My friend to me: everyone in America is affluent in my opinion
My response: Ha! good one!
don’t know if the courts would buy that, but you could have an argument there.
alas, there is too much poverty in this, the wealthiest country in the world. i see it every day here in Oakland…
so your plan is to basically avoid asking homeless people then? 
My friend to me: Yeah, homeless people are poor, obviously. But not the rest of the country. Just what exactly do most people think constitutes poor?I bet those same people in Oakland that you consider poor have color TV’s, cell phones and plenty of useless, plastic crap that they got at Wal-Mart lying all around the house. That’s not poor. Poor is living in a shanty town with no plumbing or electricity, where your whole goal every morning is just to get enough food for the day.
I feel no sympathy for the “poor” of America. John Edwards can kiss my ass.
My response: jeez, Ayn Rand really has done a number on you, hasn’t she? i believe you are becoming a Libertarian. careful, that is the worst kind of radical rightie.it is true that a huge percentage of the population in the US cannot manage their money. they waste, overspend, etc. but you have to admit that the whole economic system in this country is set up to achieve that end. it’s like a system that sells cheap heroin to its people, then complains that there are too many ‘drug addicts’ about.
schools do not teach kids how to manage money, save for the future, invest in anything or prepare for retirement. tax law clearly favors those with wealth and basically screws the rest. H&R Block should be shut down: they are despicable vultures that prey on the lower classes. the banking/lending system in this country is a total rip-off: we get 2% return on our savings accounts and have to pay 10-30% or more on a bank loan. marketing and capitalism have turned our citizens into shallow, materialistic zombies.
it seems apparent that in any significant-sized population of humans there will always be a percentage that needs a little help from the rest. they may not ask for it. they may not say “thank you”. and they may turn around and punch you in the face. but can you justify 2% of an entire population hoarding 90% of the wealth without offering to help those that are suffering? how much wealth does any individual really need? the problem gets worse and worse as those with wealth write and re-write laws to ensure that they become even wealthier at the expense of those that are already suffering and impoverished.
“no you cannot get a top-notch college education… unless you are already wealthy (or your family is)”
“no you cannot get a loan… unless you already have a lot of money amassed”
“no you cannot start a business… unless you are already wealthy (or your family is) because it costs too much in fees, permits, licenses, taxes, expenses, legal/professional fees, insurance, production costs, labor and healthcare, location expenses, marketing, etc.”
“no you cannot even talk to your ‘leaders’ unless you can afford a $20,000 per plate dinner.”
you may blame the poor for their own shortcomings, but you have to admit that it ain’t easy to climb out of a bad situation the way things are set up. so you say, why should it be ‘easy’? nothing is easy in life.
well, if your daddy or grandaddy is a millionaire, your life IS easier. no two ways about it.
and just because America’s poor are “rich” by world standards doesn’t fly with me. it is relative to the cost of living – which is also way higher here in America than in Uganda.
i am voting for John Edwards now… you convinced me. unless Gore decides to run…
Posted by malcontent 
This month it’s ‘The Manchurian Candidate’ with Denzel Washington. malcontent is gonna be counting noses so please come on down.
Posted by A.Citizen 
Posted by A.Citizen 
