"FOR THE POOR YE SHALL HAVE WITH YOU ALWAYS..."

Quick, who said that quote above? What, you say? Jesus? Yes! You're our winner today!

I know, somebody (forget who, I have a few critics) a post or so back got his undies in a bundy because we Grand Forkers are blogging about each other too much, but Peder Rice went and got the Good Ol' Boy riled up again. In his new blog, which by the way looks great : http://progressivepalette.blogspot.com/ he says we Americans make it too hard for the poor to get rich. Being the defender of capitalism that I am (where the heck is my cape? Lois! where's my cape?!) I have to say something about that. But first go read his post. Go on, I'll wait.

You back now? Great.

We were not what anyone could consider well to do, growing up on a farm, so I hope that gives me some street cred here. My Dad always told me, "There's no shame in being poor, son, it's just damn unhandy".

Having said that, Peder, I must say that you lump a lot of things together there alongside being poor. Domestic abuse, wrong skin color, environment, depression, drug abuse, all seem to occupy the same place when you speak of being poor. And although all CAN be mitigating factors, many many people rise above those same obstacles to succeed here in our United States. Indeed, in many of those people, those factors drive them to escape the poverty and wasted lives they see around them. Do you KNOW this because you are/were poor, or do you THINK this because you watch "Cops" and read a lot? Don't rich people drink, abuse their wife/kids, get addicted to drugs? How does that affect them?

Yes, you may have heard of a "rich Republican" saying those things; my understanding is that Ronald Reagan once said the poor are that way because they want to be. And I'd say as usual, he was pretty much on the money. I would dare say that you are also as likely to hear a Democrat express his "bigotry of low expectations" in the form of support for an entitlement or some affirmative action program. Now in the end, which is worse? To criticize someone for their truly bad choices-i.e. having too many babies, not having/ holding a job, or for having addictions? Or to in effect say, "You're too stupid/lazy/dark-skinned to succeed, so we'll just give you a leg up on everyone else? I wouldn't mind being told I was doing something wrong, but I would mind being insulted the other way.

As far as growing up in a bad environment, around drugs, etc.. that would tend to establish the possibility of a bad attitude toward the world, yes. But when a person reaches the age of majority, society cannot let those excuses stand any longer. There comes a time when an adult has to answer in some way for his actions. To stomp your foot and say you can't succeed because society won't let you doesn't cut it. You are an adult now, like it or not. No one else is accountable for you but you.

As far as your contention that the United States is a bad place to be poor, I'm sure that literally billions of people would disagree, if they could just get here. Opportunities still abound here in this day and age. To treat life as a zero sum game is to forever limit yourself. You may not end up Bill Gates or Warren Buffet, but neither will five billion other people. Get over it.

Having been less than well to do at times in my life, and lived and played and worked among people of similar background, I think I can say all this with some assurance. People are not necessarily looked down upon because they are poor in material things. If they are "looked down upon" it may more likely be because they ARE engaged in destructive behaviour, well past a time in life when they can be excused for it. I can guarantee you that if people put that behaviour behind, they can begin to climb out of poverty. I did.

If the first generation doesn't make it to the Hamptons, well, perhaps the groundwork can be laid for the next to do so. People DO live vicariously through their children, and want better for them, whether that's always evident or not.

Well, there's more, but that's long enough. Now I'll stand here and take a few bullets for conservatism........