Watching a Christmas Carol tonight, Ebeneezer Scrooge's sentiments:
"Are there no prisons, no workhouses?/ I cannot afford to make Idle People Merry/ They should die and decrease the surplus population"
Reminds me an awful lot of the sentiments echoed on this board by many Proponents of Capitalism/free market economy and opponents of socialism:
"Its human nature to want to keep one's money. The poor are lazy. Its their fault they are poor. I shouldn't have to support them out of my taxes. Are they no charities to help them blah blah blah."
Seems that nothing has changed in 150 years.
2006-12-24 06:01:07 · 17 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Other - Politics & Government
Jeff P - I'm British - yeah things are much better over here now than they were back then! Well, at least we have a proper social security system. It just seems that many Americans still subscribe to Scrooge's beleifs when it comes to "the poor".
2006-12-24 06:16:02 · update #1
actually a lot has changed- notably england. they're a lot better then they were when dickens wrote that. The USA has gotten worse.
However, the sentiment is dead on.
2006-12-24 06:13:28 · answer #1 · answered by The Big Box 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Americans, and to a large extent other "capitalist" states have taken up the "I'm OK Jack, screw" you approach. This is OK for rich people like Paris Hilton and others who have faith in the system that the poor and brainwashed have no hope in hell of stringing them up from the nearest lamppost. The reason for this is that the poor are too brainwashed into thinking that they are rich also.
Imagine this, "America is the richest country in the world". Such cr** statements go straight to the brain that even people begging on the subways think they are doing OK. Happy Christmas people.
2006-12-24 07:04:08 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
You should move to some socialist or communist country and see how great it really is.
You want Scrooge, how about Al Gore?
He gave a whopping $ 353 to charity the year before he ran for pres.
I gave more than that on an income of $60K.
whoever gave me the thumbs down, I guess
YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!
2006-12-24 06:12:30 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
Yep, that's the American way.
In many ways America now is like England at the time Dickens wrote. Then the English thought they were top nation and looked down on others, not bothering to learn about them. Now the Yanks do likewise.
I'd guess in 100 years time we'll be saying the same things about the Chinese, Iranians or Indians
2006-12-24 06:03:27 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 3⤋
Well spotted, and yes, sadly true, and while things are better now than they were then, you watch as private business get its hands on the systems of Country, the NHS for example, and those bad days of 'die, you are no profit to me'.
2006-12-26 04:51:48 · answer #5 · answered by manforallseasons 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Well, it's changed.
We use to have a civil dialog on a variety of mainstream broadcasts that evenly debated the merits of conservatism and liberalism regardless of one's perspective. Over the past 10 years that's changed to loud, brash, rude, staged shouting matches that polarize and create artificial drama for ratings sake.
Perhaps it's inevitable that human beings tend to polarize based on their values, I don't know, I certainly would like to think better of us.
Bill O'Reily and the ilk like him that pass for "discussion" today on various cable channels, do most a disservice. Little actual debate ever takes place. The issues facing our country are too serious and too varied not to have a powerful watchdog media that reports and discusses FAIRLY what is happening in our country.
2006-12-24 06:08:31 · answer #6 · answered by JC 7 · 1⤊ 3⤋
You couldn't be more wrong... It is the conservatives that give of their own money to charities that help those in need. They also give of their own time to a far greater extent than do leftist liberals. It is the Democrat liberal left that will take money out of your pocket at the point of a gun and give it to those who won't work.
2006-12-24 06:35:44 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
first of all related to Ron Paul human beings... i desire you Die an unsightly dying. 2nd... your a jack-*** of course. A Donkey icon-ed Democrat.... third... you're able to be the two below the age of 12... or basically somewhat... somewhat... stupid.......
2016-10-28 07:22:17 · answer #8 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
True, but we can start. It just takes one to get the ball moving. You may not think it will matter much, but giving just five dollars to the beggar on the street will help them a little bit. That's five dollars he didn't have before.
2006-12-24 06:03:25 · answer #9 · answered by quatrapiller 6 · 1⤊ 3⤋
greed is greed its just human nature, but luckily there are a select few of us that actually are happy with just being happy
2006-12-24 06:05:18 · answer #10 · answered by IndeXed 3 · 4⤊ 0⤋