C. Cormier - Ormetal Inc. wrote: Re: [dgc.chat] Heads Up for U.S. Businesses
>On 26 Apr 2002, at 10:14, Craig Spencer wrote: > >. . . >It looks like it. Call me somewhere between a libertarian and a >socialist. I want to be free but I also want my society to help the >poor even if it cost me something. > >Claude > I've been observing this little tirade of philosophical sparring, and have been resisting the temptation to participate, but the above comment really irks me. I HAVE NO SYMPATHY FOR THE POOR! Especially in countries like the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. The only "poor" people that deserve even a modicum of "sympathy" and deserve assistance are those under extreme oppression which does not allow persons basic freedoms which would allow them to meet their own needs -- and the only assistance they should get is to help them overthrow their oppressors. I've been dirt poor in the past. At one point I had no money and no job (a brief interlude after after scholarships ran out) -- no way to pay for school, food, clothing, shelter, or anything else, I had but a few days before the phone & utilities would be shut off since the bills were past due (I could have asked my parents for help, though they are not rich either, but I'm too proud and independent for that). I tried to find work in this isolated little town, but no one would hire me at the time -- one manager at McDonalds actually told me that I'm too smart to work at the Golden Arches (NOTE TO SELF: pretend to be stupid to get a job at fast food chains. -- I did this a couple of years later to get temporary work at Pizza Hut and it worked). Since I knew of some acquaintances that did pretty well milking the government welfare system, and at times local churches, I sought temporary assistance from those sources. To make a long story short, I was turned away for no other reason than I was a white male with the audacity to be going to school at the same time I was "poor". If I wanted any type of assistance I would be required to stop attending university -- this requirement didn't seem to apply to my "minority" friends, or to associates I knew of milking the system with families to "support". The abuses of the federal and private "assistance" programs, that I observed, were absolutely sickening. One guy I knew was white (though I think he did have some kind of "ethnic" background), and married with 5 kids, and he was going to school, taking some of the same classes that I did. He had two jobs, gov. tuition grants and his wife worked. With the tuition grants, he and his wife made more than enough to provide decent food, shelter, and clothing for the entire family, and meet other needs such as basic transportation, medical bills and the like (even without the tuition grants he received, he could still probably swing the tuition himself, with a little budgeting). Despite his lack of "poorness", this guy received approximately an additional $3000/mo. in wealfare checks from the gov. plus about $500/mo. in food stamps. These extra government handouts he receive were used to buy fancy toys like TVs, stereos, computer stuff, vacations, and pricey food.He received these benefits for the entire 4 years that I knew him. However, me in actual need gets nothing. Not wanting to quit school, and not wanting to crawl back to Mommy&Daddy -- I took matters into my own hands. I started a little business doing odd jobs around the community. I called myself "THE" Odd Jobber!. There was almost no job I would not do: yard work, simple car maintenance, electrical work, house cleaning, painting, wood work, etc. . . you name it. As long as the client provided the tools and materials, and if I felt I had the skills I would do it for less than anyone else (my hourly rate was $8 to $25 per hour depending on the job). The only caveate for the client was that they had to provide any needed tools and they had to pay in cash. I printed up 3000 fliers in the school computer lab. This pissed off the school, but I won that argument & they left me alone. The computer science director thought I was pretty clever in my arguments equating my flyers to resumes -- and the tuition and fees I had paid up to that point gave me the right to use the computer lab. I stuck these fliers in doors all over town. It was a complete success. Maybe a bit too successfull for the likes of local businesses in a small town, like the one I was in. In less than a month that summer (working long, exhausting hours, crisscrossing town on my bicycle, doing odd jobs all over the place) I had pulled in several thousand dollars which gave me enough to live on modestly, and pay for school. My success was taking business away from the local "townies", and since I was an outsider they collectively harrassed me to the point that I had to stop, or I might find myself dead in a ditch outside of town. I actually received death threats on the phone, and even the local police took to harassing me as I rode around town on my bike -- stopping me and frisking me, looking for contraband, saying I shouldn't be around here and I should be more carefull, and other B.S.. I had finally had enough harrassment, & since I had enough money for my immediate needs, and the rest of the coming semester, and since I valued my physical well being I closed "THE" Odd Jobber's doors. Despite the harrassment, and the hard long hours, that was some of the most satisfying money I had ever earned -- the feeling probably akin to what Ayn Rand portrayed in "Atlas Shrugged" when Dagney is paid for her domestic services to John Galt with a single Gold Coin. She then realizes that, despite the millions of dollars in fiat money she had earned and commanded throughout her life, this was the first REAL money she had ever earned. The idea that hand outs and help are a right to be expected, and should be done; or that giving to others is your duty/responsibility is absolutely repugnant. Yes, if you want to give of yourself (time, money, other resources) to others, for whatever reason, you should because it is yours to give. However, it is a deadly & repulsive state of affairs when others, be they individuals, governement , "society", churches, other organizations, can take (and are sanctified for it) from those that don't want to give , and then give the bootie others. Even if the victem of the taking wants to give, they should do the giving themselves and not sanction the theft from others. While I had always believed in self-reliance, and making one's own way, my educational background had polluted my personal philosophy with faulty forms of altruism -- weakening the resolve of that independance and granting power to the idea that goverment is necessary to do things like build roads, provide health care, help the poor, etc. . .. The works of Ayn Rand helped to correct that, but the full force and implications of these ideas had never fully hit home until I was put between a rock and a hard place and forced to choose : Slavery, or Independance. Fortunately I choose correctly. Anyway, the point of my rant here is that in countries like the U.S., Canada, and the U.K., despite their current, partial decay into collectivist statism, THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR NOT MAKING YOUR OWN WAY! You may not always be able to have your dream job, or make the amount you want, or be handed everything on a silver platter, but you can "make it" nonetheless. There is work to be had, and people willing to pay for your product and/or service. Can't find work? . . . then don't get a job; CREATE ONE! PECB C = W log2(1 + S /N ) http://two-cents-worth.com/?pecb www.GoldCom.cc --- You are currently subscribed to e-gold-list as: archive@jab.org To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Use e-gold's Secure Randomized Keyboard (SRK) when accessing your e-gold account(s) via the web and shopping cart interfaces to help thwart keystroke loggers and common viruses.
