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What is it with these people?

Greenbeard

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Maybe this isn't a political issue per se but it's triggered by a Politico article so c'est la vie:

A Che shirt on a college campus might not stick out for most people, but for Willis, 36, it touched a nerve. It was just the latest confirmation of his worry that more young people today are embracing socialism, even Marxism, instead of American capitalism. “Some of these kids have no real desire to build something on their own,” says Willis, who works for a firm founded by his father. “As long as these kids get something for free and they get taken care of, they’re happy. What they don’t know is that the world that works that way—the socialist world—leads to extreme poverty and eventually death.”

A college kid wearing a Che shirt is probably a douchebag. An adult who works for daddy's company lecturing that kid about "getting something for free" is an even bigger douchebag.

This reminded me of a Business Insider article from last year about a woman's amazing feat in paying down substantial student loans in only three years:

Horton and her boyfriend tied the knot soon after the move. Horton's mother gave the couple a condo that she had purchased at an auction for $13,000 as a wedding gift. It became crucial in wiping away the hefty student-loan tab.

Horton and her husband lived in the condo for three months, but then they decided to move in with her grandparents down the street and started renting out the condo to bring in extra income.
To anyone who feels overwhelmed by the prospect of taking on student loans — or paying back any debt they've incurred — Horton has a simple message: "I just want them to feel empowered that they can pay if off. If I can do it, anybody can."

If she can be gifted a second income, so can you!

I've seen so many articles with characters like this, all of them extremely lacking in self-awareness. What is it with these people not understanding what they've been given and how instrumental that gift has been to their success? And why do they find themselves so inspirational?
 
I recently met a 60ish yo woman ranting about how immigrants are lazy,no-good welfare reciipents who are taking our jobs. She has never worked, and has been living off of alimony for the last few years. Since the alimony will soon run out, she is going to sell the house she got in the divorce. By the time that money runs out, she will be eligible for SS
 
Maybe this isn't a political issue per se but it's triggered by a Politico article so c'est la vie:

A Che shirt on a college campus might not stick out for most people, but for Willis, 36, it touched a nerve. It was just the latest confirmation of his worry that more young people today are embracing socialism, even Marxism, instead of American capitalism. “Some of these kids have no real desire to build something on their own,” says Willis, who works for a firm founded by his father. “As long as these kids get something for free and they get taken care of, they’re happy. What they don’t know is that the world that works that way—the socialist world—leads to extreme poverty and eventually death.”


A college kid wearing a Che shirt is probably a douchebag. An adult who works for daddy's company lecturing that kid about "getting something for free" is an even bigger douchebag...

I've seen so many articles with characters like this, all of them extremely lacking in self-awareness. What is it with these people not understanding what they've been given and how instrumental that gift has been to their success? And why do they find themselves so inspirational?

I am only going to comment on this first point, because in the second instance I actually agree with you.

Since when did working for the family business equate to ne'er-do-well merely inheriting family wealth?

Once upon a time working in the family business to learn the ropes was a normal way of learning a trade. Dad was a carpenter, painter, baker, lawyer...then son (or daughter after Women's Liberation) worked in the business and carried on when Mom or Pops either retired or died.

Now, the mere fact this gentleman works in the business his dad founded is somehow equated the same as some woman "gifted" a condo she could rent out...both equally "ne'er-do-well's" with no room to talk? How do you know that this gentlemen didn't improve and surpass his dad making his mark in the family business?

Wow, way to paint with a broad brush! :roll:
 
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I am only going to comment on this first point, because in the second instance I actually agree with you.

Since when did working for the family business equate to ne'er-do-well merely inheriting family wealth?

Once upon a time working in the family business to learn the ropes was a normal way of learning a trade. Dad was a carpenter, painter, baker, lawyer...then son (or daughter after Women's Liberation) worked in the business and carried on when Mom or Pops either retired or died.

Now, the mere fact this gentleman works in the business his dad founded is the same as some woman "gifted" a condo she could rent out...both equally "ne'er-do-well's with no room to talk? Wow, way to paint with a broad brush! :roll:

The guy's quote is literally "Some of these kids have no real desire to build something on their own." A legacy lecturing others about the lack of initiative to build something on their own.
 
I am only going to comment on this first point, because in the second instance I actually agree with you.

Since when did working for the family business equate to ne'er-do-well merely inheriting family wealth?

Once upon a time working in the family business to learn the ropes was a normal way of learning a trade. Dad was a carpenter, painter, baker, lawyer...then son (or daughter after Women's Liberation) worked in the business and carried on when Mom or Pops either retired or died.

Now, the mere fact this gentleman works in the business his dad founded is the same as some woman "gifted" a condo she could rent out...both equally "ne'er-do-well's with no room to talk? Wow, way to paint with a broad brush! :roll:

Where did the op say anything about ne'er-do-well's?

Do you have an honest point to make?
 
......
I've seen so many articles with characters like this, all of them extremely lacking in self-awareness. What is it with these people not understanding what they've been given and how instrumental that gift has been to their success? And why do they find themselves so inspirational?

Have you ever read?:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middletown_studies#Overview_of_Middletown_in_Transition_[1935]
......
Also, the second study is not as neutral as the first.[citation needed] The authors openly attack the "business class" and cite theorists such as Thorstein Veblen. They criticize the consumerism displayed by the citizens. They end on a strongly negative note, fearing that a dictator such as Huey Long or Adolf Hitler could conceivably draw support from such a population.

[h=1]Back to Middletown: Three Generations of Sociological Reflections[/h]By Rita Caccamo
MuncieLyndAdvertising.jpg

https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/30/opinion/30iht-edcarroll.4.6900205.html
The peril of valuing celebrity over history

By JAMES CARROLL JULY 30, 2007

...Sinclair Lewis, for his part, showed how the simultaneously banalizing methods of capitalist enterprise (false advertising, consumerism, pieties of affluence, amoral bureaucracy) are exactly what that enterprise created to keep from being criticized. ..

Gen. Joseph F. Carroll Dies at 80; Led Defense Intelligence Agency ...

https://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/24/...es-at-80-led-defense-intelligence-agency.html
Jan 24, 1991 - Gen. Joseph F. Carroll, retired, the first head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, died on Sunday at a nursing home in Alexandria, Va. He was 80 years ... P.R.; James, a writer and novelist in Boston
 
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Maybe this isn't a political issue per se but it's triggered by a Politico article so c'est la vie:



A college kid wearing a Che shirt is probably a douchebag. An adult who works for daddy's company lecturing that kid about "getting something for free" is an even bigger douchebag.

This reminded me of a Business Insider article from last year about a woman's amazing feat in paying down substantial student loans in only three years:




If she can be gifted a second income, so can you!

I've seen so many articles with characters like this, all of them extremely lacking in self-awareness. What is it with these people not understanding what they've been given and how instrumental that gift has been to their success? And why do they find themselves so inspirational?

My "favorite" millennial has one of these "hard luck" stories. Mom and dad paid for his college, bought him a car as a graduation gift and handed him the down payment for his house....not to mention, they help him make payments during the months he falls short (so I have heard).

Of course, he's a Libertarian. He believes everyone should work for what they have. Of course he does.
 
I am only going to comment on this first point, because in the second instance I actually agree with you.

Since when did working for the family business equate to ne'er-do-well merely inheriting family wealth?

Once upon a time working in the family business to learn the ropes was a normal way of learning a trade. Dad was a carpenter, painter, baker, lawyer...then son (or daughter after Women's Liberation) worked in the business and carried on when Mom or Pops either retired or died.

Now, the mere fact this gentleman works in the business his dad founded is somehow equated the same as some woman "gifted" a condo she could rent out...both equally "ne'er-do-well's" with no room to talk? How do you know that this gentlemen didn't improve and surpass his dad making his mark in the family business?

Wow, way to paint with a broad brush! :roll:

That has been the narrative for a while now.

If you inherit anything you are no good.

Those same people say that blacks have no inherited generational wealth, so they can't do anything for themselves.

You can't have it both ways.
 
That has been the narrative for a while now.

If you inherit anything you are no good.

Those same people say that blacks have no inherited generational wealth, so they can't do anything for themselves.

You can't have it both ways.

tumblr_m325lrnSfr1qf3hns.jpg
 
The guy's quote is literally "Some of these kids have no real desire to build something on their own." A legacy lecturing others about the lack of initiative to build something on their own.

Is that statement untrue?
 
Is that statement untrue?

Perhaps the OP somehow wasn't clear. It's about people are born on third base and go through life thinking they hit a triple--and who then feel compelled to hit the lecture circuit about it.

Having a leg up isn't the problem. The disturbing lack of self-awareness and self reflection from certain people is.
 
Perhaps the OP somehow wasn't clear. It's about people are born on third base and go through life thinking they hit a triple--and who then feel compelled to hit the lecture circuit about it.

Having a leg up isn't the problem. The disturbing lack of self-awareness and self reflection from certain people is.

well, Trump's dad gave him a small loan and look what he did with it ;)
 
Perhaps the OP somehow wasn't clear. It's about people are born on third base and go through life thinking they hit a triple--and who then feel compelled to hit the lecture circuit about it.

Having a leg up isn't the problem. The disturbing lack of self-awareness and self reflection from certain people is.

I merely asked a question. I don't think anyone deserves anything. I grew up poor. I worked on farms and ranches when I was 13. I had a full time job and went to high school. I never had it easy. I never deserved to have it easy. I worked for what I got. I find it hard to have sympathy for anyone that thinks they deserve anything. You don't know how hard that guy worked for his father's firm. You have no idea whether it was hard or easy. You just assume it's easy. You make some assumptions here. Based on your tendency to jump to conclusions without any real facts I would say you have a disturbing lack of self-awareness and self reflection.
 
You just assume it's easy.

Getting handed a job by dad is indeed easy. If you do a great job and run with it, kudos. Doesn't change my point, particularly when one feels compelled to whine about how others have "no real desire to build something on their own."
 
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