BrooksBearLives said:
ShooterTX said:
BrooksBearLives said:
ShooterTX said:
BrooksBearLives said:
ShooterTX said:
Waco1947 said:
curtpenn said:
Waco1947 said:
Birth place and to whom matters. Not a one of us chose our parents or birthplace.
Your incessant victimhood wore quite thin a very long time ago. Pathetic, really.
I am not claiming victimhood. It is a damn fact. Who your parents and where you are born tremendously impacts your life.
I was born white in Waco. I am not a victim. I benefitted from my birth place, date and parents.
It is amazing how you turn something good (parents who made good choices) into something bad (priviledge). Why not advocate for more positive parenting and more solid choices?? Rather than advocate for punishing those who benefit from hard work and good choices.
Sick
But that's the point. This system doesn't reward good choices. When you're poor, many of your choices don't matter, good or bad. It's not enough to make good choices. You have to be lucky, too.
THAT'S WHAT WE THINK NEEDS TO CHANGE.
We've shown -again and again there are mountains of data to back this up- that it is becoming harder and harder to escape poverty. It's becoming harder and harder to escape the middle class. It's even becoming harder and harder to fail from the upper class to a lower class -regardless of how bad you are at life.
A lot of times, privilege comes down to how many second, third, fourth chances you get.
We are making the absolutely insane statement that being a good person, working hard, and working smart should pay off.
Why even try, if it won't pay off? THAT is how a society rots.
We are just saying hard work should pay off. And y'all are being nasty about it.
You have said over and over again, that people have not earned anything.
Now you are saying that you think hard work should pay off. Why can't you admit that hard work DID pay off? Why is it that you won't accept the hard work of past & current people as valid?? By what magic will you suddenly make hard work legitimate?
You know, I think this is a fair question, even if you're taking statements out of context.
I was specifically speaking to one's lot in life. I sincerely think my personal lot in life is very largely a function of my privilege.
Literally every time I've worked hard, it has paid off.
But that is not the case for everyone. I've never been poor. I've never had money, but I've never wanted.
Having hard work pay off is a form of privilege in and of itself these days. I've gotten dozens of second chances. THAT is an indicator of privilege as well.
I've worked my ass off and it has always paid off. That is not the case for everyone. I believe it should be.
So are you now going to retract your statement that people didn't earn anything?? Or are you saying that, even though you worked hard, you really didn't earn the rewards of that hard work?
No. I'm saying that my hard work has paid off because of my privilege.
My privilege allowed me to earn it.
I ran a marathon because I worked hard and didn't give up. But also, my legs work.
Did I do something to make my legs work that Stephen Hawking didn't? Did I EARN my legs working? Did he NOT earn working legs? Of course not. But I had a higher ceiling. Me taking advantage of it is on me. But me having the opportunity isn't always.
Doesn't mean my running a marathon isn't an achievement or result of really hard work.
How is this confusing to you?
This is so sad. You still can't accept that you achieved anything. Somehow you were the recipient of some unfair system, which negates all your hard work. You truly are destined for a life of mediocrity, at best. Even your marathon is no achievement, because you have able body privilege. "Did I EARN my legs working?" - No. What you earned was the rewards of using your legs, when others chose not to do so. You earned the victory of finishing the marathon. If you can't even see that, then you are truly lost.
Let's take it another step. If you have children, then they will grow up in a house with a parent who exercises. Studys show that kids in such an environment grow up with a higher likelihood to exercise as adults. They have a lower risk for heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, etc. Did your kids "earn" that? No. Did you "earn" it for them? Hell yes! They are the beneficiaries of your hard work and your tough choices. And the same is true for financial hard work and tough choices.
You keep using your legs and Stephen Hawking. That is really, really stupid. There is nothing anyone could ever do, to make Hawking run a marathon... especially now that he is dead. But let's pretend that he is still alive for a moment. What policy changes would you suggest to make it possible for Hawking to run a marathon?
He is a great example of hard work and overcoming obstacles.... not a good example for your argument at all. He had a genuine disability, but he was able to achieve a lot with his life. He didn't do it by somehow insisting that everyone make adjustments so he could become a great track athlete. He did it with his mind, not his legs. You keep focusing on what he couldn't do, while the rest of us appreciate what he did do. Hawking used hard work and tough choices to achieve a great deal of success. Do you want to claim that he didn't earn it because he had white privilege? Or British privilege? Or straight privilege? Or wheelchair privilege?
At what point do you stop making excuses for other peoples success and your own lack thereof? At what point do you start taking responsibility for your own actions? Yes, sometimes you can work hard and lose. Only a true fool goes through life working hard and losing every time. Are you going to say there is such a thing as wisdom privilege? Is it unfair that some people learn from loss and others never do?
