; and they're not - they don't understand why. And, instead of getting angry at the big-money interests who are sending their jobs abroad or taking away their health insurance, or giving tax breaks to people who don't need it, what the Republicans have successfully done is taken that anger and turned it on gay people, turned it on the abortion issue.
We have become and Oligarchy. Pure and simple. A country that is run by the wealthy, and the elite. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, and I'm not some nut-job whacko spouting rhetoric. But too many people have been blinded. It's all about fear. Making you fear that the American dream that you "Might" have, MIGHT be taken away from the liberals, because they're communist.
Well, wake-up, conservative wannnabe......we not, and liberalism, and fascist communism aren't the same thing. We believe in Democracy, but TRUE democracy, a representative democarcy, not a representative Oligarchy. You have been spoon-fed this crap, that somehow the democrats want to PUNISH success. Trust me, pal, nobody successful is going to be "PUNISHED". They won't shed one bloody tear, because they'll have enough. The middle class in this country is being broke, indeed whittled away, and you are crying your spoon-fed misery, probably from Rush Limbaugh, or Sean Hannity.

reply to post by Bizmark35


Thank you. Not that I did not know this, but that you said it so profoundly. I have to agree with most of what you said. The one thing that I disagree with is who they are pointing blame at now. Today our focus is being put on the war and terorism. They are truly setting us up to fight each other, while they come up the center to control us more. Whether you're for the war or against it I think that we all want our brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, moms, dads, and friends to come home. Our entire world is backwards. We should be counted as equals, as well as given equal chances to be successful.