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shut up, you think the employment rate is what it is because of lazieness? you think everyone without 3 jobs does not deserve to be as rich as you, well if that's the case, then let the fu[i][/i]ckers starve, however, i know for a fact that that is not the case, people can work their fingers to the bone and not amount to anything economically because of where, when and to whom they were born, if your'e so arrogant as to think your'e better than the people TStephens gave his leftovers to, then we need to end this conversation right here

P.S. nice move on sidestepping all the points of my arguments that you couldn't reply to

Good Morning all,

First off Drac are you replying to me or just howling into the wind yet again?? I've made it as far as I have by not only working several jobs at once but also by living with in my means. I don't go out and buy the bright and shiney new whatever, just because everyone else is. I invest my money and I take care of what needs to be taken care of first(hence both my cars are payed off and the rent is payed for the next 3 months). Then if and when I have money left I invest those funds, and when the price is acceptable then I invest in the not so new not so shiney whatever(the price is generaly lower)! There is always work to be done, there for there is always money to be earned! I spent 3 and a half years traveling cross country, with little more than my bed roll and a buck knife. When I needed money I washed dishes,worked constuction, short order chiefed, cleaned houses,picked grapes by hand, and tons of other jobs. Once again living with in ones means and not building up huge piles of debt(that once you lose what job you had will end you out on the street) are the "secret" to my life. Now I understand that some people are unable to work but the "system" should at the very least help them, to live at least a lower middle class life. Once again I wouldn't know because I've never been disabled! Also the class system in this country is a joke. What you think Bill Gates was born to wealthy parents. I laugh in your face for your genreal lack of not having lived a full life yet. Some day when you have to take care of your own bills and support your own family than maybe you might have a small clue as to how the real world works. Also I'm still waiting to find out how you personaly plan on fixing the "system"? Tick tock. Once again thanks for trolling and have a wonderfull day. ASSHAT!

What you think Bill Gates was born to wealthy parents.

For the record, his parents were affluent.

http://ei.cs.vt.edu/~history/Gates.Mirick.html

Well done, TS!



My fiancee and I have our own plans for altruism over the holidays.

Nope I believe its do to several things, one of the main things is personal pride. A vast majority of the people in America believe that they shouldn't have to work certain jobs because they a) got a college degree in something beside that field b) have been brought up in a wealthy family and feel that there family will "help" them out c) simply believe that said job is below them(working for fast food or retail). These are the people who will always have fincial trouble for the pure and simple reason that there work ethic sucks. I'm pretty well educated yet I'll take any job that will pay the bills. Another reason the unemployment rate is so high is because people get hurt and refuse to take care of the promblem, instead they become shut ins with no further course of action but to wallow in there own self pity. The last reason I can think of is simple mental promblem, which once again comes back to a pride issue, feel like your gonna snap go talk to a trained professional, get some help! One other reason I can think of off the top of my head is poor education. I feel this last one is a cop out for the pure and simple reason that no one is telling you you can't learn out side of school. A huge portion of my personal knowledge is learned from open discussion and through books with diffrent view points on the (same)matter. Come to your own conclusion about the world and if you don't like it change it.

One last thing and truley I am unaware of any country right know that still uses communism. If you can show me a real world working model than I'd be very intrested in it. Until than writeing about something and make said thing work in the real world are miles apart. Trust me on this marx had little of no clue. Don't get me wrong good ideas ,yes well writen ,yes any clue ,no. I've worked picking grapes with the mexicans in So Cal. I've also worked flooding cherrys in Washington DC. Living with the people you work with and sharing everything, generally means that some one is left with an empty stomach and little to show for it.

WOW i started reading this post and i admit, MAYBE ts was seeking some sense of self-gratification, but that is true by anyone that does anything for others. I remeber an episode of freinds (didnt watch it much, but this one was histerical so i still remeber it) where Phoebe and Joey are arguin over whether there is anything such as a selfless good deed. Thier conclusion as well as mine is no, there isnt. Even if ur gratification only comes from feeling good about yourself. But so wat? he has a right too. It was a good post, with a good idea behind it. To that *** hat drac, WOW.

Yeah, it's self gratification. I got a tear in my dumb old redneck eye when I read those letters. I do feel good when I find someone who can use something, most especially if it would otherwise be wasted. I can't take care of the world, but I can do something.

Until you've actually seen someone who is starving, up close and personal like, you can't grasp that it happens here in the land of infinite obesity. At least I know it didn't kick in for me until I saw it.

I grew up on a farm, and we were poor. Not no-electricity poor, or choose-between-medicine-and-food poor. Not even there's-no-way-you-can-even-consider-college poor. Just we-don't-have-any-money-to-spend-on-that poor. My mother is a nurse and it was basically her salary that kept the monthly bills paid for most of my younger life. My old man was busting his hump working daylight til past dark and doing great if he broke even at the end of the year. He never gave up, though. One of the great things about living on a farm, is that no matter how 'poor' you are, there's always food to be had. It may not be what you like, or what you want, but it's there and you can eat it.

When I was 24, I was trying desperately to sell a load of cantaloupes. For those that don't know, once you've picked a load, you've usually got no more than 2-3 days to sell them to a store/produce hauler before you can start looking for some hogs to feed them to.

The Farmer's Market was saturated with melons and no buyers. Cordele, GA calls itself the watermelon capital of the world and claims that more melons move through their market than any other (I dunno, just repeating the claim.) The town is tiny, just a wide spot in I75, really. Well, after seeing about 200 loads identical to mine and only about 3 guys looking to buy, I decided to seek an alternative method of selling. I decided to piece out the load.

Normally, 'breaking' a load is a bad idea. If you sell half of the load, many buyers look at the remainder askance, as if you're trying to sell the dregs to them. In some cases, this is even true, so they're justified in their thinking. But, as I mentioned already, I was desperate. I headed to the Walmart parking lot....

Walmart (sadly enough) has the most traffic of any place in that town. I set up at the deserted end of the parking lot, which also happens to be where the main drive enters and exits. No signs or anything, just a pickup truck loaded with cantaloupes. I wanted to sell, but there were signs posted indicating that I shouldn't, and after all I was selling the exact same product they carry in their store.

But, people, in their ever-present desire to get a better price, inevitably began to come to see me. In about an hour, I sold 3/4 of the load and had more cash in my money bag than I could have hoped to get for the whole load at the market. And no angry store manager had called the cops on me.

Then I saw this guy come walking out from behind the dumpster over behind Golden Corral. He was older, maybe late 50s, early 60s, but I couldn't really tell how old. He was shambling, not walking. You could see every bone he had, right beneath the skin. He had a couple of belongings rolled up in an old shirt he was using for a bag. He shuffled past where I was and I just stood there and stared. What I disctincly recall, even better than his face (it was extremely wrinkled, but his head looked like a skin and hair covered skull, otherwise) was that at the time, I felt a burning shame at his condition. I thought, "How could we let this happen?"

Prior to this, I'd called myself poor, when I had a roof over my head, clothes on my back, and regular meals. This guy wished he was poor. That would have been a step up. I 'know' all of the regular indigents in Cordele. Whether they use it or not, every one of them has a place to go, no matter how humble. Crack is the prevailing influencing factor in many of their lives. There's even one old crazy guy who camps all the time even though he has a quite nice house; he's just whacky. This guy, however, was transient, not a regular.

After he passed me, he turned and came back. He asked if he could buy one of my melons. I never found out if he had money or not, because I grabbed one and just handed it him. I told him not to worry about money, to just enjoy the melon. I don't care if he had all of Bill Gates' money in his pocket, I wouldn't have been able to force myself to take it. Some things will always be taboo to me, and taking money for food from a starving person is one of them. Probably something in my upbringing.

He thanked me profusely, which only served to make me feel even worse about his condition, then shuffled off and found a shady spot to eat. When next I saw him, he was putting the rinds in the trash. I have never before or since seen a rind eaten so thoroughly all the way to the skin. There was literally nothing left but the skin.

Torn by extreme social guilt, I went to him and pressed two more melons on him.

I was in the truck getting my money bag when my brother stopped me. To this day, I can't decide whether he appealed to my senses or simply browbeat me into submission, but I zipped the bag up, packed up shop and went home.

I never saw the old starving man again. I looked several times around town, but nothing.

He didn't do or say anything dramatic or special. I don't know what his name was. We passed fewer than 20 words, total. Nevertheless, he made an impact on me. I'll never be able to wipe out what I felt that day.

I'm never down and out, because I've seen down and out.

I don't whine that things aren't fair, because I know they aren't fair, and I've got it better than a lot of others.

I always give something. I'm far from rich, but I can afford to give. It makes me feel good to know it actually helps.

I'm not really trying to defend my motivations. I just don't mind sharing my experience to explain. Whatever your motivation for giving is, it's the act that counts. You can sit there feeling sorry for someone for years and if you DO nothing for them then that is the net total of what you've done for them: nothing. If you don't really give a da[i][/i]mn and send off a 10k check just because it's tax deductible, you still gave 10k.

shut the fu[/i]ck up, where in any communist ideology can you find anything that means the quality of life will be worse than modern day britain?

Quote:

IN the communistic system, the person washing dishes in a diner (ill use that example cus i dont think that would offend anyone) is goin to get the same slice of the pie as a doctor working 70 hours a week.

give me a fu[i]cking cite, just one



c'mon a cite, please



i stopped reading here, have fun, i hope you fu[i][/i]cking choke

Hey Drac,

I'm interested in some of the pro-communist information you mentioned. Point me to some of your sources.


I'm not asking for a working model, just the sources that make you think communism will work despite the nature of man. Should be good reading.

Human nature is the opiate of the masses.

they do if you have 3

First off Draco dragging you down would be like trying to get mud dirty. A pointless and stupid act. lets face it little boy your the bottom of the barrel as far as people go because you have these preset ideas that your little mind can't or won't think past. As for giving you some thing to chew on I asked you to show me one country that is presently using communism. Just one. You can't why because it dosen't work as a social reform asshole! I also never said commies suck, I wouldn't know that beacuse they aren't around long enough to find out if it works as a system or not! You are the only one I see sucking! You simply can't play with the older children and come up with a working society where Communism is the social norm. Why because it will never happen. Thank God that your not an American we have enough stupid little boys in this country right now we don't need an extra ugly stupid little worthless **** such as your self to help fill any space. Really crawl back up under mommys skirt and suck your thumb to keep that maw of yours shut! Also as one more side note I'm no better than any one. I don't judge myself or others that way. Its really sad that at barely 16 you have all these misconceptions about the world and barley the brain power to change your mind. I'm still waiting to hear about one country or even a communion that works. Lets face it they tried all this **** here in America back in the 60's and it didn't work then. Lots of "hippies" tried to live together and share everything ya know what always happened some one always ended up empty handed. There for no one lives like that any more. I realy can't wait for you to show me one country that imploys communism or maybe I'm "not coming up to your standards" so you won't answer my retort. Cop out answer ***shole!

EDIT:Once again my spelling sucks.

Edited, Thu Oct 21 15:59:34 2004 by jademage

First off Cuba is not using communism, Some may say that but still its a dictatorship. I ask that you save up money and see it first hand, then tell me diffrent. Yes I have been there and if it weren't for bribeing every other hand on my way to the airport I'm sure I would still be there. Ask any of the people who make rafts and try to get into America why they are leaving this great communism. Second just because we don't see something working dosen't mean its not. What I was stateing was that any time a country has tried communism, there have been mass social and political failures. How many times do you honestly have to stick you finger in a light socket before your realize that your getting shocked?? I can only hope that some day man kind its self will grow past the need for material things but I don't see it happening in my life time or my sons. This last is the reason why communism won't work any time soon. There will always be someone left with and empty stomach and empty hands. Thats life.

Ts, congrats to you. Keep up the good work.

I work in a hospital that has a clinic for the poor and uninsured. Each year at christmas they have a adopt a family program and departements in the hospital that take part are given a description of the family or families they will be adopting for the holiday season.

I always find that most people bring toys for the kids and clothes for the parents, but hardly ever any food, which is also something asked for on the list. I always bring canned goods, which in some ways makes me feel bad since it seems to make me cheap, but I figure the food is as welcome as a toy to a hungry child.

I also send my annual HSUS donation at this time of the year. HSUS stands for Human Society of the United States, which is a charity for animals, that also works to stop things like iron jaw trapping that still happens to this day by unscrupulous trappers . I know we all want to help our brothers and sisters, but also lets not forget those who in someways are even more helpless.