Thread: Here's a great quote: "You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity"

Give a man a fish and he will eat it

Teach a man how to fish, and later on, he will build a cannery.

That is one way to say: dont give away free money, there will be then no motivation. We are all basically lazy.

....but you can set up programs that increase opportunities.

Ambition is a personal pursuit that heavily determines your prosperity. However, there are other things in life that individuals have less control over with which government can aid people.

All civilized societies have some foundation of social programs not for the purpose of making everyone rich but to minimize suffering.

Originally Posted by TSGracchus

I think that the idea that the wealthy are the source of productivity is a myth.



I also think that you have no idea what the word "American" really means.

And finally, I think you have no problem with redistribution of wealth as long as it happens upwards instead of downward, which is, frankly, disgusting.

I agree. There are hundreds of threads like this, but never any about how wealth is given to wealthy people. The people that advocate that the rich should be richer would soon be snubbed trying to rub elbows with American elites.

Originally Posted by Moonglow

I agree. There are hundreds of threads like this, but never any about how wealth is given to wealthy people. The people that advocate that the rich should be richer would soon be snubbed trying to rub elbows with American elites.

I don't know a single person that says the rich should be richer. I think people are saying that people should have a right to their property. What they do with it and how much they accumulate of it is on them and no one else.

Originally Posted by Occam's Razor

....but you can set up programs that increase opportunities.

Ambition is a personal pursuit that heavily determines your prosperity. However, there are other things in life that individuals have less control over with which government can aid people.

All civilized societies have some foundation of social programs not for the purpose of making everyone rich but to minimize suffering.

Sounds like you are promoting socialism, subsidize the lazy:

Pull yourself up by the bootstraps, stop drinking

We filthy rich are not dirty. We just:rolleyes: play in oil.

You definatly can't legislate the poor into prosperity... But nobody is trying to do that.

It is definatly possible to pass legislation to eliminate the symptomes of extreme poverty.

Why should it be reasobable to leave citizens without a place to life, sickness, less education => without the ability to contribute ?

There will always be poor and rich. And having a tiny apartment, food and health won't kill any incentive to leave poverty. But having an adress, health, suitable clothing, an education and perhaps support fo moving to a more prosperous region is the only way somebody can apply for a job and get an oportunity to work.

I would actually argue that it is in many ways beneficial for society to eliminate those extreme symptomes of poverty.

It definalty makes great ecconomic sense to spend an average of 133.000$ of taxpayer money for reaching a highschool degree and give a damn about that investment afterwards.

Besides, it is totally possible to support those willing to work and not supporting those that aren't even trying... I doubt that there are many of those though.

Edit:
In Germany the basic welfare (including Healthcare, living, food, training ... ) for unemployed and their families costs an average of 17.000€ for every unemployed.

Covering the 14.5 million Americans with the same kind of coverage should therby cost about $330 billion Dollar.
Considering that the US was already spending $360 Billion in 2009, I would argue that "Zhe Amerikans are just not very efficent!"

Originally Posted by Occam's Razor

....but you can set up programs that increase opportunities.

Ambition is a personal pursuit that heavily determines your prosperity. However, there are other things in life that individuals have less control over with which government can aid people.

All civilized societies have some foundation of social programs not for the purpose of making everyone rich but to minimize suffering.

Yes! However you did say in civilized societies ...

Under capitalism man exploits man; under socialism the reverse is true.
-Polish proverb

Capitalism has destroyed our belief in any effective power but that of self interest backed by force.
-George Bernard Shaw

Capitalism is the astounding belief that the most wickedest of men will do the most wickedest of things for the greatest good of everyone.
-John Maynard Keynes

Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration & exhaustion. I myself prefer to laugh, since there's less cleaning up to do afterward.
KV

Originally Posted by PerryPierce(PP)

Give a man a fish and he will eat it

Teach a man how to fish, and later on, he will build a cannery.

That is one way to say: dont give away free money, there will be then no motivation. We are all basically lazy.

That line of reasoning may not be valid in money based markets, since the invention of money. How does teaching a man to fish teach money management principles? Having to use money on a consistent basis makes learning money management something that can be acquired through life experience in any capital based economy.

Originally Posted by Oreo

"You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity".

You can legislate the prosperous into poverty.

Kramer

The political left has long "backed" the poor, the blacks, the Hispanics and the Muslims.

It is not because of compassion(totally phony), but their political agenda is to increase and maintain the number of Dems.

Thus their "support " of the poor with give aways, stiffles motivation to improve ones-self

and keeps them poor and keeps them Dems

That is the source of all that compassion!,IMO.

Originally Posted by kramer

You can legislate the prosperous into poverty.

Kramer

How does that provide for the general welfare and common defense?

If you can legislate a wholesale distribution of wealth that turns the rich into the super rich and the super rich into the filthy rich like we've seen over the last decade or so, than why can't we legislate poor people into prosperity?

What a stupid quote. Of course we can.

Originally Posted by Jason Marcel

If you can legislate a wholesale distribution of wealth that turns the rich into the super rich and the super rich into the filthy rich like we've seen over the last decade or so, than why can't we legislate poor people into prosperity?

What a stupid quote. Of course we can.

I've posted sources for this on here before. It's been a while, so I doubt I can find it.

Whether people can be legislated out of poverty depends on the type of poverty they are in, situational or generational.

http://www.ware.k12.ga.us/superinten...%20Poverty.pdf

This isn't the best out there but it does give the definitions. The thinking about money is different between the classes as well. Wealthy people believe that money is to be invested. Middle class people believe that money is to be managed. Poor people, particularly your generational poor, believe that money is to be shared with their family and friends and spent because it doesn't matter as they believe they will never get out of their circumstances anyway.