Just because he's a 4 on the Butch/Femme scale doesn't mean he's into bondage and/or pain.

Formo - I've seen it first hand. Knew a lot of foreigners who came here from REAL poverty and worked their way into the middle class.

I was a foreign exchange student in one 3rd world country and spent a month and a half in another. Got to see real poverty. Got to see leprosy. Got to see people who really had nothing to eat.

The poor here don't starve. You have access to free food, free housing, etc. Yes, you do. People who think you don't are wrong. I've taken advantage of some poor people benefits before. I'm not ashamed to admit it. I love this country, and now that I'm well off, I NEVER cheat on taxes and have more than made up for what I took.

You have opportunity here. As I said before, my condolences for those in bad health as that's a genuine excuse but if you're healthy, you don't get an excuse.

We take so much for granted here. Try living without indoor plumbing for instance. I can tell you, it's not fun, and I got very sick to the point I lost a lot of weight. Always happy to be back in America where we're relatively rich, even those of us that are "struggling."

So yes, I'm agreeing with you Formo. This land is golden with opportunities, even today.

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Mass, has the political left ever considered something other than money as a solution to social problems and education. I mean, all you want is more...so tell me....how much is enough?

A little story about the "poor" Section 8 recipient the county dumped 8 feet away from me. Four kids by three sperm donors and an ever-changing array of cousins and aunts moving in and out of the place. Satelite TV and internet in the house, each kid decked in the most recent shoes and athletic gear, all had cell phones, and a meat truck stopped by once a month to drop off a box of steaks the size of a beer cooler. Bitch would literally brag to me how she worked the system and figures she pulled in $36,000 - $38,000 per year...tax free. That is about $50,000 salary for you and me from our efforts and industriousness.

Tell me, how is that right? I understand that many people need assistance to overcome unfortunate circumstances, but if we are honest with ourselves, many more do not, and are simply lazy, the products of shitting down their legs repeatedly with bad decision making, or both.

Compassion has its limits, and more harm has been done in the name of compassion than has been done as the result of willful intent. We have turned an ever increasing percentage of our population into shackle-less slaves to the state because of their dependency to the state and incentivized sloth. Those of us who work and pay for it are slaves of a different sort when taxation is excessive and punitive.

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this has turned into a very interesting discussion.
i watched it first hand with my family - the american dream.
and we would trade every bit of it to have my dad back with us.
yes, the money makes life easier but it's not everything.
the best lesson i learned from my parents is the true value of money. it's nice to know that i could go out & buy a new car, a new house, new clothes, etc...but i don't do it. cuz my parents didn't & i'm sure as hell not gonna start being something i'm not. i'm just a country girl.
money doesn't define me as a person so why should NOT having money define anyone else?

One thing that I learned in life is that the only 2 things that really matter are your health and your loved ones. Neither are replaceable.

Money, is replaceable.

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Heh. I'm not saying they deserve it more. It's just sad that "The American Dream" has become an excuse to condemn those who have not risen up to success. We value the myth of capitalism more than we do humanity. If that makes me a hippie commie, so be it.

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