Eny you are simply wrong. A minority of people is getting a little bit squeezed in the big city area, and somehow that translates into "the working class" being subjugated. And of course it is everybody and their mom's obligation to help YOU. With little to no understanding of economics and why the current system works, you talk about a revolution, and you are probably a communist/socialist. Aside from the fact that both systems have failed again and again over course of the 20th century the assumption socialism makes is just factually incorrect.

Socialists assume that they can plan out the economy because they take as given that data about the market is known and that all resources are also known and static. In reality, it is an impossibility to know of all data and resources, and more importantly it is completely impossible to predict their future development and variation, no matter how much you play around with the ignorant scientist turned social engineer favorite tool, statistics.

The current system, aka capitalism, developed as a result of thousands of years of cultural evolution, where practices such as private property, contract, honesty, and the rule of law have led to the societies that practiced them to flourish and multiply, and societies that did not, perish.

Throwing everything that this evolution has endowed humankind out of the window and assuming centralized control of a naturally decentralized system is a pride and ignorance of the intellectual man combined into one horrible package.

Only intellectuals who are too proud to admit that some things in this world they cannot control and social parasites who feel like society owes them something for nothing can be informed proponents of socialism/communism.

[Edited by - simrud on 05-24-2007 11:29 AM]

[Edited by - simrud on 05-24-2007 11:30 AM]

[Edited by - simrud on 05-24-2007 11:30 AM]

So if I'm reading this right, anyone with disposable income should create a job specifically for someone who has less. Reminds me of the French Revolution where they had people moving ples of dirt from one end of the park and others moving it back. Jobs should be filled be necessity not to give someone a job.

Posted by EnySpree:

Me and my co-workers were talking about this stuff a while back.

The working class/ poor are doing so bad that they are too busy trying to work and make ends meet to fight the powers that be.
Everyone talks revolution, but do you know who will actually start it? The Mexicans!

I'm not being funny. Hear me out. A lot of immigrants, not just Mexicans, come to America to work. These mofos share apartments with other families and they split rent, utilities, and other things amongst each other. They send some money back home and then they enjoy themselves with the rest. What do you think they are gonna do when their landlord says to them your rent is 1800 for a 3 bedroom? Well the market rate for your apartment is 3000, I'm going to have to raise your rent to meet the market.

Let me tell you they will be the first to go wild and protest, boycott, and march. Everyone else will follow suit.

People say an education is the key to success, but somebody has to be there to serve that coffee and Danish to you at 6am when you are on your way to work. If those mofos can live within a reasonable commute and not have to spend half their wages on transportation alone its ok. Its the rents.

The people that have money and power can make sure there is a balance but its so buckwild now where the Mta is claiming they have a budget crisis yet keep announcing new projects that all are supposed to be open within 5 years. Yet their are so many stations that aren't even fit for a rat. I work for the Mta and my salary isn't even on point with the cost of living. Every year you have to squeeze a little tighter while the rent gets higher.

Again with a college education, you are not always guaranteed a job. You have more options but what if its not even an option for you to go to school cuz your family can pay, guess what? Rent.

Celebrities have the power. You know I would like to see Russell simmons stop talking **** and take over the streets where he grew up in and stop being a talking head while he stacks dough. Same with all the other quote on quote business people. Donald trump gets money and could give a **** about the little man. That's not what he is about. Its not in his intrest to help the people that need it. He wants to be apart of the over development so his name can be up as high as the clouds for all to see. Oprah does good ****, but when is she gonna take over Chicago already? You see guys talking about where they came from. If they made it they should all go back and open something that could help a family provide for themselves. Be apart of opening some job opportunities for people. If your pockets get deeper, who cares. As long as you allow a working person to do what they do.

Helping people is great, but development is what helps them in the long run. Development leads to more jobs and better conditions in general.

Yes it breaks up run down neighborhoods, but that in itself is a good thing. Making maximum profit should be the main concern of an individual because thats how resources are put to maximum use, and thats how most benefits are generated.

Helping the poor should be a systematic approach, based not on philanthropy but on sustainable solutions like education and vocational training.

Can we do better at providing a minimum social safety net? Absolutely, but I don't' believe that can happen through allocating more money, but rather through improving how it is distributed. There are way too many people getting government aid who do not deserve it. They are more than capable of holding a job, they just don't want to because the government gives them food and money either way.

There are plenty of people who need the aid, too, and they are getting robbed because they could be getting more if those who were abusing it were cut off.

Some of the problem is the cycle of ignorance, perpetuated by early and multiple pregnancy and drug use. These two things are responsible for 90% of situations where people can no longer sustain themselves. They are only fixed though change of environments and education.

I read an idea somewhere that suggested breaking up projects (subsided housing) into smaller chunks and inserting them better neighborhoods, just in a small enough number not to affect the fabric of society already in lace there. Obviously this is problematic, but it is something to at lest think about. The current inner city situation where the poor exist in a world to themselves is unacceptable because it creates a world where people have been somehow convinced that there is nothing they can do. And that is the biggest problem.