Poverty isn't a virtue.
Having virtues is a virtue. Growing out of poverty and putting your life together is worthy of note, but can be done through evil action. If you escape poverty by enslaving your fellow man, be it to drugs, gangs, debt, or whatever; you suck.
Being disadvantaged doesn't award you a pass on morality. Oh, but you had to steal bread to feed your family? Bullshit. You're bad with money and you don't know how to work. I understand there are many different diseases, disabilities, and mental stresses that compound the issue. I'm very aware of the history of racial oppression affecting many groups, and that evil men get in power. This does not change the principle of hard work and sacrifice.
Now maybe you're thinking "Hold on a minute, Zadok. You speak from a place of privilege! When you're black or native the cops hate you and the system is built against you."
Let's just say that's true; Telling young people that they cannot ever truly succeed because the system will always keep them down is a great way to damn them into a life of crime, misery, and perpetual ignorance. You're basically telling these people that they can't win. You are setting them up for failure. Fuck you, you fucking fuck.
If you don't teach your kid how to work, you're teaching them to steal. A lack of skills is bad. It may not be your fault that you don't have skills - you may not have parents, you may have been raised by the system, but you still have a choice of taking responsibility or not.
I've said this before; laying blame or internalizing guilt does ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to fix the problem at hand. Taking responsibility does not make 'it' your fault. It just means that you are doing something about 'it'.
There is racism. There are racist people in authority. It sucks, there's no doubt. But to say that our whole system is entirely racist is not just unfair, it's untrue. There is more than one group with power and influence, and every community has a voice.
Problem is, in our current social climate being a victim is romanticized. It's not romantic. It's shit. Kids who are well to do and come from good homes feel as though they aren't bad ass because they haven't had to struggle. It's an understandable lack of pride. It's difficult to have any self esteem when you haven't ever been challenged, and you've been fortunate enough to have privileges others didn't. But facts don't respect feelings. If you have been given much, much is expected of you. Fact is, that kind of pressure destroys those who are unequipped to deal with it.
Some of the most amazing people I know are victims who have overcome their suffering. They don't tell you they're victims, but you'll usually learn it if you spend enough time with them. Watching the way in which they help to heal others, the compassion they understand, and the discipline they deem necessary are all very telling character traits.
I have a lot of privilege, but it's not because I'm white or wealthy. It's because my parents knew how to love me, how to discipline me, and how to spend time developing me. They never told me that I couldn't succeed. Instead they blessed my siblings and I every week, praised us for our efforts, and provided support and encouragement - even if they didn't like what we were doing with the skills they'd imparted on us.
It's got nothing to do with race or poverty.
It has everything to do with their ideas and convictions.
Having virtues is a virtue. Growing out of poverty and putting your life together is worthy of note, but can be done through evil action. If you escape poverty by enslaving your fellow man, be it to drugs, gangs, debt, or whatever; you suck.
Being disadvantaged doesn't award you a pass on morality. Oh, but you had to steal bread to feed your family? Bullshit. You're bad with money and you don't know how to work. I understand there are many different diseases, disabilities, and mental stresses that compound the issue. I'm very aware of the history of racial oppression affecting many groups, and that evil men get in power. This does not change the principle of hard work and sacrifice.
Now maybe you're thinking "Hold on a minute, Zadok. You speak from a place of privilege! When you're black or native the cops hate you and the system is built against you."
Let's just say that's true; Telling young people that they cannot ever truly succeed because the system will always keep them down is a great way to damn them into a life of crime, misery, and perpetual ignorance. You're basically telling these people that they can't win. You are setting them up for failure. Fuck you, you fucking fuck.
If you don't teach your kid how to work, you're teaching them to steal. A lack of skills is bad. It may not be your fault that you don't have skills - you may not have parents, you may have been raised by the system, but you still have a choice of taking responsibility or not.
I've said this before; laying blame or internalizing guilt does ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to fix the problem at hand. Taking responsibility does not make 'it' your fault. It just means that you are doing something about 'it'.
There is racism. There are racist people in authority. It sucks, there's no doubt. But to say that our whole system is entirely racist is not just unfair, it's untrue. There is more than one group with power and influence, and every community has a voice.
Problem is, in our current social climate being a victim is romanticized. It's not romantic. It's shit. Kids who are well to do and come from good homes feel as though they aren't bad ass because they haven't had to struggle. It's an understandable lack of pride. It's difficult to have any self esteem when you haven't ever been challenged, and you've been fortunate enough to have privileges others didn't. But facts don't respect feelings. If you have been given much, much is expected of you. Fact is, that kind of pressure destroys those who are unequipped to deal with it.
Some of the most amazing people I know are victims who have overcome their suffering. They don't tell you they're victims, but you'll usually learn it if you spend enough time with them. Watching the way in which they help to heal others, the compassion they understand, and the discipline they deem necessary are all very telling character traits.
I have a lot of privilege, but it's not because I'm white or wealthy. It's because my parents knew how to love me, how to discipline me, and how to spend time developing me. They never told me that I couldn't succeed. Instead they blessed my siblings and I every week, praised us for our efforts, and provided support and encouragement - even if they didn't like what we were doing with the skills they'd imparted on us.
It's got nothing to do with race or poverty.
It has everything to do with their ideas and convictions.
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