[High Praise! to Seanmahair’s Weblog]
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I was listening to a radio talk show this evening as I was coming back from spending a few wonderful hours with some of the grandchildren. The host was trying to make a point about “welfare” and “obamacare” and the “dole mentality”. He asked the women if she had only a certain amount of money for groceries for the month and hot dog and steak were on sale which would she buy. She of course said hotdogs because that is what she could afford. He then asked her if someone else was paying for her groceries what would she buy and she said “the steak of course”. Of course? Really? The host also seemed to think this was a no brainer.
Just because someone else is paying for your groceries it’s perfectly OK to buy more expensive stuff? It’s appropriate to take advantage of someone who’s trying to help you? It alright to gouge someone who’s coming to your aid, who’s being generous with their surplus because “hey they have more than they need, I should have some too”?
For those who are confused let me clarify. It is NEVER OK to take advantage of someone. It is never right to gouge someone who’s trying to help you. It is never appropriate to take something from someone just because they have more than you do.
The lack of integrity, the lack of self respect, the lack of compassion that this outlines is stunning. We have lost our ability to think of others, to empathize, to understand. Some of us simply want more then they have and if they can’t get it legally and morally they’ll take it from everyone else.
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About four years ago, I watched this in action as I was buying a loaf of bread and a couple of pounds of hamburger. The lady in front of me complained loudly about the price of food in the market. She spent over five hundred dollars on Crab.
The point was-she paid for it all with Food Stamps.
Bacon for seanmahair!
Steak, wrapped in bacon, for Seamahair!
I hope seanmahair doesn’t live in NY City because steak, wrapped in bacon, is illegal there.
bacon for seanmahair…but only at his own expense.
Nailed it on that we no longer have empathy for others. People have just become extras in the movie of our lives.
Discount on-sale store-brand bacon all around!
Part of the problem is the distance between the taxpayer and the handout. It isn’t seen as money coming from people who work, it has become the Government’s money. So, I’m not stealing from actual people. The desensitization is the thing.
@9 I think you hit it on the head.
I agree entirely with Sean’s point. I’d also like to point out that this is an excellent example of how people respond to constraints and incentives. The free market functions to constrain things like this; other economic systems do not.
If someone else is paying, I’ll just get rice and beans.
Unless they’re paying to congratulate me or thank me for some reason. In that case, I’ll probably be tempted to get the steak, but feel too guilty for the steak and just get the hot dogs.
it’s a perfectly natural progression when you remove the shame of asking for charity by having the government steal it for you. It’s inevitable