August 1, 2012 by David K. Sutton
You are poor because you aren’t working hard enough
Yeah, I said it. You are poor because you aren’t working hard enough. You find yourself in poverty because you lack the work ethic of the rich and successful. You are a freeloader if you are on food stamps or unemployment insurance. Why don’t you get off your ass and find yourself a job already? I’m tired of your whining. I’m tired of my tax dollars being used to support your sorry ass. Stop being a drain on society and make something of yourself. You live in America, home of the American dream. If you aren’t wealthy, you only have yourself to blame.
How did I do? Did that properly encapsulate Republican “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” tough love? OK, maybe I’m putting words in the mouths of many Republicans, but explain to me how prevailing Republican wisdom on jobs, wealth and success doesn’t line up with the above paragraph. I’d love to hear it.
Of course if we are to buy the argument that anybody can be wealthy and successful if they only work hard and live the American dream, then I guess almost everyone in America (Republicans included) are failures in life. I mean, if you aren’t wealthy, if you aren’t running your own business, if you aren’t able to retire at a young age, then you must not have worked hard enough.
Back in reality, and far removed from the Republican bullshit, it’s easy to see that not everyone will be wealthy and successful. To expand on a recent speech by President Obama: There are a lot of hard-working people, and just because they aren’t all wealthy business owners doesn’t mean they have failed. There are plenty of people who work extremely hard with only a modest paycheck to show for it. And we should be thankful for that, because if it wasn’t for all the hard-working poor and middle class we wouldn’t have a functioning society.
It’s for this reason that it’s not only unconscionable to demonize the working class, it’s near criminal to consider cutting government benefits for the working class while simultaneous proposing tax cuts for the wealthy. But this is exactly what the Republican Party and Mitt Romney will do if they win big in November. Think long and hard about that between now and November 6th. / photo by Susana Fernandez
