“The whole British argument in the famine was that the poor are poor because of a character defect”

[kpete]

John Nichols: Ryan is a sorry son of Ireland

............His great-great-grandfather had fled to America. But the Republican congressman was very much in evidence, wagging his finger at the famished. His oft-stated “culture of dependency” is a safety net that becomes a lazy-day hammock. But it was also England’s excuse for lethal negligence…

The Irish historian John Kelly, who wrote a book on the great famine, was the first to pick up on these echoes of the past during the 2012 presidential campaign. “Ryan’s high-profile economic philosophy,” he wrote then, “is the very same one that hurt, not helped, his forebears during the famine — and hurt them badly.”…

You never hear Ryan make character judgments about generations of wealthy who live off their inheritance, or farmers who get paid not to grow anything. Nor, for that matter, does he target plutocrats like Romney who might be lulled into not taking risks because they pay an absurdly low tax rate simply by moving money around. Dependency is all one-way.

“The whole British argument in the famine was that the poor are poor because of a character defect,” said Christine Kinealy, a professor of Irish studies and director of Ireland’s Great Hunger Institute at Quinnipiac University. “It’s a dangerous, meanspirited and tired argument.”…


http://host.madison.com/news/opinion/column/john_nichols/john-nichols-ryan-is-a-sorry-son-of-ireland/article_8ec8a43d-538f-5454-9c4d-e0b1a8d7b097.html

[nyquil_man]

1. It's hardly surprising that he knows nothing about history.

On top of that, his devotion to Ayn Rand suggests that he views himself as a superior being. What humble person would wade through that tripe and think, "Ah, this is the key"?

He's an arrogant elitist and should be tagged as such.

[grasswire]

2. Calvinism

The notion that there are worthy poor and unworthy poor, and it is the duty of charitable people to keep aid from the "unworthy".

This has sure been a sore on the human race. Calvinism.

[tclambert]

4. It's just an excuse to rationalize their lack of charity.

I've heard so many say they didn't want to give a homeless person a handout because they might spend it on drugs. Yeah, he might. But you know what else he might spend it on? FOOD!

[Octafish]

3. Ryan got it from his hero, Pruneface I.

Back in '84.

[Hekate]

5. Ryan is such an ass nt

[Cha]

6. We know Ryan doesn't learn from history.. long ago or last week..

it's hard to learn anything of value when he has his 'ead up his own arse.