[UA] American attitudes and things

[Russell Rayburn]

On 1/10/07, corey liss <cpl1 at pobox.com> wrote:
> There's another interesting contradiction here.  Since conservatives are
> also, generally, more opposed to anything that smacks of "welfare state"
> and more in favor of harsh laws that have the greatest impact on the poor,
> it can be said that they favor -- even encourage -- oppressing the poor.
>

Not to debate the validity of the welfare state on a RPG mailing list,
but that's incorrect.

[1]The assumption is government programs encourage people to not work,
which goes against the idea of the "rugged individual" Greg mentioned.
 Heck, that view point isn't limited to conservatives here in the US,
unless you think President Clinton was as conservative (see his
welfare reforms for what I'm talking about, and the effects they've
had... seems like it was a success).

If you're talking about the homeless, the view seems to be they're
mostly substance abusers or mentally ill... again, two things which go
against the idea of the "rugged individual".

The other side of the "rugged individual" seems to be "I made good...
why can't they?".

Perhaps the "midwestern" view is that helping people you know is
good... but helping people you don't know is encouraging hippies to
sit around smoking dope while getting a fat check.




[1] Look, these aren't my views ok?  I'm just relating what I've
observed.  Not trying to have a debate, but providing more background
on small town / midwestern campaigns than stereotypes provide.

-- 
Psychotics think two and two make five.
Neurotics know two and two make four
but they can't stand it.
- Anonymous