When people are broke

[sandnsea]

and know they will never not be broke - you might get your self worth from:

Religion and being a godly person.

Being self-reliant, able to protect yourself, hunt, fish, farm, build.

Being loyal to your country, serving in the military, waving the flag.

If you don't make money and consumption the basis for your self-worth, you might value:

Being a better person, paying it forward, random acts of kindness.

Being part of the village, volunteering, lending your skills.

Voting, opposing war, saving the planet.

How can people who basically believe the same things - end up so far apart from each other?

[blm]

1. Well said.

And I thank you for saying it.

[sandnsea]

8. *sigh*

Thanks. I guess it's more fun for most to ridicule than try to understand. I continue to be baffled by humans. It's not that tough to put yourself in somebody else's shoes and then put the common good first. Why are so few willing to actually do the work - when everybody acknowledges the work needs to be done.

[LisaM]

2. Or they might turn to crime.

In all fairness, ask yourself what would have happened had HILLARY said this:


"People in the inner city who know that they face living in a bad neighborhood, face a situation where only 25% of kids graduate from high school, who are afraid to walk out of their door, well, they're bitter. So they cling to their meth, their crime, their teen pregnancies, and their gangs".

The problem I have with Obama's remarks is that he sounded (to me) as if clinging to religion was the same as clinging to a gang, as if there was something unsavory about it. Had Hillary made the same comments about people in Philadelphia, for example, there would have been an enormous backlash and she would have been accused of being racist (again, as if that accusation hasn't been made often enough). Of course, she didn't say those things, and wouldn't say those things.

[sandnsea]

3. I'm talking about the flag pin lady n/t

[izquierdista]

4. Big difference

If there are 30 obnoxious people clinging together, they are a gang.

If there are 300 obnoxious people living together with unusual sexual practices, they are a cult.

If there are 1 billion people all over the world who listen to advice of pedophiles and watch an old man in a white dress on TV, they are people of faith and a major religion.

[kid a]

5. that's not a fair generalization and a huge broad stroke characterization.

99% of that billion are law abiding, kind people just living their daily lives and having faith.

[LisaM]

7. And they don't all live in small towns either, so that's a false comparison.

In fact, I am from a small town, and there were almost no Catholics. Our family was one of the few. I can tick off the other families on my hand.


My point was that people turn to things when they are in dire economic straits, but religion isn't usually the one that comes to mind, and Obama's comments made it seem that poor people in small towns use it as a crutch.

[kid a]

6. Yep..Sometimes it's the politicians and media that divide us - good post!