The Entitlement Society 3
Right wingers are fond of claiming that poor folks living on unemployment start to feel entitled to a life of ramen noodles and turkey dogs.
Reg Henry, at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, points out that moral lapses do not respect wealth; he suggests that rich folks just as easily can feel entitled to a life of idleness playing golf and yachting to the Caymans to visit their money.
But, he says, there are exceptions:
Trouble is, he can’t relate to anyone now. He is so desperate to be liked by ordinary people that he will say any old conservative thing just to show he is one of the boys.
It is a sad spectacle because it’s such a waste of obvious talent. Instead of investing money in a Swiss bank or the Cayman Islands, he could start another business right here in America, maybe producing special harnesses that could keep dogs safe on the roof of the family car.
October 3, 2012 at 11:55 am
Obvious low blows. But he has it all coming. And more,
October 3, 2012 at 12:03 pm
Turkey dogs, btw, are $1.98/pack at Target. And ramen noodles 25 cents/per. It’s good to quote the prices because I ran into a bunch on FB taking up the Romney 47 percent are leeches thing. And their position was how do we get rid of the income tax so the 47 percent who don’t pay can’t escape anymore. Really. And they all came to the decision a “fair tax,” or consumption tax, would do it, along with many bromides on the order of “if [you/they] can’t afford it, maybe you shouldn’t have it” and “not everyone has the [skills/smarts/etc] to etc”. At which point I needled them with the prices of things like these, suggesting they were asses for assuming people who didn’t make much money were lucky in some way to get out of the income tax, that they already paid taxes anyway, and that an immediate 30 percent consumption tax hike on their cheap necessities in a society as unequal as ours was not “fair” at all but grossly unjust. The result: silence, then “unfriending.”
October 3, 2012 at 12:37 pm
Low blow indeed.
It’s about time. For too long, Republicans have played politics while Democrats have played beanbag.
Liberals have a long way to go to get as low as those Swiftboatin’ Republicans.
The Booman has the right idea.