the end of the USA as we know it
#81
05-30-2007, 03:28 PM
Red Raven:
To succeed or not is more a function of "attitude" not assistance. Here are some examples from my life. When I found out I was about to be drafted, (1963), I enlisted to get a field I was interested in. I once found myself unemployed, went to the state unemployment office, stood in line for a couple of hours til I realized I could have found a job in that time. I left, found a job in a week, and have never filed for unemployment since. I never had the chance to go to colledge, my parents were both sick with cancer... I had to work... My life was a sucess because I was too uneducated to listen to people that told me I "can't do that". 8)
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It's a cinch by the inch - By the yard it's hard....
#82
05-30-2007, 04:08 PM
3 life stories from an internet forum does not a policy make. Or 10 stories. Or even 100.
Just because you (metaphorical you) had a great life without assistance does not mean others don't need it. Lots of people bring themselves up from nothing to become something. That does not mean anyone else should be left behind because they cannot or will not work at the same level. Without regular people on welfare, more of our tax money would be given to corporations and that would only make the owners richer. I don't think you want that!
#83
05-30-2007, 05:19 PM
In '97 we were on top of the world. By '98 our world had ended. We both lost long term jobs and had a child born with a liver disorder. Six figures gone in a flash. We almost lost everything. I went from running a 48 man shop to filling vending machines. It was honest work and I built myself up from there. (Again). I started doing research and I found the trucking industry. I applied myself and have done very well. I now have several rental properties and I am back on track to provide for my family. To me the difference between "the rich and the poor" is The rich keep doing the things that make them richer and the poor keep doing things that make them poor. I stand on my own two feet!
" the rich stay rich by acting poor and the poor stay poor by acting rich" Ridge
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Find something you like to do, be the best at it you can be, the money will come.
#85
05-30-2007, 06:34 PM
Here is something someone said to me once...
If you want to be wealthy, you talk to a wealthy person, you don't talk to a poor person. The key here is knowledge. You can learn it through apprenticeship, you can gain it through practical hands on experience, you can gain it through education. The poor do not always get the access to these opportunities. Some may, and they are the ones who've found a way out of poverty. The problem is that if you look at most well paying jobs, you need some form of education to do them. The days of apprenticeship to learn a trade, or vocation, are disappearing. Now, if you don't have a college degree, employers won't even look at you... Even in trucking you have to have schooling. They won't put you behind the wheel, and let you "apprentice", while earning a paycheck. The only thing that is going to keep you from being poor is, education, and hopefully good health... Because as I said before, the disabled in this country are really much worse off than even the able bodied poor... If you got hurt tomorrow, and couldn't work any longer, who would you turn too for financial support?... Again, no one answered my previous question. Which was who do you think should financially support the elderly, and the disabled who can't work in this country?... If not the government, then who?... The other thing to consider is this, you have poor people in areas that do not afford them access to a good education. You hear a lot about rural Kentucky, and the inner cities. Sadly, there are communities that have generations of poor simply because of ignorance. Kids learn from not only their peers, but, their parents. Never mind if the school you attend has one of the nations poorest ratings, and lowest graduation rates... Did you know that baltimore, MD, has the nations worst public school educational system?... How can you expect kids to do well, and get out of poverty, if even the shcools are terrible at educating them... People talk about how life was a 100 years ago... Back then you didn't need a college degree to get a decent paying job. You could also apprentice to learn a skill, trade, vocation. Life is very different now, when you have to take a college course to learn how to use a computer. That should tell you something right there... :lol: :roll: I've talked to truckers who've been driving for years, and told me that back in the good old days you didn't need a CDL License to drive a rig. Now of course you can't drive a rig without it. You have to be educated, tested, and licensed to drive a rig now... The key to solving poverty, is access to education, no matter who has to pay for it. If your willing to learn, you should have equal access to a good education. There have been cuts made to the student loan programs the government does offer. Now, how are the poor going to afford college, or any other educational opportunities. You know why they cut funding for student loans, because of the number of defaults by those who did get the loans, and didn't pay them back. There is something wrong in this country if you can get a college education, and when you get out of college, end up unable to pay back the loans. You have to question what the colleges are offering for courses, and majors. How can you educate someone who then can't get work upon graduation, in the field they were educated, in college?... I think there needs to be some accountability of this countries university, and colleges. Otherwise we are all going to be in trouble... :roll:
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HE SAID I HAD TO CHOOSE... HIM, OR THE ANIMALS... WE MISS HIM SOMETIMES...  
#86
05-30-2007, 06:42 PM
Originally Posted by Ridge Runner
" the rich stay rich by acting poor and the poor stay poor by acting rich" Ridge The middle class can end up poor by spending money they don't have, look at the national credit card debt Americans are carrying... They say the middle class is one pay check, or catastrophic medical condition away from poverty themselves... Now think how much worse it is, if your already at the bottom of the barrel... :wink:
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HE SAID I HAD TO CHOOSE... HIM, OR THE ANIMALS... WE MISS HIM SOMETIMES...
#87
05-31-2007, 02:58 AM
RedRaven sez....
Again, no one answered my previous question. Which was who do you think should financially support the elderly, and the disabled who can't work in this country?... If not the government, then who?...
I am saying that we should not pay for work not done and encourage unnecessary dependence upon the government, because I don't believe that is healthy for anyone - not the rich people and not the poor and not the government. I'm glad you feel so passionately about your cause. You should reroute your career and focus on social services. You will find that poor people think a little differently than middle class people and that, I believe, is what makes them poor people.
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Brang it On!
#88
05-31-2007, 05:16 PM
Originally Posted by NFRay
More related information on the President's powers.
Do you know that our country has been under a constant state of emergency since the end of WW-2. Each President has declared a state of emergency, each year, which gives him almost dictatorial powers if he wants to use it. http://www.americanchronicle.com/art...rticleID=27721 And http://www.shadowmonkey.net/articles...emergency.html Our Republic is further down the toilet than most citizens realize! If you want a good scare, look up how much authority FEMA has during a declared emergency. They can over-ride all state and local elected officials and commandeer any public or private asset they desire. The declaration of a state of emergency is used, in some countries, as a political tool to impose total control over a population, when such control could not be achieved by traditional political means. Sometimes I fear that we are not far from that scenario now. Think carefully before you vote for the next President. Sleep well! One day when it is too late they will wake up. Goin Fer It's Wife
#89
05-31-2007, 05:29 PM
As far as Katrina I really don't know exactly who all messed up. I just know it was handled very badly and no one took the blame.
I was in the heart of Northridge when it hit. The National Guard was out that evening patrolling businesses. There were curfews in place in the evening time. And it did not take them long to have tents up in the parks for people who lost their homes. They had water trucks to get water from. And it did not take them very long to have the buildings inspected. Red tagged could not enter even for your belongings....Yellow tag you could go to get things but could not stay long.....Green tagged meant it was okay. It was very efficient and much better dealt with than the fiasco with Katrina. Goin Fer It's Wife
#90
05-31-2007, 11:25 PM
News item: A May 31 Associated Press article mentions that many Katrina evacuees living in Houston, TX are still unemployed 19-months after Katrina disaster.
Article link: http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll...TION/705310349 Article Summary (in part): - 225,000 people Katrina evacuees came to Houston after Katrina. Many of them at the time were already poor, unemployed, and on welfare or food stamps. - Today, around 100,000 Katrina evacuees remain in Houston. Some continue to receive food stamps. - 12,000 families are currently receiving Federal aid for housing. - Of that group, around 5,500 heads of households are unemployed (not counting elderly and disabled). - Houston's economy has 2,000,000 job openings. Only 59,000 of the job openings require a high school education.
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