Through the Prism

After passing through the prism, each refraction contains some pure essence of the light, but only an incomplete part. We will always experience some aspect of reality, of the Truth, but only from our perspectives as they are colored by who and where we are. Others will know a different color and none will see the whole, complete light. These are my musings from my particular refraction.

9.21.2012

Thank You, John

Summing up nicely what I was saying a couple of days ago in The Republican Myth: Democrat = Parasite was John Stewart and the Daily Show a couple of nights ago.  The only thing I ever seem to hear from conservatives when I discuss politics is some version of, "Those people" are taking from me and mine because they don't work as hard as we do.  Who "those people" are changes with the conversation, but the idea of some lazy, parasitic other is always at the heart of it.  That's why taxes and redistribution are dirty words, because it's seen as the government taking from me and giving to someone less deserving, and the whole thing hinges on there being someone less deserving.  The system breaks down if there is no one to vilify, so there must always be a villain group of one type or another.  It's a value and political system based on vilification, division, castes, disdain, and hatred.

From the video:

“This is the core of Bullshit Mountain: the 49% entitlement society Obama enables. That is the core of the Bullshit Nation fiction. . . . The biggest problem with the denizens of Bullshit Mountain is they act like their shit don’t stink. If they have success, they built it; if they failed, the government ruined it for them. If they get a break, they deserve it; if you get a break, it’s a handout and an entitlement. It’s a baffling, willfully blind cognitive dissonance best summed up by their head coach, in what is perhaps my favorite sound bite of all time: ‘I’ve been on food stamps and welfare—anybody help me out? No.’”

                       
The Daily Show with Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Chaos on Bulls**t Mountain - The Entitlement Society
www.thedailyshow.com
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4 Comments:

At 9/21/2012 4:23 PM, Blogger Degolar said...

And, yes, I do see the irony and hypocrisy of the quote in the image in this context, but it appeared in my Facebook feed this morning and seemed timely and appropriate enough to use.

 
At 9/22/2012 12:18 PM, Blogger Degolar said...

http://thinkbynumbers.org/government-spending/corporate-welfare/corporate-welfare-statistics-vs-social-welfare-statistics/

"About $59 billion is spent on traditional social welfare programs. $92 billion is spent on corporate subsidies. So, the government spent 50% more on corporate welfare than it did on food stamps and housing assistance in 2006."

 
At 9/22/2012 12:19 PM, Blogger Degolar said...

One of the comments from the article above:

"A fun game being played right now in the United States goes like this: The average annual income of Walmart workers (many with children to support) is $15,500. These families generally qualify for food stamps; that is, WE are subsidizing Walmart by paying part of their payroll costs so they can pay sub-survival wages, thus increasing their profit at the taxpayers' expense."

 
At 9/24/2012 8:17 PM, Blogger Hadrian said...

Yep.

 

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