So. My Family Is Wealthy, and doesn't have to

[MoseyWalker]

think about the same things, apparently that most do.

My family doesn't have to ever worry about living in a house where the rain doesn't come in, and doesn't have to think about laughing about the clouds crying because we can't fix the roof.

My family doesn't ever have to worry about getting or having enough food, because someone else always seems to provide everything we need. They seem to have an accent and seem to be always tired when they are working, but that is probably because they are inherently lazy. I've heard that they have to travel for hours in the city to get here, and hours home, and their children are being taken care of most of the time by who knows who, but that's not my problem.

My family never has to worry about ever being too hot in the summer, or too cold in the winter. We have central air, brand new cars with air conditioning and great heaters, and plenty of coats, sweaters and blankets. Maybe we should give a blanket or two to someone else that supposedly needs it, but I don't really think it's all that bad, and they are just trying to con me into giving my stuff away so they can get drugs or beer or something.

My family never worries about who our kids are hanging with, and whether the cops are going to profile them, arrest them, and hurt our family financially because we can't pay the fines. It's the others who have bad kids whose kids get busted for drinking, or whatever. And it's their damn fault that the parents can't pay the fines.

My family never worries.

(thanks for taking a look)

[Truthiness Inspector]

1. Great post

if you like broad brushes.

[MoseyWalker]

3. thanks

and I'm truly getting ready to scrape some old paint flakes off tomorrow and plan on repainting some parts.

I ain't givin' it all up easily! I shouldn't, others told me I couldn't, but I wouldn't listen.

[az chela]

2. And the point of this is???????

[Rabrrrrrr]

4. If you don't know the point, then perhaps you are part of the problem

:eyes:

[MoseyWalker]

5. If you don't see one

then, for you, and probably many others, there isn't one. That's okay.

peace.

[femrap]

13. walking in other's shoes....

empathy....you know, the stuff that * doesn't have.

And maybe it's a lesson in Gratitude. Or a lesson that tells one to stop being so damned self-absorbed.

Or maybe it's a lesson in Sharing.

EVOLVE FOLKS.

[NanceGreggs]

6. Wonderful post, MoseyWalker ...

Proud to be the first Recommend - but I won't be the last.

:applause:

[MoseyWalker]

7. thank you very much

I thought about adding to it; editing, but decided not to.

thanks again!

:hi:

[johnaries]

8. But, aren't they worried they're paying too much in taxes?

:shrug:

[MoseyWalker]

9. Some of us were just born to expect

"stuff".

We have better parents than you who worked hard and gave us a good education, bought us the best clothes, and made damn sure we got into a good university.

We have empathy, or is it sympathy, for those who have to to to community colleges or can't even graduate high school because they have to work for their family to survive. Really, we do. I respect people who "rise above their means" and attain some goal. I really, really do! I don't feel bad that I make 200% more in income than they do, and I have the accumulated wealth of my family to fall back on. It never helped me. I worked hard for my harvard education, and it's not my fault that those "others" didn't get one.

So we get tax breaks. It helps those that are too stupid to help themselves without our help. Thank god for us.

Speaking of god.........

[ninkasi]

10. My family does worry

We have homes, and are safe and warm and dry, and we have plenty of food, and we have clothes, and all of the things we really need, and lots of things we don't. We worry, though about the others, the ones who don't have those things. We help when we can, and I don't mean by paying taxes, that's just automatic, and isn't voluntary.

No, we try to help people who we know need help, and we try to help people we don't know, and will never meet, but we know that they need help anyway. We get sad, because no matter how much we care, and how much we give, it's not enough. We are happy that what we do helps somebody, a little, for at least a little while, but we want our society to be one where nobody ever has to depend on our good will and charity. We will still help, but we would like for what we do to be extra, not just scraping by, for the people who need it.

Babies are born, and can't support themselves, and people get old, and sick, and frail, or have accidents, and Lord knows there are floods and hurricanes and fires, and car wrecks, and all kinds of things that can wipe out our savings in a flash. So maybe we should all just be willing to help a little bit more, and do it graciously, without making people feels ashamed for needing the help.

I am retired, and sometimes, when I first wake up, it takes an hour or more for the pain in my back and neck to settle down enough for me to function. I am grateful that I don't have to drag myself to work anyway. I realize, though, that there are people who hurt just as much as me, and maybe more, but they still have to somehow find the strength to get to a minimum wage job, and even though they work hard, they are still poor.

To work, while in pain, and still be in poverty is a shame and a disgrace in this country. Too many people have to, though. Too many have to work long hours, for Little pay, and when their kids get into a little trouble, they are denounced as being uncaring, bad parents. If we in this country can care about such trivia as who wins the next round on one of the new shows, or whether the latest missing blond has been found, then surely we can summon the energy to care about our brothers and sisters, and be open handed and generous to those who need it.

One of the most important things we can do, as well, is to vote for Democrats, for progressive Democrats, who can level the playing field more, and get us out of this immoral war, and begin to rebuild and heal our own country. They money we sign away to Halliburton could be much better spent on getting America back to health, and then helping the rest of the world, instead of attacking it.

Oh, and MoseyWalker? I don't for a minute believe that you never worry. Not for a minute.

[Gregorian]

11. That's exactly how I feel.

I am that person, also. I wake up and wonder about those who don't have what I have. The other night I fell asleep thinking of Leonard Peltier, just as an example.

We have it all. What about the rest? We have a responsibility to feel. For them. To care. To think.

Thank you for telling the way so many of us live our lives. We are the ones they rarely speak about. The ones who do care about the rest.

Edit- As I've said in so many other posts, WE versus ME. I can't do your post justice, other than to say I love it.

[ninkasi]

41. Thank you, Gregorian

There are quite a few here at DU who do care, and care deeply. The sad truth is that it would take just a little more from all of us to make so much difference in other people's lives. Yes, it is the WE, versus ME, as you point out, and you definitely have a beautiful way of expressing your caring of, and love for, humanity.

I love my country, but realize that it is purely an accident of birth that I live here, and not in another country, one plagued with famine and war. Because the place of birth is not a personal virtue, then why shouldn't those of us who were born here, or another country where there is relative peace and stability, help those who were born into less fortunate circumstances?

Gregorian, I truly believe that the things you do, and that many of us do, can make a difference, and the more of us who try, the greater the difference will be. You have a beautiful soul, and I hope that others see your actions, and decide to match them.

DU is home to so many talented, intelligent people, I am constantly awestruck at what I see in my fellow Democrats and progressives. You are so very right, about recognizing that some of us might not have any other talent, but we can still care, and act on our caring.

In the end, all we really can claim to possess that is worth anything is each other, the love we have, the helping hand we extend, the pity we feel. My husband and I live on Social Security, and technically, we are in the poverty range as far as income is concerned. We own our home, though, so that makes a lot of difference, and we don't lack for any necessities. What we have that is beyond price, is a loving, caring, wonderful family, and friends that I consider the best in the world.

Sometimes, helping others out is a family project, because what one can't do, several can. We used to have that spirit here, in this country, until the greed and arrogance of some blinded others to the common ties that should bind us all, and lift us up in the struggle for life.

That spirit lives, though, Gregorian, and it lives in you, and so very many others, right here, at home, at DU.

[midnight]

12. What a vicious cycle poverty creates....

We should be having a war on poverty, and not on terrorists.

[MrCoffee]

14. Outstanding post!

[Nikia]

15. Good post

Sadly that is the attitude of many people.
Everyone should be able to get their basic needs met.

[Hallgiant]

16. Wow

Excellent post. This maybe the most condescending
crap I've ever read on the DU.

You know MoseyWalker, my family is not wealthy like yours
but we never have to worry about "living in a house where
the rain doesn't come in" or "have to worry about getting
or having enough food"
But we do have cars with A/Cs, houses with central air and My God
garages too !! You know why, because we WORK as in Jobs !!

midnight posted

"We should be having a war on poverty, and not on terrorists."

Excuse me midnight you you to spend a little more time in the sun.
LBJ declared "War on Poverty" in 1964 and 42 years and 5 trillion
dollars later is anyone talking about an exit strategy ?

This is the reason why Democrats won't win any elections for
a very long time. Your always looking to blame personal faults
on someone else.

[datasuspect]

17. dribble much?

did hims dwop his sippy cup?

[Minimus]

19. you just don't have a clue do you?

:crazy:

[Bluebear]

20. 'why Democrats won't win any elections for a very long time'

Boy are you in for a rude awakening.

[janx]

28. My thoughts exactly!

:rofl:

[helderheid]

21. Enjoy your stay

:hi:

[Hallgiant]

22. OK

Thank You Helderheid.

[POAS]

23. Has the countdown clock started yet?

[stepnw1f]

24. Actually Your Post Proves You Can't Win

without stealing elections. And it's why Democrats will win.

[Rhiannon12866]

27. I think you're on the wrong board.

But welcome to DU, anyway...:shrug:

Rhiannon:hi:

[SmokingJacket]

31. Think much? nt

[Ignacio Upton]

32. This guy is a troll from a certain forum that shouldn't be named

Lest we want to boost their traffic.

[Rhiannon12866]

40. Valdemort?!

:scared::rofl:

[Sydnie]

33. What an asshole

Hey Hallgiant - you're a pathetic excuse for a human being.

[bleedingheart]

34. If you have to work to pay for that...you aren't wealthy

your middle class.

The truly wealthy make so much money in investment income and interest that they don't have to work to provide for both the necessities and luxuries of life.

[buddhamama]

36. personal faults

hmmm. the only personal fault i can find is someone voting Republican.

[Redstone]

38. Hope your Granite Chicklet tastes good.

Sounds like you're a bit short of pleasure in your life, not to mention short of intellect.

Redstone

[Laurab]

44. A great example of why many Republicans don't "get" Stephen Colbert

and think he's serious. Like.....Tom Delay's fundraisers!

Welcome to DU - enjoy your stay!

[Jcrowley]

18. Inequality by design

How then are kids from poorly funded schools supposed to "compete" with kids from places like beverly hills? sure, some (the exceptions) will be able to compete, but many, perhaps most, won't. we, our society, places tremendous burdens on and has trememdous expectations of those at the bottom of the barrel. meanwhile people like bush barely pass at places like harvard and yale, and then are handed everything to them, including the office of president. and to add insult to injury, the irony of someone like him whining about "quotas" barely get a mention in our so-called press. there is something wrong with that, and there is no reason why we should continue to accept it as "the way it is."

The pace of inequality has grown steadily over three decades, under both Republican and Democratic administrations and Congresses. The Gini index, the global measure of inequality, grew as quickly under President Clinton as it has under President George W. Bush. Widening disparities in the U.S. are the result of three decades of bi-partisan public policies that have tilted the rules of the economy to the benefit of major corporations and large asset owners at the expense of people whose security comes from a paycheck.

[bigtree]

25. bootstraps

k&r

[datasuspect]

26. elucidate?

[bigtree]

29. reagan used to tell everyone they should pull themselves up by their own

bootstraps.

He had 'em, most folks didn't have them to fall back on.

Did I get it right, DS?

[datasuspect]

30. no litmus test here . . .

regarding what you are saying, but thanks for the clarification.

it IS kinda hard to pick yourself up by the bootstraps when you have no boots . . .

l'chaim.

[Jcrowley]

35. Excellent Post

Comfortable people sleep. Uncomfortable people don't.

It's the reason why all these people in Latin America are electing leftist and center-leftist governments. Brutal, bone-crushing, painful, miserable poverty made them wake up.

Horrendous poverty burns away the fat of laziness and apathy. It beats the body of the people into shape, the kind of shape it needs to be in to fight the masters. Nothing is harder or leaner than a poor, desperate population with little left to lose.

[buddhamama]

37. thank you

for an excellent post. empathy is the key to our survival. :applause:

[Redstone]

39. Well-said, Mosey.

We don't worry about ourselves, either, but we do worry about others. One of the reasons I spend 20% of my professional time working free for nonprofits.

We KNOW how fortunate we are. And act accordingly. As I am sure you do as well.

(Though in our case, we came both of us from bone-deep poverty, and lived in it together; no family backup whatsoever. We brought ourselves up out of the well all on our own.)

Redstone

[MGD]

42. If poverty doesn't kill you, it will make you stronger. nm

[bliss_eternal]

43. Hi Mosey Walker--

I saw a lot of the antithesis of this after Katrina.

Some that posted here seemed to think that the people caught or stuck in the storm were somehow at fault for the situation and their demise. Because they couldn't pack up their SUV's and simply drive out of harm's way. Those that weren't "prepared" with water and emergency supplies, were somehow stupid and asking for such a devastating situation to destroy their lives.

I was so sad to see people here so lacking in compassion or understanding. So many of the people in that situation merely never think about such things occuring and don't have the means to "prepare." The money they do have always seems to need to go to a more pressing need. :( Honestly, I've been there and I understand.

The great majority of posts WERE compassionate and empathetic. I guess it's just disheartening to see ANY of the other kinds of posts during such a horrible time.

Thanks for this post. I apologize if it seems I've gone off topic. This is just what your post brought to mind, and I thought that I would share that with you.

:hi: best,
bliss :)