Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Guest Post

Thde following is a "reprint" from the previous post's comments section:

"Yep, we have 48 people dead in spectacular murders. So, it's on the news today, and the anti-gun crowd has new fodder. But murder and mayhem go on every day. It's mostly minorities blowing each other's hind ends off, so no one notices. There will be more robberies and burglaries too. So, let's blame inanimate pieces of metal and ignore the roots of the problem

These spectacular events are the outcome of people cracking under the weight of their reality diverging so dramatically from the expectations that have been set and reinforced by political promises, the media and the entertainment industry. We'll probably see more of these events. Statistically, they are in the noise. The bigger problem is that our society has generated a huge underclass that contains tens of millions of men who have no responsibility. Not for careers, or wives or children or anything that satisfies the male ego and makes them feel worthwhile and important. This is an extremely dangerous and unnatural condition. It has been spawned by a social welfare system that provides cash for bad social behavior instead of opportunity for honest work in exchange for a decent living. Even for the working poor, the life you get is totally inadequate compared to "real life" on TV. Yet, we lay off government workers and increase welfare programs. Go figure. It is a time bomb waiting to explode."

Comment from long time AEC reader "Coal Guy".

Every now and then someone says something so politically incorrect and so absolutely on the money it worth repeating. This is one of those.

Of course, though I have never met "Coal Guy", my bet is he has the benefit of experience (I'd be willing to stake my life he is over 45 years old), has had some kids, and has been around the block a few times. I don't care how much horsepower you have under your cranium... you just don't know at 25 what you know at 50. Of course some people get old and wise, while and others get old and mean, and still others just get old.

Mentatt (at) yahoo (d0t) com

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

>a social welfare system that provides cash for bad social behavior instead of opportunity for honest work in exchange for a decent living<

How about cash for bad social behavior at AIG, Enron, Citibank, Lehman, Goldman etc? How about cash for bad social behavior by the big agricultural outfits like ADM, Monsanto, factory farms etc. How about cash for the Congress-critters who seem to need endless amounts for causing more problems than they ever solve?

It ain't just about welfare queens anymore- and that was a pretty bogus issue in the first place when compared to corporate welfare.

Anonymous said...

Greg,

Thanks for posting this. And, I hope to continue to be politically incorrect. There are so many important subjects that can't be broached if we let political correctness limit us. How can problems be solved if no one is permitted to talk or even think about them? PC is no substitute for TRUTH.

Best Regards,

Coal Guy

Anonymous said...

Take a walk across South Central LA, or the South Side of Chicago, or Mattapan in Boston, or South Providence. Do it alone. Do it on foot. If you make it, tell me again that it's bogus. Look at the 15yr olds pushing baby carriages. Look at the men hanging around on the sidewalk with nothing to do. It's a crime and an abomination.

Look especially at those men. They have CHILDREN. Mostly by several women. They can't marry them all, and if they get an honest job, taxes and child support will take the lion's share of their pay. They can't reasonably take responsibility for their children if they wanted to. They are better off swinging a paint brush under the table or selling drugs, so that's what they do. It's an economic trap and they are STUCK!

And I'm not bitching about people trapped in that mess. They have my sympathy for the load of crap they and their children are given. I'm bitching about the Congress-critters that fund that horror with a big chunk of my paycheck and try to tell me that it's all good.

Regards,

Coal Guy

bureaucrat said...

Coal Guy, whom I've also never met, is treading into that realm known only as "old man's thinking." I'm 42, so I'm getting there myself. :)

However ...

It ain't guns
It ain't welfare
It ain't TV

He is right about what not having a decently-paying job can do to a guy, and all the pathologies that result from that. China provides us with usually damn good, cheap merchandise these days, but the wreckage to the U.S. factory system is near unforgivable. You can chase all the nonsense mentioned above, but I think the core problem is evident -- not enough good-paying jobs. Hopefully, peak oil will bring "globalization" to its knees, and we can start building stuff here again.

Anonymous said...

Hey Bureaucrat,

That's exactly my point. Please read my original post. It ain't guns, it ain't welfare, except to the extent it makes it economically advantageous for little girls to get knocked up, and the economic dis-incentives work. It is the lack of decent employment. It's unforgivable.

Regards,

Coal Guy

A Quaker in a Strange Land said...

To all:

Coal Guy is Brutal; and brutally honest.

To Anon the Corporation hater:

I hate corporations for much different reason - they are the perfect tax collection systems that fund (or enable) the very programs I think people are more addicted to than drugs or cheap oil.

Anonymous said...

thanks for the link...

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Sharon
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