The Entitlement Mentality

[darb72]

I guess it is just coincidence that everytime conservatives remark on negative qualities of the welfare state, they show minorities ranting incoherently. It is an artifact from the 60's and the Republican southern strategy. Diminsh the value of the Democrat initiatives of working from the bottom up by convincing the white majority that Democrats only want transfer white wealth (and their women haha) to blacks.

I've been dying for someone to say this.

During the 60s, Alabama voted Democrat. Wallace was a Democrat. But hey, don't let the truth hinder what I'm sure will be an entertaining rant.

To simply tell impoverished people to go get a job is as insensitive as telling a depressed person to just get up and be happy.

So you're saying that woman can't help being poor? And yet you call me a racist? Interesting.

[NCRAVEN]

I guess it is just coincidence that everytime conservatives remark on negative qualities of the welfare state, they show minorities ranting incoherently. It is an artifact from the 60's and the Republican southern strategy. Diminsh the value of the Democrat initiatives of working from the bottom up by convincing the white majority that Democrats only want transfer white wealth (and their women haha) to blacks.

Hey Asshole, I came across that video, I didn't go out to Google and type in "minority with 15 kids and entitlement mentality", stop looking through the word with your race baiting glasses will ya?

Oh and thanks for continuing to show where the real racism lies, Galen.

[HoustonRaven]

Galen is right on one level. It isn't her fault.

I feel sad for her, honestly. How can you blame her? She's been brought up in a system where the government tells you that every need will be given to you. She's a product of a system where twice a month, you get money for doing nothing. She's symptomatic of a system that is on the verge of failing.

She's a mother who is concerned about her kids well being. She's a mother who is now realizing the lies that she has been told by a government that has been dominant in inner city politics for 4 decades.

Yes, she bears some responsibility but only a little, given that she has been sold a bill of goods by the Democrat party and it's given way for her to make very poor decisions.

[Sirdowski]

Galen is right on one level. It isn't her fault.

I feel sad for her, honestly. How can you blame her? She's been brought up in a system where the government tells you that every need will be given to you. She's a product of a system where twice a month, you get money for doing nothing. She's symptomatic of a system that is on the verge of failing.

She's a mother who is concerned about her kids well being. She's a mother who is now realizing the lies that she has been told by a government that has been dominant in inner city politics for 4 decades.

Yes, she bears some responsibility but only a little, given that she has been sold a bill of goods by the Democrat party and it's given way for her to make very poor decisions.

Well said. To be considered racist for wanting to destroy this system that negatively effects all parties involved with its complete lack of prudence is beyond ignorant.

[Galen Sevinne]

Galen is right on one level. It isn't her fault.

I feel sad for her, honestly. How can you blame her? She's been brought up in a system where the government tells you that every need will be given to you. She's a product of a system where twice a month, you get money for doing nothing.

So we agree that it is not her fault, that she is symptomatic of a system gone awry.

1. Your take on the systemic problem is one of a political ideology that encourages people not to work because if they choose not to work, they will be taken care of by that system anyway.

2. My take on the systemic problem is a system embedded with low expectations for minority children (or as you unwittingly defended as "soft bigotry") that then leads to less opportunity. This dynamic becomes a generational pattern if unbroken and cements poverty in some minority communities.

You blame government and I blame society so which one is most accurate?

I will ask you if it is so obvious that if we choose not to work and can be taken care of, then why do you work and she doesn't?

[Galen Sevinne]

Well said. To be considered racist for wanting to destroy this system that negatively effects all parties involved with its complete lack of prudence is beyond ignorant.

I will ask you also, why do you work and she doesn't?

[NCRAVEN]

So we agree that it is not her fault, that she is symptomatic of a system gone awry.

1. Your take on the systemic problem is one of a political ideology that encourages people not to work because if they choose not to work, they will be taken care of by that system anyway.

2. My take on the systemic problem is a system embedded with low expectations for minority children (or as you unwittingly defended as "soft bigotry") that then leads to less opportunity. This dynamic becomes a generational pattern if unbroken and cements poverty in some minority communities.

You blame government and I blame society so which one is most accurate?

What came first the chicken or the egg, in other words, what came first the slackers then the government that takes care of them or the government that creates the slackers so they stay in power and thus creates more slackers.

I will ask you if it is so obvious that if we choose not to work and can be taken care of, then why do you work and she doesn't?

Seriously???

I am not sure how much the Government would give me of other peoples money but I am certain it is no where what I can go out and make on my own. Not only that, but I would feel like a HUGE low-life sitting on my ass taking from other people who choose to get up and work for their family.

[darb72]

So we're all in agreement that democrats are racist?

Good. Now on to the next argument.

[Galen Sevinne]

Seriously???

I am not sure how much the Government would give me of other peoples money but I am certain it is no where what I can go out and make on my own. Not only that, but I would feel like a HUGE low-life sitting on my ass taking from other people who choose to get up and work for their family.

No one else wants to answer the question about "why do you work since the government will support you if you don't"?

This is a common question that presenters ask when discussing how minorities growing up are subjected to low expectations from the day they are born.

The conversation goes like this everytime (as you can see in NC's answer and would have been consistent in others if they followed the exercise).


Audience: If the liberals didn't create the "nanny-state" then these folks wouldn't choose to not work but would have to work!

Presenter: Why do you work then?

Audience: Ahhh...duhhhh...because I can make more and live better by working! haha showed you!

Presenter: Really? So from where did you get your high expectations?


At about this point, some in the room always start to get it. They get it that those coming from privilege had maybe two parents that had successful experiences in school and knew how to navigate the school environment, had teachers that expected them to not only be quiet in class but also to turn their work in and complete all assignments, had neighbors and others in the community that also modeled this pro-academic behavior.

Research shows that african-american students disproportionately receive referrals in greater numbers than whites. Studies have demonstrated white teachers expect less in minority students than in white students. The cummulative effect of this over a child's life in school and a family's life over the generations is immense.

These low expectations are the critical reason why one-third of all American fourth-graders – and half of black and Latino fourth-grade students – read Below Basic proficiency. It is why boys of all racial, ethnic and economic backgrounds trail their female peers in reading and in graduating from high school. It is why ed schools do such a poor job of recruiting and training aspiring teachers – especially those heading for urban classrooms. Low expectations are why we have a dropout crisis and an education crisis today.

http://dropoutnation.net/2011/02/09/...-expectations/

http://www.americanprogress.org/issu...stlearning.pdf


To blame this woman's reaction on liberal government is not only a political artifact from the 1960's but it also serves to further segregate and compromise the minority population but neglecting to address the true genesis of this woman's and her community's unfortunate fate.

Heterogenous grouping in the classrooms is becoming the big push in public schools. Its taking a good idea, NCLB, and actually making it work. It is encountering a huge pushback by the modern day segregationalists though.

[darb72]

At about this point, some in the room always start to get it. They get it that those coming from privilege had maybe two parents that had successful experiences in school and knew how to navigate the school environment, had teachers that expected them to not only be quiet in class but also to turn their work in and complete all assignments, had neighbors and others in the community that also modeled this pro-academic behavior.

Really? You mean that a child learns what is expected of them from watching their parents and the other adults in their lives? Who'd have thunk it? You sir, have hit on an incontrivertable truth that has escaped Republican understanding for generations. You deserve a happy smiley.

:happyanim Galin!

In other words, no shit. That's what we've all been saying. You believe that giving them more money for failing is the answer while we think that people should be held accountable for their actions.

Let's take a second to look a little deeper into the cause and effect though, and see if we can't find a few reasons for such poor inner city teachers.

Lack of money. Alright, that's a reasonable argument. I believe that states should be spending X-amount on each student in public schools. Just to keep the math simple, we'll say 10 dollars (obviously in order to get the correct amount it would be 100 times that but my degrees are in English, not Math). School A has 25 children. School B has 30 children. Under my idea, school A would receive 250 dollars while school B would receive 300 dollars.

Racism. I've never seen this in the schools I attended that had black students but to be fair they were in middle class sections of Montgomery. The classes were, roughly, 50-50 white and black. Of course, we also had a large number of black teachers. I'm not ignorant enough to suggest that racism doesn't occur with teachers, but I haven't seen it.

Poor teaching. Uh-oh, I think we have our first example of liberals screwing the system up. Thanks to unions, poor teachers cannot be fired if they have tenure. That just compounds the problem of low expectations with terrible teaching.

Expectations. I expect everyone, regardless of color, to succeed on their own merits. You, for some reason, consider this racism.

[Greg]

I don't know Darb...maybe me stealing it from your pocket?

I think the intelligent question you are trying to ask if I take the time to work through your reactive anger is:

Why Galen do you think everyone should have equal opportunity when nature has always favored the strong survive or at least prosper?

If you ask your question like that it opens up a philosphical debate.

When you ask low-brow questions like why do I think it is okay to steal your money in a condescending manner it just makes me question your ability to engage in anything worthwhile here.

She has had opportunity, that is the nature of capitalism, everbody has opportunity. She just doesn't take advantage of it because, as noted, she has been conditioned not to. People like you tell her she can't because of this, that, or the other.

And note I did not use EQUAL in front of opportunity. You probably picked it up anyway. Sorry, life is not EQUAL. Some people are smarter, some stronger, some have families that teach them ambition, some teach them dependency on the government. You can not fix that, especially with more of your dependency programs.

Big, liberal government is to blame for this.

Just check these stats and get back to me. Black nuclear families (and white) before The Great Sociey and after. Black children (and white) children born in and out of wedlock before the Great Society and after.

Liberalism has caused families to fall apart because government is the bread winner if families where the man runs off. Men don't have to take responsibility because the government will.

[WasabiVegan]

Have you heard any of Obama's speeches? Or any of his class warfare rhetoric?

I know exactly where she gets the mentality -- 40+ years of the Democrat montra that it's the other guys fault.

Thomas Sowell has written quite a few books on the topic. Great reading.

Yeah the story is insane.