Why Can't the Poor be Like Us?

[nailer]

Originally Posted by whell

Interesting day that you chose to post the article in your OP, what with unemployment falling to below 3.8% last month..

https://www.wsj.com/articles/unemplo...may-1527856298

“It’s pretty hard to argue that the labor market is anything but right in the sweet spot,” said Dan North, chief economist at Euler Hermes North America. “There is tremendous demand for labor right now.”

U.S. employers have added to payrolls for 92 straight months, extending the longest continuous jobs expansion on record. And those gains are extending to all corners of the labor market.

The unemployment rate for women, 3.6% last month, was the lowest since 1953, when far smaller share of women sought jobs. The jobless rates for blacks, Latinos and those without high-school diplomas are trending near record lows.

Although DQ's article is not about the unemployment rate and the labor market.

[whell]

Originally Posted by nailer

Although DQ's article is not about the unemployment rate and the labor market.

Oh, but the "pulling yourself up by your bootstraps" comment clearly is. What a better time to start "pulling" when many employers are having trouble filling jobs of all types. From the posted CNBC article:

Andrew Hunter, U.S. economist at Capital Economics, said the ISM number alone is consistent with GDP growth of better than 4 percent, though he thinks the second quarter will be in the 3 percent to 3.5 percent range.

[nailer]

Originally Posted by whell

Oh, but the "pulling yourself up by your bootstraps" comment clearly is.

Indeed. Apparently you haven't read the article.

[whell]

Originally Posted by nailer

Indeed. Apparently you haven't read the article.

I've read it. I've also read many, many others like it. No real new ideas in it and its filled with the same class warfare exaggerations, half truths and outright lies that I've seen 100 times before (but sadly many here and elsewhere subscribe to).

[BlueStreak]

I actually sat in on a discussion with a local Baptist Minister who's also Conservative and quite political. This guy told me that it's "actually a mistake" to do anything for the poor or the homeless because, "We are told that 'Ye shall reap as ye have sown.' Therefore, if you are poor it is because you have sown the seeds that yield poverty, which is as God meant it to be. To engage in charity is to thwart the will of God. If you wish to avoid such hardship, then sow the seeds of prosperity."...….

Sounds like a fairly evil justification for selfishness and apathy to me.

[whell]

Originally Posted by BlueStreak

I actually sat in on a discussion with a local Baptist Minister who's also Conservative and quite political. This guy told me that it's "actually a mistake" to do anything for the poor or the homeless because, "We are told that 'Ye shall reap as ye have sown.' Therefore, if you are poor it is because you have sown the seeds that yield poverty, which is as God meant it to be. To engage in charity is to thwart the will of God. If you wish to avoid such hardship, then sow the seeds of prosperity."...….

Quite the opposite, at least as it relates to the highlighted text above. If everyone did their best every day to sew the seeds of prosperity, there would still be hardship but there would be far less of it.

However, your baptist minister also missed a pretty key element of the New Testament, which is:

But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?

Also:

If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?

This is why so churches have so many ministries dedicated to helping those in need. I wouldn't put much stock into what this particular minster is saying. The Baptists have some pretty active charitable organizations. Here's one example.

[Pio1980]

Originally Posted by BlueStreak

I actually sat in on a discussion with a local Baptist Minister who's also Conservative and quite political. This guy told me that it's "actually a mistake" to do anything for the poor or the homeless because, "We are told that 'Ye shall reap as ye have sown.' Therefore, if you are poor it is because you have sown the seeds that yield poverty, which is as God meant it to be. To engage in charity is to thwart the will of God. If you wish to avoid such hardship, then sow the seeds of prosperity."...….

Sounds like a fairly evil justification for selfishness and apathy to me.

Henny Penny Christianity.
Now, which part of the sermon on on the mount covered that?

[Rajoo]

Here is a blatant example of what is cited in the article on Post #1.

‘How can they walk away with millions and leave workers with zero?’: Toys R Us workers say they deserve severance

Much of Toys R Us’s troubles, employees say, date to a 2005 leveraged buyout in which its new owners — private-equity firms Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Bain Capital, and real estate firm Vornado Realty Trust — loaded the company with more than $5 billion in debt. The company filed for bankruptcy last year, citing $7.9 billion in debt against $6.6 billion in assets, and announced in March that it would close all 800 of its U.S. stores.

And yet,

Last year, Toys R Us awarded executives $8 million in bonuses a week before filing for bankruptcy. A few months later, the company got approval from a bankruptcy judge to pay up to $21 million in additional bonuses to executives if they met certain performance goals. (That money was never awarded because the company’s performance fell short.) Chief executive Dave Brandon received $11.25 million in compensation last year.

Millions in bonuses to ensure that there is nothing left over for severance.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.320659b2baea

[Rajoo]

Has the Fright wing ever challenged Obama’s highly successful presidency ratings?

[nailer]

They're just a popularity measure.