Is this common in US?

[Mish]

I have to admit I saw this kind of "way of thinking" (i.e. poor = lazy, rich = hard working and generally awesome human being) coming from posters from US more than a few times now, do people say this kind of sutff often over there?


At 3:56pm on 14 Oct 2010, derwaldmann wrote:
Take the Medical Reform Bill that Obama put through. Why is there so much hatred for it from the Middle Classes?? Why do these people not want to help less well off Americans get a decent standard of health care? It's baffling to be honest.
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I can’t answer for the rest of the skilled middle class, but I can speak for myself and the people I work with: I think it starts with the term “less well off Americans.” You see, I believe it goes to our 230+ years of democracy; we have become the closest the world has ever seen of a classless society. Therefore, we don’t believe there are any “less well off Americans.” There are just hard-working Americans that are willing to do anything to provide for our families and maintain our self-esteem, and then there’s the lazy ones that think the rest of us owe them a living. Unlike in Europe, where an upper middle class family might not even know anybody on the dole (as you all say), in our world, most of us know people who always have a sad story and are constantly sucking at the gov’t teat. Since we know them, we know that they are usually lazy and often have a chip on their shoulder or have a million and one excuses why they can’t take care of themselves or their brood.
So, there’s your answer; like it or not. We believe the only thing that keeps an American “less well off” is that American.

[Only-virgins]

Pretty much. Money here is your representation of everything about you. Including your character. Pretty bad.

[misombra]

It is common. The poor are the first to suffer financially and discrimination during bad economic times. it seems they are blamed for our economic problems. I don't think this is a usa problem seems this goes on worldwide.

[Petit Papillon]

Hmm , here we blame politicians ,never the people .

[VincenzoG91]

There was a survey done in the U.S. a few years back that found that 50% of Americans think that they could be rich some day. The Republican Party does a good job of exploiting those silly people, getting them to support policies that only benefit people who are already wealthy, at the expense of everybody else. They sell them slick lies about how tax cuts for the rich will turn into jobs for everybody else, even though the rich are just as likely to spend that money overseas on vacations. The four big Bush tax cuts certainly didn't spur any significant job creation.

[misombra]

Hmm , here we blame politicians ,never the people .

i'm moving.

i'm starting to become pretty irritated with our government.

no, actually i've felt a pretty good degree of hatred toward our government for a while now. but i've been doing some learning about north korea lately and i feel lucky that i'm able to say that without being punished.

[Gribble]

There was a time when I agreed at least somewhat with the above view. It was true. At one point hard work paid off. If you were poor it was because you were lazy or defective. The strong should survive and the weak should die. Anything less is inhuman and perversely wrong.

Today I know too many people who busted their asses in college, came out with excellent degrees, and found themselves working menial jobs. You can't make it on hard work and smarts alone these days. But you know what? You just wait and see if we don't end up with a new breed of criminal. College educated, hard working and unable to land an honest job. I support whatever nefarious means they concoct to support themselves and live comfortably. After being cheated into paying tens of thousands for a degree, not to mention sacrificing the best years of their lives, they deserve a piece of the pie whether Old Money wants to give it up or not. Let's see the strong, the young and the bright bring down the old, useless weak ****ers. Just the way nature intended.

I've always dreamed of fighting in a revolution and there's one I'd gladly join.

[sparkle_jello]

I do not like the health care reform bill for SEVERAL reasons. First thing is that I grew up without healthcare, but it wasn't the government's fault, it was my own family's. My dad was a drunk, my mom was... odd... and we were how we were for good reason.
In the US you can pretty much grow up in any kind of surrounding and end up a millionaire. Seriously, it's not unheard of and it's probably more common here than any other country.
Not counting the reason of the recession, most people that don't have insurance I would say has nothing to do with inability to work and obtain it. I think welfare kind of enables a lot of people to drain our society. There are some people that really do need help, and a lot of people that just want it.

[Poetic_Partner]

Unfortunately, yes - it is true.

I'm embarrassed to say that my fellow country-(wo)men don't see the truth in their own lives and those of their families. They only see the good times where a generation all got into the middle class, not the hard times where most of the next generation struggle.

It is the justification, by the way, that my country is turning towards a "greed is good" mentality. That is NOT the nation of my grandparents. They knew without doubt that they were a work accident or crop failure away from the poor-house, no matter how hard they worked.

-PP

[Mish]

There was a survey done in the U.S. a few years back that found that 50% of Americans think that they could be rich some day.

Interesting, do you have a link to this survey?

I do not like the health care reform bill for SEVERAL reasons. First thing is that I grew up without healthcare, but it wasn't the government's fault, it was my own family's. My dad was a drunk, my mom was... odd... and we were how we were for good reason.

So would it be accurate to say that you do not like the health care reform bill because you grew up without healthcare and therefore others do not deserve it as well? However, if you did grow up with healthcare you'd consider others to be worthy of it?

In the US you can pretty much grow up in any kind of surrounding and end up a millionaire.

Is it known how big is the percenatge of the population that shares this point of view vs the percentage of population that does end up a millionaire? Are we talking about 50:50 or 50:1?

[Only-virgins]

There was a survey done in the U.S. a few years back that found that 50% of Americans think that they could be rich some day. The Republican Party does a good job of exploiting those silly people, getting them to support policies that only benefit people who are already wealthy, at the expense of everybody else. They sell them slick lies about how tax cuts for the rich will turn into jobs for everybody else, even though the rich are just as likely to spend that money overseas on vacations. The four big Bush tax cuts certainly didn't spur any significant job creation.

True words.

I do not like the health care reform bill for SEVERAL reasons. First thing is that I grew up without healthcare, but it wasn't the government's fault, it was my own family's. My dad was a drunk, my mom was... odd... and we were how we were for good reason.
In the US you can pretty much grow up in any kind of surrounding and end up a millionaire. Seriously, it's not unheard of and it's probably more common here than any other country.
Not counting the reason of the recession, most people that don't have insurance I would say has nothing to do with inability to work and obtain it. I think welfare kind of enables a lot of people to drain our society. There are some people that really do need help, and a lot of people that just want it.

So? who gives a shit how you grew up. Doesn't mean that people now shouldn't get health care. Also 1 person with in thousands making it big in any environment means nothing.

[boobaa]

I believe it goes to our 230+ years of democracy; we have become the closest the world has ever seen of a classless society.

What? I almost spurted my tea here.

[vashti]

I favor health care reform, but I am not thinking socializing will be the big fix everyone seems to think it is. I know a doctor who moved to Austria a few months ago, and is already talking about coming back because she is so unhappy with the system there, which she feels is vastly inferior. I think the change will be very, very painful.

[VincenzoG91]

Interesting, do you have a link to this survey?

This is probably the article that I read:

[url=http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/RetirementandWills/EscapeTheRatRace/will-you-get-rich-someday.aspx?ucpg=2]Will you get rich? How to build wealth - MSN Money[/url]

My memory was off. Only about a third thought they will be rich someday, and 2% reported that they were already rich. I might have been remembering the stat for the respondents aged 18-29, of which 54% thought they would be rich some day.

[Junket]

I favor health care reform, but I am not thinking socializing will be the big fix everyone seems to think it is. I know a doctor who moved to Austria a few months ago, and is already talking about coming back because she is so unhappy with the system there, which she feels is vastly inferior. I think the change will be very, very painful.

Vastly inferior to the doctors maybe, but I'm not concerned with them.