being poor is no excuse for breaking the law?

Question

i am close to 50 now but when i grew up we were dirt poor in the lower coachella valley, we had no welfare we lived in a 2 bedroom trailer with no air(summer temps of 120) my parents had 5 boys, my dad used to get produce out of the trash that the stores would throw away, we wore used shoes, i hitchhiked to my job everyweekend about 15 miles one way(i was 14) i dug ditches i picked fruit, i ate dry pancakes and cereal without milk for months, i went hungry, i have lived in my car, but i also managed to overcome and make my life better without breaking the law, why cant others without breaking the law

i said on the weekends i had my job

cantcu,, its very true,, harder than you can imagine

trash is open domain, and i was in fact sleeping on other property in my car after i asked permission,

AND IT TAUGHT ME NOT TO BREAK LAWS AND FREE LOAD FROM OTHER COUNTRIES, WE HAVE A GREAT SYSTEM THAT ALLOWS PEOPLE TO COME HERE, IF YOU DONT LIKE IT, THEN ELECT SOME PEOPLE THAT WILL CHANGE IT

GO YANKEE, THANKS

Answer 1

I'd like to know whether you grew up poor or you had it so good that you could pay someone $26/day to cook for you in 1968?
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Ar7m7tWxOW27BBExbAnOPH7ty6IX?qid=20070721091051AAVh5Rs&show=7#profile-info-LgOy5bgUaa
quote from one of questions.......
............."my family in fact used to pay a lady 25 us dollars a day back in 1968 for cooking in san felipe mexico, that was great money back then,"...............
This doesn't sound like a man that had it too bad.

Answer 2

There is no excuse for breaking the law! I grew up dirt poor too (with my legal immigrant family) and we never resorted to breaking the law or getting help from the government. My parents worked very long hours and I had my first job by the age of 12 (as a math tutor for younger kids). The American dream is possible without breaking the law. That's why I'm strongly against illegal immigration. We shouldn't reward people for breaking the law! The punishment should fit the crime. I know, our govt is at fault for not enforcing the laws.

Answer 3

American work ethics, to legally overcome poverty.
I applaud you.
My family survived the depression by pulling together. My dad and his brothers worked any job they could get to help my grandparents keep the family farm. In the 40's and 50's the farm quadrupled in size, by virtue of hard work.
My mother's family did the same.
My generation was brought up to respect the law, and if you want something, you have to earn it legally.
When I turned 16 and wanted a car, Dad said, "Buy it yourself. If you have 50% down, I'll co-sign." Thirty years have passed, and I still appreciate the memory of a car I earned myself. I never went hungry or lacked for shoes or clothes, but luxuries were earned, not given.
When I got pulled over for speeding and didn't get a ticket, but my father learned of it, my keys resided in his pocket for 2 months and I had extra chores to get my keys back. The ethics he learned as a youth was passed to me, and I've passed them to my children.
What ethics are being passed on by illegal aliens?

Answer 4

First of all congratulations you went through all those hardships and you came out a stronger man. As children we can not control what is going on but when there are adults breaking the law it's just plain wrong. If they really wanted a better life for themselves they would immigrate legally, not illegally so they can help themselves maybe for a few years or a few decades even. In the long run it will hurt there family.

Answer 5

No, it's not an excuse. Dying is. If they don't leave their country they have a better chance starving or being killed in their corrupted country.

And their intentions were never to break the law when coming here.

You are an American and it was unfortunate and awful the way you grew up, but you have to understand that things are different now.

Answer 6

Actually you were breaking the law- they had truancy laws in California back in the 50's, and you should have been in school at 14 years old.

LOL, Uphill both ways eh? Okay, where did you park the car while you slept? That's illegal in most of the state under Loitering and Vagrancy laws- although that does vary from county to county. I wonder what the cops would have said if they caught you stealing the trash behind the store?

Look, it's easy to judge people for the choices they make in extreme circumstances. It's too bad that your times of trial didn't teach you any human compassion.

Tell me, did anyone look down on you and falsley assume they knew things about you because you were poor? Doesn't it feel great to be able to do that to someone else now?

Answer 7

Kudos to you and your parents. That is the "American ethic" in action. I didn't have it that bad and have broken many laws in my life, no excuse here, spent 6 years incarcerated for some of them, but most I just regret.
The best of luck to your children, these are different times, but they probably have a good dad, and that's an important issue.

Answer 8

Most do, some don't. The same can be said of the rich. Being rich is no excuse for breaking the law yet some break it anyway.

Answer 9

Most of them don't want to work for it. They'd sooner take their chances with the law, especially as in today's politically correct society the criminal has more rights than the victim and they have the likes of the ACLU to fight for them.

Answer 10

Because they were told that they are "special" for just being themselves...

You on the other hand, whether told in so many words or not, were raised to believe that you can be special if you work hard enough at it.